LIKE the three-time Most Valuable Player that he is, June Mar Fajardo simply won't let an immediate goal slip from San Miguel Beer's hands.
Fajardo led those who held the fort while foul-plagued Charles Rhodes rode the bench, enabling the Beermen to come out a 124-113 victor over gritty Blackwater Wednesday in the PBA Commissioner's Cup at the Cuneta Astrodome.
Rhodes still finished with 32 points and nine rebounds while Marcio Lassiter, Chris Ross, Arwind Santos and Gabby Espinas also played crucial roles, but it was clearly Fajardo who showed the way as SMB kept alive its hopes of nabbing a top two finish in the eliminations.
With eight wins in 10 games SMB needs to prevail over GlobalPort at elims' end Friday to secure the No. 2 spot and a twice-to-beat advantage against one of the lowest-ranked squads in the ensuing eight-team quarterfinals, a reward for a top two finisher.
Not after being stretched to the limit by Blackwater, which has long been eliminated from the quarterfinals race but seemed well on its way to pulling off a giant-sized upset after posting a 16-point lead at halftime.
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"I think that game is the scariest we've experienced this season," admitted SMB coach Leo Austria. "Everybody from our opponent is very confident and up to the task, but our players refused to lose."
Austria added complacency is something his team has to avoid even if it realizes its immediate goal.
"Even if we get into the top two still we cannot relax because those teams at the bottom have the materials to beat anybody," stated Austria. "We should be very careful because since the start of the conference everyone wants to beat us."
Blackwater wound up another futile campaign with a 2-9 slate and, like fellow eliminated team NLEX, left looking forward to the third conference starting July 16.
Greg Smith registered 21 points and 22 rebounds, KG Canaleta, Mike Digregorio and Mark Cruz each had 16 points, but the Elite failed to sustain their hot-shooting start in the face of stifling pressure from the Beermen.
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After a 26-for-42 field shooting, including a torrid 9-for-14 from beyond the arc, in the first half Blackwater finished the game making 42 of 88 shots.
In stark contrast, SMB made 23 of 44 tries in the second half, doing the most damage in the paint where it outscored Blackwater 66-40.
The Beermen also harassed the Elite into 27 miscues, 11 on Smith, and turned those into a 30-15 advantage in turnover points.
All those resulted in SMB staging a comeback that saw it whittle a 56-72 deficit into just 90-96 after three quarters before fully taking control by opening up the fourth canto with a 12-3 tear.
Fajardo was at the forefront of the attack with 12 of his 28 points in the third quarter before adding four more in the first 2:30 of the fourth. He also wound up with seven boards.
Rhodes, who picked up two quick fouls for a total of five and had to be benched with still 7:28 left in the third quarter, subbed for Fajardo at the final 8:29 mark and immediately went to work, starring in a telling 16-7 exchange that made it a 120-109 count that all but put the game away.
The finish was a far cry from everybody's mind when John Pinto typified Blackwater's fiery first half shooting by beating the buzzer with a banked heave from just before mid-court that made it a 16-point spread for the Elite at the turn.
