MANILA – San Miguel Beermen center June Mar Fajardo soared to the top of the 2024 PBA Philippine Cup Best Player of the Conference (BPC) race by the end of the semifinals round.
The Pinamungajan, Cebu-native big man jumped at No. 1 in the individual award race after guiding the Beermen back to the finals following a four-game sweep of Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in the semis.
Fajardo and the Beermen will begin their All-Filipino Conference title-retention bid against Meralco Bolts in Game 1 of the best-of-seven finals tonight at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The 6-foot-10 center amassed a total of 43.12 statistical points (SPs) behind numbers of 17.3 points, 14.5 rebounds, and 3.1 assists as he finally overtook previous leader, NLEX Road Warriors guard Robert Bolick Jr.
Bolick fell at close no. 2 with 43.08 SPs as he continued to pace the league in scoring with 28.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 6.5 assists, but the Road Warriors failed to reach the Final Four round.
Fajardo and Bolick will join rookie Stephen Holt of Terrafirma Dyip, Beermen’s Jaymar Perez, and Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings’ Christian Standhardinger as the official candidates for the BPC award.
Holt, who also leads the race for the Rookie of the Year, is currently at no. 3 with 40.8 SPs with an all-around number of 21.08 points, 8.1 rebounds, 6.3 assists, and 2.4 steals.
Perez, on the other hand, is behind Holt after finishing with 39.18 SPs followed by Standhardinger, which is at fifth place in the BPC race with 39.16 SPs after the semis round.
Of the five candidates, Fajardo has won the BPC title nine times, Standhardinger was a two-time winner, while Perez got his first citation in the 2023-2024 PBA Commissioner’s Cup./PN
