(UPDATE) JUNE Mar Fajardo remains a reliable force for San Miguel Beer. And he demonstrated that again last Sunday after leading the Beermen to a 106-89 demolition of the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters en route to a 2-0 lead in their PBA Philippine Cup semifinal series.

The 6-foot-10 Fajardo showed his dominance, especially in the third period, after racking up 18 of his game-high 22 points that enabled SMB to pull away after a tight first half.

And being the humble man that he is, the 34-year-old Fajardo deflected the credit to his SMB teammates during the post-game chat with media.

"I just need to first establish my teammates in the first half by passing the ball to them because during the first half, the defensive inside was very tight," Fajardo said in Filipino.

"But my teammates started looking for me (in the third quarter) and coach (Jorge Gallent) told me I need to get inside and attack because I need to produce," he added.

True enough, after a quiet four points in the opening half, the Cebuano star earned his points at the post, attacking Rain or Shine's front court that only had veteran Beau Belga as its experienced big man.

"We were looking at where the double-team is coming from. So if the double-team doesn't come, I told him (Fajardo) he just has to grind it inside because we feel no one can stop him," explained Gallent.

Fajardo's job inside got easier with wingman CJ Perez chipping in 19 points, getting his offense going through scoring inside and outside.

Terrence Romeo and Marcio Lassiter also knocked down three triples each as both SMB veterans finished with 16 and 13 markers to ably support Fajardo.

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