MANILA, Philippines – In Game Two of their Philippine Cup semifinal series, the San Miguel Beermen defeated the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters 106-89 thanks to a brilliant effort by June Mar Fajardo, cementing his place in PBA history once again. The game-winning performance of the five-time Most Valuable Player, who scored eighteen of his twenty-two points in the third quarter, proved to be the decisive factor as the Beermen stormed ahead to take a decisive 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

When the game reached its crucial third frame, Fajardo unleashed an overpowering attack, forcing the defense of the unfortunate Elasto Painters to yield to his unwavering resolve. The opposition was left perplexed and disheartened by his variety of thundering smashes and smooth turnaround jumpers, as the Beermen mercilessly took charge of the game.

It looks harder and harder to stop the San Miguel juggernaut now that their legendary center is performing at the top of his game. As they get ready to make a last stand in the potentially pivotal Game Three on Wednesday at the Dasmariñas Arena in Cavite, the Elasto Painters find themselves skating on thin ice, their hopes of winning the championship hanging perilously in the balance.

Fajardo’s most recent masterpiece is a sobering reminder of his continuing greatness and his unshakable will to put the Beermen’s name back on the Philippine Cup’s hallowed roll of glory. Everyone’s attention will be focused on whether the local PBA giant can pull off the coup de grâce when the show moves to new ground.

Similar to the first game, Rain or Shine was unable to stop Fajardo, who scored the majority of his points in the post in the third quarter, which helped San Miguel score 35 points.

After going 23 points and pulling down 11 rebounds in the series opener, Fajardo’s performance was a major improvement.

Despite the seven-time PBA MVP’s performance, San Miguel coach Jorge Gallent was happy with his team’s ability to stop Rain or Shine from using its advantages, as the Elasto Painters were only able to score seven fastbreak points.

The Beermen gave the Elasto Painters no opportunity to mount a valiant comeback similar to what they did in Game 1 in order to go further in their best-of-seven series. Fajardo scored eighteen of his twenty-two points during that time in the paint.

Along with his four assists and ten rebounds, San Miguel came only two victories away from making it to the Finals. At Wednesday’s Game 3 at Dasmarinas, Cavite, the Beermen can put an end to the Goliath vs David matchup with the Elasto Painters.

Gallent stated, “We just got better getting back on defense.” “The players performed really well. Our biggest worry in Game One was stopping their fastbreak scores, which we were able to achieve since we were getting excellent shots.

The Elasto Painters were only behind by four points at one point during the third quarter, but the Beermen closed the quarter on a 15-2 run to extend their lead to 88-73.

Terrence Romeo scored 16 points and CJ Perez added 19 points and 11 rebounds to help the Beermen win, leading by as much as 19 points at one point.

Adrian Nocum scored 17 points, while Anton Asistio scored 20. Even though Rain or Shine was losing, five players were in double figures.

Scores at the end of the match

San Miguel with 106 points for the win

Individual Scores: Fajardo 22, Perez 19, Romeo 16, Lassiter 13, Trollano 10, Ross 9, Cruz 9, Tautuaa 4, Brondial 4, Enciso 0, Teng 0, Manuel 0.

Rain or Shine  (ROS) with 89 points

Individual Scores: Asistio 20, Nocum 17, Mamuyac 14, Datu 12, Belga 11, Santillan 5, Caracut 4, Clarito 4, Norwood 2, Ildefonso 0, Borboran 0, Paredes 0, Belo 0.

Scores per Quarter

23-21; 53-45; 88-71; 106-89.