JUNE MAR Fajardo, the “Kraken”, is back tohis old, deadly self for San Miguel Beer.

Fajardo came through with his best game so far since returning from a knee injury as he finished with a double-doule of 16 points and 11 rebounds in leading San Miguel to a convincing 99-80 win over hardluck Blackwater in the 2021 PBA Philippine Cup at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig.

Fajardo, a six-time PBA MVP, had his best game in four outings so far in San Miguel’s third straight win after an opeing-day loss.

The 6-10 Fajardo, who missed the coronavirus-hit bubble conference in Clack last year due to a fracture on his right shin, managed only nine points and 7.3 rebounds in the past three outings.

He was a completely different man in his fourth game.

“I’m really happy for him (Fajardo). He really wanted to get back to his old form. Kanina, nakita na uli natin yun dominance niya inside,” said San Miguel coach Leo Austria.

Six other players — CJ Perez, Marcio Lassiter, Alex Cabagnot, Paul Zamar and Von Pessumal and Arwind Santos — also scored in double fgures for San Miguel, which led by as many as 25 points twice.

Perez fiished with 14 points, Lassiter added 13, Cbagnot contributed 12, -amar had 11 and Pessumal and Santos had 10.

Santos, the hero in San Miguel’s hard-earned 88-86 victory over NorthPort lat Sunday, also had 12 rebounds for a double-double.

The easy win could be costly,bhowever.

Mo Tautuaa suffered a right shoulder injury and had to leave the game for good with still 1:15 left

“Our PT (physical therapist) will checkkung ano nangyari sa kanya,” said Austria. “Kailangan namin ang tulad ni Mo against Ginebra because of their big men.”

Simon Enciso scattered a game-high 25 points, including seven three-pointers, for Blackwater, which dropped to 0-4.

Kelly Nabong and Chester Tolomia aded 12 points apiece.

Later, Alaska Milk brought down erstwhile unbeaten Rain or Shine, 74-48 to snap a two-game losing skid and improve.to.2-2.

Rodney Brondial finished with 13 points while Abbu Tratter added a double-double of 12 points and 13 rebounds for the Aces, who held the Elasto Painters to their lowest scoring output in franchise history with a franchise-low 20.9 field goal percentage.

The 20.9 field goal percentage was also the second-worst in PBA history according to PBA chief statistician Fidel Mangonon III.

The Elasto Painters’ output was also the second lowest in league history next to Shell’s 47 points in a loss to Mobiline back in 2000.

No Rain or Shine player scored in double figures with Adrian Wong finishing.with nine points and Norbert Torres with seven.

Javee Mocon was held scoreless on a terrible 0-of-11 shooting.

The scores:

First game

San Miguel (99) — Fajardo 16, Perez 14, Lassiter 13, Cabagnot 12, Zamar 11, Santos 10, Pessumal 10, Ross 5, Tautuaa 2, Gotladera 2, Comboy 2, , Gamalinda 2, Sena 0.
Blackwater (80) — Enciso 25, Nabong 12, Tolomia 12, Daquioag 9, Desiderio 5, Escoto 5, Amer 4, Canaleta 4, Acuno 2, Magat 2, Semerad 0, Paras 0.
Quarterscores: 20-11, 39-38, 69-53, 99-80.

Second game

Alaska (74)– Brondial 13, Tratter 12, Ahanmisi 10, DiGregorio 9, Teng 6, Casio 5, Banal 5, Taha 4, Marcelino 3, Adamos 3, Ebona 2, Stockton 2, Herndon 0, Publico 0.
Rain or Shine (48).– Wong 9, Torres 7, Caracut 6, Ponferada 6, Nambatac 5, Belga 5, , Norwood 4, Borboran 3, Guinto 2, Santillan 1, Rivero 0, Mocon 0
Quartersores: 19-12, 41-23, 61-39, 74-48.

Games Friday:

(Ynares Arena)
12:30 p.m. — TErrairma vs. Magnolia
3 p.m. — Talk N Text vs. Rain or Shine
6 p.m. — Ginebra vs. NorthPort