THE Kraken delivered when it mattered.

Next to former NBA“Sixth Man of the Year” awardee Jordan Clarkson, June Mar Fajardo of San Miguel Beer emerged as the top Filipino performer in the Philippines’ heartbreaking 81-87 defeat to Dominican Republic in the FIBA World Cup 2023 at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan.

A six-time PBA Most Valubale Player, Fajardo finished with 16 points on a perfect 5-of-5 shooting and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds in less than 29 minutes on the floor.

Basketball analysts said the numbers are impressive enough considering the 6-10 center from Compostela, Cebu went up against Dominican Republic’s “Tower of Power” in Karl-Anthony Towns.

Even Gilas coach Chot Reyes was impressed.

“Very efficient player. 28 minutes, 16 points, didn’t miss a shot,” Reyes told Reuben Terrado of Spin.PH.

He admitted Fajardo was playing so well that the plan was to go to him as the team’s primary offensive weapon after Clarkson fouled out with still three minutes remaining.

“If there was something that I was disappointed about towards the end, we wanted to go to him a lot more. Unfortunately, he was guarded by a 7-footer by the name of Karl-Anthony Towns as well. And I thought KAT did a good job of denying him, forcing him to step outside and not giving him good low post positions,” added Reyes.

“Credit to them. We wanted to get him the ball a lot more but they defended him. That’s a mark of a great team and that’s an All-Star. There’s a reason why Karl-Anthony Towns is an NBA All-Star.

But still, we can’t complain about the effort of the game of June Mar and AJ Edu just defending and trying to stop KAT as much as we can,” said Reyes.

Actually, Fajardo and Japeth Aguilar are the only remaining original Gilas members, who represented the country in the 2014 FIBA World Cup in Spain.

Aguilar was held to only two points and one rebound in 10 foul-plagued minutes.

The rest of the players in the 12-man Gilas team also had modest numbers.

Dwight Ramos finished with 13 points, six rebounds and two assists as the third highest-scoring Filipino player.

Edu managed seven points and five rebounds, Roger Pogoy had six points and four rebounds, Scottie Thompson had five points and four assists.

A big letdown was 7-3 NBA prospect Kai Sotto, who went scoreless after playing only 73 seconds with two quick fouls in the first quarter.

The 21-year-old Sotto found the going tough against Towns, the former NBA Rookie of the Year and No. 1 overall draft pick of the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2015.

Sotto, however, is expected to get more minutes against Angola on Sunday.