Fajardo heartbeat away from 11th BPC plum

San Miguel Beer’s June Mar Fajardo is on the right track to winning his 11th Best Player of the Conference (BPC) award.

The Beermen prized center kept pace in the statistical points (sps) race at the end of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors’ Cup semifinals.

Fajardo maintained a significant lead over his rivals with 44.8 total statistical points but could still face tough competition after San Miguel fell short in the semifinals.

The eight-time Most Valuable Player posted a league-best 16.3 rebounds per game and also had impressive norms of 21.0 points, 3.1 assists, and 1.0 blocks in 21 games played during the playoffs.

Fajardo is more than seven points ahead of NorthPort’s Arvin Tolentino (37.5 sps) while at No. 3 is NLEX guard Robert Bolick (35.9 sps). Sitting at No. 4 is his teammate CJ Perez (33.9 sps) while tied at fifth with 32.2 sps are Kings stars Japeth Aguilar and Scottie Thompson.

However, Fajardo could still lose the coveted highest individual award to Aguilar or Thompson following the Beermen’s 2-4 semis series defeat at the hands of Ginebra.

Although 45 percent of the criteria will come from the statistics, the winner will also be determined by votes from the media (30 percent) and players (32 percent).

Aguilar (18.0 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.4 assists), and Thompson (13.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.7 assists, and 1.2 steals) could steal the honor after helping the Kings reach the finals for a rematch against defending champion TNT.

Tolentino, who led the league in scoring with 23.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 4.3 assists, and Bolick, who topped the assists department with 8.2 dishes, on top of 19.1 points and 6.2 rebounds, saw their respective teams get early exits in the season-opening conference.

Meanwhile, TNT’s Rondae Hollis-Jefferson is ahead of closest pursuer Ginebra resident reinforcement Justin Brownlee in the Best Import of the Conference contest.

Hollis-Jefferson leads the race with 57.4 sps while Brownlee is behind with 50.9 sps.

The Tropang Giga import, who won the same award last year when he led the franchise in dethroning the Kings in six games, is averaging 28.0 points, 12.9 rebounds, 6.4 assists, while topping both the steals and block shot departments with 2.9 and 1.9, respectively.

Brownlee, a three-time Best Import winner, is producing 28.3 points, 9.2 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1.5 block shots.

EJ Anosike of San Miguel (44.6sps) and Rain or Shine’s Aaron Fuller (41.8sps) round up the list of candidates for the Best Import award. Mark Escarlote