Just when it looked like the San Miguel Beermen were on the verge of a collapse, June Mar Fajardo saved the day.

After leading by as much as 12 points in the third quarter versus the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, San Miguel suddenly found themselves trailing by one point. Rain or Shine’s prized rookie Felix Lemetti, who was in the midst of the best game of his young PBA career so far, drew a foul against the defense of veteran Chris Ross as he was attempting a four-point shot.

Lemetti calmly sank four free throws which gave the Elasto Painters a 112-111 lead–their first of the second half–with only three seconds left to play. The outlook was grim for the Beermen at that point as they were left with no timeouts which meant that they had to go the length of the court for their final shot.

San Miguel import Jordan Adams quickly retrieved the ball for the inbound and immediately found CJ Perez who then took just one dribble before sending a bullet pass upcourt to Fajardo. The eight-time PBA Most Valuable Player received the ball and planted his feet right inside the three-point line before firing a jumper that dramatically hit the front of the rim, bounced up into the air, then went through the basket right as the game clock expired. 

The Beermen came away with a much-needed 113-112 win over the previously-undefeated Rain or Shine to improve their record to 3-2 which puts them in a tie for second place in Group B of this PBA Governor’s Cup with the NLEX Road Warriors. 

Fajardo, who will turn 35 this coming November, continues to show no signs of slowing down and finished this match with 27 points on 11-of-17 field goals, 21 rebounds, an assist, and a steal. At the rate that he is going, it seems more likely than not that the 6’10 center is going to wind up with at least 10 PBA MVP awards by the time his career is all said and done. His skill-oriented and largely ground-based game has allowed him to age gracefully and it should continue to do so as he moves into the second half of his 30s. 

This win would not have been possible for San Miguel without the heroic performance of their import Adams as well. The 22nd overall pick of the 2014 NBA Draft scored 41 points on 15-of-25 shots and eight-of-eight free throws in 39 minutes of play. He also tallied six rebounds, five assists, and a steal to complete his well-rounded statline.

The Beermen were inches away from disaster as they barely survived Lemetti’s breakout game. The 25-year-old guard recorded 28 points on 11 shots, three rebounds, two assists and a steal in only 28 minutes of action.

If San Miguel is to compete for the title in this conference though, they will have to draw better performances out of the rest of their team. In this win, Fajardo and Adams combined for 68 points which was more than half of their 113 points. Perez finished with only 10 points as he hit only four-of-15 shots while their veterans Marcio Lassiter, Mo Tautuaa, and Terrence Romeo were all rather ineffective during their stints on the floor. 

This team is in dire need of younger talent around Fajardo, but in the meantime, it looks like he is going to continue leading the charge in the foreseeable future for this multi-titled franchise.