June Mar Fajardo takes early lead in BPC race, CJ Perez settles for second place

Six-time PBA Most Valuable Player and SMB main man June Mar Fajardo is back to his old, deadly form and is making a strong case for a 9th Best Player of the Conference award after topping the statistical race at the end of the elimination round of Season 47 Philippine Cup.

The 6-foot-10 center out of the University of Cebu tallied 43.2 statistical points (SPs) to emerge as the front-runner in the BPC race and remain on course for his first since the 2019 edition of the All-Filipino Cup.

Fajardo submitted 11-game averages of 18.5 points, a league-best 13.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1 steal and 1.6 blocks and more importantly led the Beermen to the top of the pack with a 9-2 record going into the next round.

CJ Perez came in at second with 39.5 SPs built on impressive averages of 17.5 markers, 7.6 boards, 5.9 dimes and 2.5 steals.

Reigning league MVP Scottie Thompson of Brgy. Ginebra came in at 3rd with 37.9 SPs. Last season’s Governors’ Cup BPC continued his stellar run with averages of 15.3 points, 9.6 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.3 steals.

Just behind Thompson is teammate Japeth Aguilar who’s running 4th after coming up with averages of 16.7 points, 8.4 rebounds and a league-leading 2.5 blocks for a tally of 34.2 SPs.

Magnolia’s diminutive playmaker Jio Jalalon rounded up the top 5 with 34.1 SPs after averaging 13.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, tournament-best 6.9 assists, and 2.5 steals in 11 games for the 3rd-seeded Hotshots.

Occupying spots 6th to 10th are Brgy. Ginebra’s Christian Standhardinger (33.3), the NorthPort duo of Robert Bolick (32.63) and Jamie Malonzo (32.60), NLEX’s Calvin Oftana (32.1), and TNT’s RR Pogoy (31.2).

Meralco’s Chris Newsome (31.1), San Miguel’s Jericho Cruz (30.6), Magnolia’s Ian Sangalang (30.5), Phoenix’s Jason Perkins (29.2) and Meralco’s Aaron Black (29.1) finished just outside the Top 10.