June Mar Fajardo turns the game in the second quarter as San Miguel rout Terrafirma 135-105

San Miguel Beer were five points down early in the second quarter at Ninoy Aquino Stadium on Wednesday night, October 14, trailing Terrafirma 33-28. June Mar Fajardo then scored 13 points and pulled down nine rebounds in that quarter alone, San Miguel went to half-time ahead 64-47, and the Beermen won 135-105 in the PBA Governors' Cup.

Fajardo finished with 25 points and 12 rebounds, his highest scoring game of the conference. George King added 44 points, five rebounds and five assists. San Miguel improved to 8-3 and stayed second in Group A behind NLEX. Terrafirma fell to 4-7 and is out of the playoff race.

A slow start, then Fajardo

San Miguel led 28-27 after one quarter, but the start was not what the Beermen wanted, and Terrafirma went ahead 33-28 early in the second.

The answer came from the middle, from Fajardo. He scored 13 of his 25 points and grabbed nine of his 12 rebounds in the second quarter alone. San Miguel won the quarter 36-20 and went to half-time ahead 64-47, a 22-point swing from the five-point deficit.

King's two quarters

King did his damage in the middle of the game. He scored 30 of his 44 points across the second and third quarters. San Miguel scored 41 in the third and led 105-80 going into the last quarter. Leading by 25, San Miguel won the fourth 30-25 as well.

CJ Perez added 22 points and Don Trollano 13, so San Miguel's top four scorers had 104 of the team's 135.

Terrafirma's night

Justin Strings, Terrafirma's import, scored 28 points with nine rebounds. Maverick Ahanmisi had 23 points and nine assists, and Juami Tiongson 10. Terrafirma were within a point after one quarter and led early in the second, but scored 20 points in the second quarter while Fajardo was turning the game.

It was Terrafirma's seventh loss in 11 games. The Dyip had beaten Macau 146-127 on Saturday, October 10, after a 116-92 loss to TNT on the night the conference restarted.

Why it mattered to San Miguel

San Miguel had already secured a quarterfinal place, but the seeding was still open. The Beermen came in off a 116-98 loss to TNT on Saturday, October 10. A loss would have dropped them to 7-4, level with TNT, the team that had just beaten them, in the race for a top-two seed.

Scoring: San Miguel 135-105 Terrafirma

San Miguel: George King 44, June Mar Fajardo 25, CJ Perez 22, Don Trollano 13, Marcio Lassiter 8, Jeron Teng 7, Jericho Cruz 5, Paolo Hernandez 5, JM Calma 4, Andreas Cahilig 2, Chris Ross 0, Moala Tautuaa 0, Rodney Brondial 0, Royce Mantua 0.

Terrafirma: Justin Strings 28, Maverick Ahanmisi 23, Shawn Umali 12, Juami Tiongson 10, Geo Chiu 8, JM Bravo 5, Ben Adamos 5, Chris Miller 4, Joseph Eriobu 2, Brent Paraiso 2, Aljon Mariano 2, Keith Zaldivar 2, Didat Hanapi 2, Paul Garcia 0, CJ Catapusan 0.

By quarter: San Miguel 28, 36, 41, 30. Terrafirma 27, 20, 33, 25.

What is next

San Miguel close their group schedule against NLEX on Wednesday, October 21, with a top-two place in Group A still on the line before the crossover quarterfinals.