NO IMPORT, NO PROBLEM FOR PETRON BLAZE
With rookie June Mar Fajardo playing the second best game of his young PBA career and Marcio Lassiter coming through with his late-game outburst, the all-Filipino Boosters stunned the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in Saturday’s Phoenix-PBA On Tour game In the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Panabo Multi-Purpose Sports, Tourism and Cultural Center in Davao del Norte.
The 6-foot-10, top overall rookie pick in last year’s annual Draft was able to hold his own against 7-foot-3 Bruno Sundov, the tallest import ever in the league, playing with more impact and finishing with 20 points on a steady 9-of-11 shooting from the field while also collecting 13 rebounds, one steal and one block and making things difficult against his big man counterpart.
Fajardo’s putback slam capped a 10-2 Petron run and gave his team a 78-69 lead inside the six-minute mark of the fourth quarter.
It was Fajardo’s best game since recording career-high figures of 22 points and 15 rebounds when the Boosters were eliminated by San Mig Coffee in the quarterfinals of the Philippine Cup.
Playing his best game in the conference, Lassiter also stepped up his game, scoring 10 of his 14 points in the fourth period inclusive of a top-of-the-key jumper with only 38 seconds left which put the Boosters on safer grounds, 85-75 and one which finally took the fight out of the Elasto Painters.
So significant was Petron’s win as it climbed into a share of the lead with Alaska at 6-2 while Rain or Shine lost back-to-back games for the first time in the conference and fell to solo third at 5-3.
Alex Cabagnot also had 14 points while Arwind Santos contributed 13 for Petron Blaze, which will welcome its new import Rodney White Sunday.
White, a first round and ninth overall pick of the Detroit Pistons in the 2001 NBA Draft who played for Barako Bull Energy Colas in this same tournament last season, replaced Renaldo Balkman but failed to arrive in time for this game. (RJ)
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