By REYNALD MAGALLON
It was a tale of two halves for June Mar Fajardo but nonetheless the same result for San Miguel.
A dominant win.
The 6-foot 10 behemoth, after scoring just four points in the first two quarters, went off for 18 in the third frame to power the Beermen to a 106-89 rout of the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in Game 2 of their best-of-seven semifinals series at the Mall of Asia Arena on Sunday, May 19.
Fajardo was virtually immovable inside the paint during the searing third quarter run that opened the floodgates for the huge win that put them up ahead with a commanding 2-0 lead in the series.
The seven-time MVP finished with a double-double of 22 points and 10 rebounds while CJ Perez added 19 points and 11 rebounds.
Three other players reached double figures led by Terrence Romeo who fired 16 points off the bench alongside the 13 points from Marcio Lassiter and 10 from Don Trollano.
SMB can move on cusp of a finals return when it guns for a 3-0 lead in Game 3 at the Dasmariñas Arena in Cavite on Wednesday, May 22.
After barely escaping ROS in the series opener with a 101-98 win, SMB looked nothing but dominant in Game 2, particularly in the middle quarters where it exploded for 30 in the second and 35 in the third to seize full control of the contest.
The Beermen led 88-71 heading into the payoff period and was never threatened with the Elasto Painters only managing to close the gap to just 12 with three minutes left.
Anton Asistio tried to keep the Elasto Painters within striking distance after firing 20 points built on four triples while rookie Adrian Nocum continued to impress with 17 points.
Gian Mamuyac added 14 while Keith Datu had 12 in a losing effort for the Elasto Painters who were once again left searching for answers to the Fajardo problem.
