Wednesday, January 16, 2008 Silence, Fajardo and a breakout game By Marian C. Baring Sun.Star Staff Reporter
THE Cebu Coliseum fell dramatically silent in yesterday’s first game of the Reinforced Partners Cup basketball competition.
Quite a number of seats were empty and the regular basketball fanatics who were not there missed out on a lot as they failed to witness the breakout game of Aspac Bank-University of Cebu’s center Junmar Fajardo.
Touted a year ago more for his height and lanky figure than his ability to shoot a ball, Fajardo came a long way since his debut in the first Partners Cup. Yesterday, the 6-foot-7 behemoth showed a performance that was nothing short of spectacular as he scored a whooping 50 points to lift Aspac Bank-UC to a 108-100 win over R. Lapid’s Chicharon.
What made the win even sweeter was that it was a come-from-behind and an overtime win.
“He was gone for almost a year from the basketball scene, but he had been in therapy and we had taught him a lot and he had improved dramatically,” said therapist Dr. Dejaño, who had attended to Fajardo after he suffered an injury during the first Partners Cup.
Record-breaking
Fajardo broke his own record in this competition. He scored 40 points earlier in Danao, which was then the highest for the league. He is also the first player to have breached the 50-point marker since the 90s, a feat that was accomplished by Aldrin Ocañada.
This was the second time that Aspac Bank foiled a possible upset. Last Sunday, it also pulled off a backdoor win over Unilab/Alaxan-Don Bosco College, which was also extended to overtime.
Yesterday, R. Lapid’s came rampaging into the game and was able to build a confident 19-point lead, and was dictating the game’s tempo for the better part of it.
In the final period, Aspac Bank-UC, which was behind, 57-76, initiated a rousing comeback behind Kelvin Juliane to widen the gap to a reachable, 86-88.
Pressure
By this time, the once composed R. Lapid’s came crashing down as they succumbed to pressure to force crucial turnovers.
Fajardo then tied the game at 88-all in the final 24 seconds with an easy fastbreak layup. Jansen Abella missed a supposedly winning basket to force overtime.
Abella and Juliane, with Fajardo, owned the extra period en route to UC’s sixth win in eight games. Fajardo then completed his 50-point performance with a slam dunk in the final few ticks. He earned a technical for hanging at the ring too long and received a few lashing from coach Rhoel Gomez, but this did not stop UC from taking its victory.
Juliane scored 22 markers, while Abella had 14. USPF’s losing bid was led by Bogart Nemenzo, who had 23. USPF fell to a 1-6 slate.
