By ADRIAN STEWART CO

San Miguel Beermen center June Mar Fajardo soared to the top of the 2024 PBA Philippine Cup Best Player of the Conference (BPC) race by the end of the semifinals round.

The Cebu province’s Pinamungajan-native big man jumped at no. 1 in the individual award race after guiding the Beermen back to the finals following a four-game sweep of the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in the semis.

The 6-foot-10 center amassed a total of 43.12 statistical points (SPs) behind numbers of 17.3 points, 14.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists as he finally overtook previous leader, NLEX Road Warriors guard Robert Bolick, Jr.

Bolick fell at close no. 2 with 43.08 SPs, as he continued to pace the league in scoring with 28.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 6.5 assists, but the Road Warriors failed to reach the Final Four round.

Fajardo and Bolick will join rookie Stephen Holt of the Terrafirma Dyip, Beermen’s Jaymar Perez and Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings’ Christian Standhardinger as the official candidates for the BPC award.

Holt, who also leads the race for the Rookie of the Year, is currently at no. 3 with 40.8 SPs with an all-around number of 21.08 points, 8.1 rebounds, 6.3 assists, and 2.4 steals.

On the other hand, Perez is behind Holt after finishing with 39.18 SPs, followed by Standhardinger, who is in fifth place in the BPC race with 39.16 SPs after the semis round.

Of the five candidates, Fajardo has won the BPC title nine times, Standhardinger was a two-time winner, while Perez got his first citation in the 2023-2024 PBA Commissioner’s Cup./ASC, WDJ