Junemar Fajardo leads PBA Governors' Cup BPC race

Junemar Fajardo is on track for another BPC award, although San Miguel's early exit could matter in the votes. Jade Moya (file photo)
By Ivan Saldajeno

MANILA—Despite Meralco and Ginebra making the finals of the PBA Governors' Cup, none of their players are among the top players in the Best Player of the Conference race.

In fact, at the release of the statistical points update on Monday, it was someone who didn't even make the semifinals who topped the list.

San Miguel's Junemar Fajardo once again led the BPC race in terms of stats after the semifinals. Despite the Beermen getting ousted in the quarterfinals, Fajardo led the pack with an average of 38.8 SP's.

What made the BPC race more interesting was the fact that the second placer is CJ Perez, whose Columbian squad missed the playoffs. Perez had 37.2 SP's.

Chris Standhardinger's trade to NorthPort benefited him a lot as he zoomed to third with 35.1 SP's thanks to the team's semifinal appearance, while NLEX's Kiefer Ravena made an impression in his comeback conference as he ranked fourth with 34.5 SP's. Jayson Castro rounded up the Top 5 with 31.6 SP's.

Four of the protagonists in the championship series, which will start on Jan. 7, were bubbling under from sixth to 10th places with Ginebra's Stanley Pringle topping the finalists at sixth place with 30.8 SP's. The top player among the Meralco stalwarts is Chris Newsome, who is ranked ninth with 29.8 SP's.

Rounding the Top 11, KaTropa RR Pogoy is seventh with 30.4 SP's, the Barangay's Japeth Aguilar is eighth with 29.9, and teammate LA Tenorio is tied with Magnolia Hotshot Ian Sangalang for 10th place with 28.0.

The votes from the media, the players, and the Commissioner's Office can shake up the final BPC rankings. The BPC for the Governors' Cup will be named before Game 4 of the finals on Jan. 15.

Follow him on Twitter: @IvanSaldajeno