June Mar Fajardo and Japeth Aguilar during the PBA Philippine Cup semifinals between San Miguel Beermen and Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines—Among the things that worked for Barangay Ginebra in its Game 1 win over San Miguel Beer was the team’s game plan to attack June Mar Fajardo.

Fajardo, who seemed shaken up with a right calf issue in the second half, was exploited by the Gin Kings en route to their 73-71 come-from-behind win in the PBA Philippine Cup semifinals.

It may not have been pretty,  but coach Tim Cone certainly saw it as an opening.

READ: PBA: Ginebra rallies from 18 down, beats San Miguel for 1-0 lead

“We saw that June Mar was getting treatment from the sideline so we took advantage of the times he was absent on the floor to get back in the game,” said Cone at Mall of Asia Arena on Wednesday.

“When he’s on the floor, it’s just really, really tough. The good news is we just battled tonight.”

June Mar Fajardo and Japeth Aguilar during the PBA Philippine Cup semifinals between San Miguel Beermen and Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

The reigning league MVP may have snagged 19 rebounds but he was a liability for the Beermen’s offense, finishing with just six points.

To make matters worse for the PBA 50 Greatest Players member, he only sank three of his ten tries in what looked to be a strenuous 33 minutes of action.

Fajardo had a moment in the dying seconds when he had a literal shot at redemption only to be denied by Japeth Aguilar, who meanwhile dominated for Ginebra with 18 points and nine rebounds.

“We were trying to make sure June Mar didn’t catch the ball in the paint or at the post,” explained Cone.

“Japeth did a good job of challenging that shot and luckily for us, it rolled out and we were able to secure the rebound,” added the veteran tactician.

Ginebra aims to exploit Fajardo more in Game 2 at Ninoy Aquino Stadium on Friday’s first part of a double-header before Rain or Shine’s bout with TNT.