INTERNATIONAL coach Brian Goorjian was simply blown away seeing Bay Area play against June Mar Fajardo and Terrence Romeo for the first time in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.

Both the San Miguel Beer stars proved to be a thorn in the side of Goorjian and the Bay Area Dragons early in Game One of their best-of-five semifinal series.

Fajardo and Romeo combined for 32 points in their first encounter with the Dragons, who were fortunate enough to pull off a 103-102 come-from-behind victory.

The damage the two caused the Hong Kong-based guest team was too much that Goorjian can’t help but describe Fajardo as ‘a beast,’ and Romeo as ‘dynamic.’

“He’s an animal, he’s a beast, and I say that in a very good way,” the Bay Area coach said of the 6-foot-10 Fajardo.

“He’s just got a great temperament, and just work that low block. And even when he’s not scoring, your defense just open up all those perimeter shooters because you got to go down there and dig on him.”

Fajardo was still recovering from a throat surgery when the reigning champion Beermen battled the Dragons during the eliminations, and came away with a runaway 113-87 win.

But with the six-time MVP back in harness to man the middle for San Miguel, it certainly was a different team Bay Area tackled.

Fajardo added eight rebounds, four assists, and one block, while defending import Andrew Nicholson and 7-foot-5 center Chuanxing Liu.

And then there’s Romeo, who torched the Dragons with his outside shooting, including a fiery 4-of-6 clip from three point range.

Like Fajardo, the San Miguel scoring guard was still nursing an injury (back) and was not around during the two teams’ initial faceoff.

“And I hear about Romeo, this new guy coming in. He’s dynamic, so good with the ball, incredible passer, and an unbelievable touch,” said Goorjian of the league’s three-time scoring champion.

The Bay Area Dragons coach actually credited Romeo’s shooting for allowing San Miguel to take a 15-point lead in the second period, and the biggest at 83-67 late in the third quarter.

Romeo though, wasn’t around in the endgame as he was taken out in the final 3:22 and never returned as San Miguel failed to hold on to a four-point lead.

Nonetheless, Goorjian remains very much wary of Romeo as the series wears on.

“That’s another headache for us, long term. Tremendous player,” said the same coach who gave Australia its first ever Olympic medal in men’s basketball during last year’s Tokyo Olympiad.