THE Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) suspended the entire crew that officiated the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel-Magnolia match on Sunday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum for a non-call in the dying seconds.
Deputy commissioner Eric Castro, who primarily handles the PBA’s technical committee, said on Monday that chief official Peter Balao and referees Mardy Montoya, Joel Baldago and Julius Medillo were suspended indefinitely.
“Unacceptable,” Castro said in a statement. “There was a contact and we failed to make a call.”
The game result, however, remain and there won’t be a re-play.
A review of the game’s video on Monday revealed that the referees failed to call a foul on Magnolia Mark Barroca against driving Scottie Thompson of Ginebra with 11.5 seconds left and the Gin Kings trailing, 91-92.
The non-call forced Christian Standhardinger to foul Jio Jalalon, who split his free throws for the final 93-91 count with six seconds left.
Castro said the game officials admitted to the blunder.
“During the game, in real time while the play was on, the game crew did not see a foul,” Castro added in the statement. “The officials failed to call a foul [missed call] on Barroca against Thompson in the last 11.5 seconds of the fourth quarter.”
Ginebra was in full control most of the way and led by as many as 25 points, 51-25, in the second quarter.
But Magnolia, behind import Tyler Bey and Jalalon, clawed their way back to send the game to a thrilling finish.
Ginebra went 1-1 won-lost posting its first victory in the Commissioner’s Cup, 100-86, against Converge last Friday.
“It was a foul based on the replay,” said Thompson, who had 12 points, eight rebounds and nine assists in the game. “But maybe it was not clear on the referees, they saw it differently.”
Four referees supervise every PBA game with the chief sitting on the officials’ table and the three manning the court.
Bey led Magnolia with 31 points, 16 he made in the fourth quarter, to go along his 10 rebounds and five steals while Jalalon had 15 points.
Maverick Ahanmisi and Tony Bishop led Ginebra with 21 points each.
The NLEX Road Warriors , meanwhile, confirmed that Kevin Alas suffered a torn Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) as revealed by the MRI results obtained on Monday and confirmed by well-known orthopedic surgeon Dr. Raul Canlas.
“The team is currently assessing the extent of the injury and formulating a plan for Alas’s recovery,” an NLEX statement said. “Our thoughts are with Kevin Alas, and we wish him a speedy and successful rehabilitation process.”
Alas sustained the injury during NLEX’s 113-112 loss to Terrafirma last Saturday.
