By REYNALD MAGALLON
THE PBA is suspending the set of referees who called the game between Barangay Ginebra and Magnolia which was marred by dissension over a non-call on what looked like to be a foul by Mark Barroca on Scottie Thompson’s last attempt.
Television replays showed Barroca clipping Thompson in the arm while driving hard to the basket and attempting for a layup. The non-call was deemed crucial to the contest with the Hotshots coming away with a 93-91 win over the Kings.
More than that, the sequence, instead of sending Thompson to the foul line to get a chance to take the lead, led to Christian Standhardinger fouling Jio Jalalon who then sealed the deal with a free throw in the waning seconds.
Deputy commissioner Eric Castro later on admitted that the foul on Barroca with 11.5 seconds left in the final frame, forcing the league to suspend the referee crew over the crucial blunder.
“Unacceptable. There was contact. We failed to make a call,” said Castro in a statement on Monday, Nov. 20.
“During the game – in real time while the play was on, the game crew did not see a foul. The officials failed to call a foul (missed call) on Barroca against Thompson in the last 11.5 seconds of the 4th quarter,” he added.
The referees who called the game between Magnolia and Ginebra were crew chief Peter Balao, along with Mardy Montoya, Joel Baldago and Julius Medillo.
Ginebra head coach Tim Cone actually still has a challenge at his disposal that time after a successful try early on in the contest. The Kings however no longer have timeout – a prerequisite for a coach to be able to challenge a call.
While the non-call was crucial to the contest, Ginebra, however, was more frustrated at itself after failing to protect a huge 26-point lead in the first half – the biggest margin the Kings squandered since 2019 or when they still lost to NLEX in 2019 despite building a lead that went to as many as 28 points.
