La Salle, FEU move on from Davao scuffle

After the press conference for the UAAP Season 80 Men’s Basketball tournament had ended, National University head coach Jamike Jarin asked incoming first-year Far Eastern University coach Olsen Racela and second-year La Salle mentor Aldin Ayo to hug it out. Both agreed, to the delight of everyone in attendance.

Last August 25, student-athletes from both the FEU Tamaraws and the DLSU Green Archers had figured in a bench-clearing brawl during a pocket tournament during the Kadayawan Festival in Davao.

Videos surfaced on social media showing clips of the incident. But both camps chose to stay mum about the incident, waiting for 10 days to break their silence.

Both Ayo and Racela shared that they and their players are moving forward from the incident.

“Very unfortunate that it happened. Sana hindi nangyari, pero hindi namin pinag-uusapan yun. I told the boys wag ng pag-usapan, wag mag-post ng kung ano-ano,” said Ayo.

“We are focused with the UAAP.”

“Same thing with what Coach Aldin said. Sa akin, I always tell my boys not to dwell on the past and be mindful of the present. Having said that, kalimutan na natin ang nangyari,” added Racela.

“We are really preparing hard for the season but it just so happened na La Salle ang aming first game.”

Moreover, Ayo cleared himself from the allegations that he had choked Arvin Tolentino during the scuffle, saying that he had been trying to pacify Tolentino, who was trying to rejoin the melee.

“Actually I did not do that. Lahat naman ng coaches doon, tumatakbo, may tinutulak kasi gusto umawat. I was just doing that. Kung bibigyan ng motive lahat ng ginagawa ng mga coaches dun, puwede mo lagyan ng storya at kwento,” Ayo declared.

“Pero I opted not to say anything about it kasi lalaki na lang.”

Still, the emotions will be high between both teams when they face each other on Sunday, September 10. But Racela is not focusing on that specific game, as their approach is for the entire season.

“Hindi naman mawawala sa basketball yun eh,” Racela answered when asked if there will be “bad blood” between both squads entering the game. “This Season 80 is not just about FEU and La Salle (though). There are six other teams out there. Kaya kailangan namin maghanda.”

The UAAP, on the other hand, will not impose any sanctions stemming from that incident, as it was not sanctioned by the league.

“Let’s move on. This was a pocket tournament… To dwell on it is counterproductive,” said UAAP Season 80 president Anton Montinola of FEU.

And hopefully, all will be well come opening weekend.