Caelan Tiongson admitted that he was left disappointed after Sidney Onwubere refused to shake hands at the end of Rain or Shine’s eventual victory over NorthPort in PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup action on Wednesday.
The Elasto Painters forward wanted to show sportsmanship as the buzzer sounded on their 113-96 win, only to get met by rejection when his Batang Pier counterpart warded him off before heading straight to the dugout.
“I would love to shake hands with him. I was disappointed when he didn’t shake hands with me,” the well-travelled rookie told reporters moments after emerging from the team’s locker room at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
Onwubere’s frustration apparently stemmed from Tiongson’s dunk against him with 6.6 seconds left to play and with the game all but settled.
That play saw the 32-year-old move the seasoned bruiser to get the miss of Francis Escandor before rising for the two-handed slam.
And as he landed, Tiongson, per the broadcast, stared down at his foe before Gabe Norwood held him back and ran down on defense.
Still, he made it a point to sprint back to Onwubere to shake his hand but the latter simply refused and then made his way out of the playing court.
Tiongson, though, harbors no ill feelings whatsoever and said that what had happened is all just part of basketball’s competitive spirit.
“It’s just basketball. I have no grudge, no ill feelings,” said the former ABL Heritage Import, who finished with 15 points and eight rebounds. “He played really hard. He played super, super hard. Kudos to him for playing so hard.
“And it looked like he really wanted to win,” he added. “So I think he did a good job at trying to win. That’s what you’re supposed to do, right?”
Onwubere offered the same although he didn’t hide that the way they played was also part of the dismay he felt as they lost via big margin/
“We’re just competing. Siyempre, tambak. Gusto namin manalo. Yung outcome medyo masama. We wanted it to be a bit close pero kinapos,” he said.
The former Ginebra player vowed that he can shake hands with Tiongson should they cross paths again down the road.
“Outside the court he can talk to me, he can say hi. We can shake hands. No problem,” he said.
#WATCH: Caelan Tiongson shares his disappointment after Sidney Onwubere walked past him without a handshake following their on-court spat in the Rain or Shine vs. NorthPort game 🏀
📹 @justinebacnis /Tiebreaker Times#PBA2025 pic.twitter.com/53ZQHxO7lS
— Tiebreaker Times (@tiebreakertimes) April 16, 2025
