Poy Erram insisted that he meant no harm following his inadvertent hit on Ian Sangalang that ultimately led to his ejection from Game Six of the PBA Philippine Cup semifinals between TNT and Magnolia, Sunday night.
The 6-foot-8 slotman got assessed with a flagrant foul penalty two (F2) just a minute entering the final period when his elbow landed on the face of his counterpart, as he got baited by the latter’s shot fake near the rim.
It caused a gash above the left eyebrow of Sangalang, although he was able to play on. Erram, on the other hand, headed to the dugout and left the game with eight points and 10 rebounds in over 22 minutes of play.
“Wala, desisyon ng referee, wala na ‘kong magagawa,” he said.
“Siyempre hindi naman natin gusto ‘yung nangyari, hindi naman natin sinasadya.”
Erram knows that it may hard for others to believe but maintained that it was not intentional whatsoever, that it was all an accident.
“Ang daming hindi maniniwala kung sabihin ko pero ‘yun talaga, hindi ko naman sinasadya,” he said.
“I’m going for the ball. Na-timing lang talaga na ‘yung ulo niya nakataas kasi paangat din siya e, pababa ‘yung kamay ko, tumama.”
It clearly wasn’t the way he wanted to finish the game but seeing the Tropang Giga come out victorious by way of an 87-84 decision and book a return trip to the championship round brings consolation to the nine-year vet.
“Siyempre, grabe. Kinabahan ako. ‘Di ko nga pinapanood ‘yung laro e. Buti na lang naririnig ko puro Jayson Castro,” said Erram, mimicking the Coliseum barker as Jayson Castro powered TNT with 26 points.
“Puro Mikey Williams, nakaka-shoot. Happy ako,” he added. “‘Di lang naman din ako ‘yung player ng team, marami namang player na mag-iistep up para sa’min. Luckily we got the win, and we move on.”
Still, he’s apologetic for the incident with Sangalang, saying sorry even if he did not mean any of it as he still caused trouble.
“Gusto ko mag-sorry — kahit hindi mo sinasadya, kasi nakasakit ka ng tao e,” offered the 33-year-old product of Ateneo.
“Sorry.”
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The second game of each PBA gameday is live-streamed on SMART Sports.
