It was a frustrating night for Tanduay Alab Pilipinas and its rabid home crowd on Wednesday evening. A rare technical foul was whistled on head coach Jimmy Alapag, and a few bottles and coins were thrown onto the playing court of the Filoil Flying V Centre after the game.
And it was all because of one missed call that happened when Alab was rallying back against the Singapore Slingers.
With Alab cutting a 10-point lead down to just six points with less than three minutes remaining, the Philippine side was desperate for stops. Justin Brownlee was able to force Xavier Alexander into the corner, successfully challenging his three-point attempt. Singapore’s World Import lost his footing and inadvertently took multiple steps. However, a traveling violation was not called and Alexander threw up a jumper that went in.
The fans jeered the game officials while Alapag openly expressed his disgust to the officials that resulted in a T. In the end, Alab’s three-game winning streak was snapped, 80-90.
Brownlee passed up on blaming the game officials, saying that it’s all part of the game.
“You can’t control that. The refs are not perfect, I’m not a perfect basketball player. We make mistakes,” said the 29-year-old, who has played all over the world.
“They try to do their best and I’ll try to do my best because that’s what I can control.”
Instead, the reigning World Import of the Week focused on what Alab had done wrong. In addition, the two-time PBA champion shared that what got them into a hole was that they were not able to match the energy of their opponents.
“We came out trying to set the tone early but give credit to Singapore,” commended the 6-foot-7 forward, who finished the game with 16 points on 7-for-19 shooting to go along with 11 rebounds.
“Coming off a loss, they just came out with a lot of energy, a lot of awareness, and they were just focused. They came in, fought hard. They deserve it,” added Brownlee, who had 17 points, eight assists, seven rebounds, two blocks, and a steal during their road win against the very same team last Sunday.
“I think we relaxed a little bit. Coming off a couple of wins, by human nature, you tend to do that. Hopefully, we can get our rhythm back.”
Even after absorbing his first loss in an Alab jersey, Brownlee was still his usual upbeat self. He exuded a quiet confidence as he firmly believes that Alab will turn things around quickly starting Sunday, when they go on the road to take on the Mono Vampire in Thailand.
“I think I’m adjusting well. The team is helping me communicating and have a good time,” Brownlee shared.
“We just need to win more games and get our rhythm back.”
