Sportsmanship met controversy on Saturday night as Adamson University head coach Nash Racela publicly apologized to University of Santo Tomas mentor Pido Jarencio and the Growling Tigers’ faithful after rookie guard Austin Ronzone broke one of Philippine basketball’s unwritten rules during the Soaring Falcons’ 69-59 victory in the UAAP Season 88 Men’s Basketball Tournament at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
In the dying seconds of the match, with Adamson holding a safe 67-59 lead, UST co-captains Forthsky Padrigao and Nic Cabanero fired desperate three-pointers in hopes of trimming the deficit — but both missed.
Manu Anabo then secured the rebound for the Falcons, and with less than 30 seconds left, it seemed Adamson would simply dribble out the clock.
Instead, though, Ronzone drove to the basket and sank an uncontested layup, extending their lead to 10. The move, though harmless in the box score, violated a long-standing gesture of respect in local basketball — not scoring in the final seconds when the outcome is already decided.
“We’d like to take this chance to apologize to UST na nag-shoot pa kami sa huli. Galit na galit yung mga coaches and yung staff ng UST. But yeah, I just want to apologize to them,” Racela said in the postgame interview.
(C) UAAP Season 88 Media Team
Racela clarified that the act carried no malicious intent, explaining that Ronzone — who hails from Oakland, California — may simply have been unaware of the local etiquette.
“Wala ‘eh, for me, it really did not mean anything. Kaya lang, nasanay tayong mga Pilipino na sa huli, huwag na i-shoot. Si Austin kasi is from the US, kaya that rule is something new to him, kumbaga,” Racela told Tiebreaker Times.
Still, Racela noted that if Ronzone had been aware of the situation, the play could have been influenced by the UAAP’s complex tiebreaker system, which considers points quotient when multiple teams finish with identical records.
“I don’t know, baka kasi it might matter in the end so sana maintindihan na lang din nila kung saan kami nanggagaling… Let’s say that he did it, ano rin ‘yon ‘eh, sabi ko nga kanina, it might matter sa dulo kasi lagi kami nakaka-tie. Sana lang maintindihan na lang talaga nila,” Racela explained.
Tensions briefly flared after the final buzzer, with Cabanero confronting Ronzone and a few Adamson players regarding the final sequence. But the exchange quickly settled down, with both sides maintaining composure.
“Cinonfront lang nila pero wala naman animosity between both teams. Sinabihan lang nila,” Racela said.
“Wala naman, kung kailangan ko pa mag-apologize ng 20 times, I’d do that.”
