No one was spared by the Philippine Basketball Association, who punished everyone involved in the confusion that marred the end game of the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel-San Miguel Beermen tilt last Sunday.
After chopping the Barangay’s 14-point lead down to just three with 4.5 seconds left on the clock, Sol Mercado was charged with a foul on Chico Lanete. As Chris Ross was waiting at the top of the arc, referee number 17, identified as Noy Guevarra, handed the ball to him. Crazy as it sounds, Ross went to the stripe, muffing the free throw attempt.
San Miguel head coach Leo Austria then called a timeout, as confusion ensued. This gave the game officials a chance to talk about the scenario. As Ross pleaded his case, the referees slapped a technical on him due to a new rule by the league if a scenario like this arises.
For instigating the error, lead official Jerry Borja was suspended by the league for three weeks. Noy Guevarra, Jimmy Mariano, and Mardy Montoya, all of whom allowed the play to continue, were suspended for a week.
For his part, Chris Ross was handed a fine of PHP 25,800, broken down to PHP 20,000 for making comments detrimental to the league during the post-game; PHP 2,400 for the technical slapped on him during the second quarter of the contest; and PHP 3,400 for his second technical.
Barker Noel Zarate and scorer Lito Mendegoria were also suspended for a week, as they failed to discern who the shooter was at the time.
