The PBA technical committee stood firm on its decision to call an offensive basket interference on Mo Tautua’a that led to San Miguel’s defeat at the hands of TNT in Game 1 of the Season 49 Philippine Cup Finals on Sunday night.
Deputy commissioner Eric Castro cited a provision on the league’s rulebook in explaining the rationale behind the call, which clearly did not sit well with the Beermen as it foiled what could’ve been a come-from-behind win.
An “interference occurs during a shot for a field goal when an offensive player causes the backboard to vibrate or grasp the basket in such a way that, in the judgment of the official, the ball has been caused to enter the basket.”
The long-time league official addressed members of the press moments after the rather controversial match, which left SMB officials furious — so much so that they went straight to the technical table after the final buzzer rang.
@justinebacnis #WATCH : The supposed go-ahead dunk of Mo Tautua’a with 56.1 seconds left in Game 1 of the PBA S49 Philippine Cup Finals, which the league’s technical committee overturned and deemed as an offensive basket interference after a thorough review. The one-handed jam was initially counted and put the Beermen up against TNT, 98-97, and moved them closer from turning the game around after trailing by as many as 24 points. SMB lost, 99-96. Agree with the call? @tiebreakertimes @smbeermen #pba #fyp #pbaseason49 #pbagametayodito #pbaangatanglaban #sanmiguel #beer #smb #tnt #tropa #5g #pbafinals #championship #game1 #basketball #philippines #sports #tiktokph #sportsontiktok #foryou #foryoupage ♬ original sound – Justine Bacnis
“As you’ve seen in the replay, when Mo dunked in the last 56 seconds, nahila niya ‘yung ring pababa. But the contention of the, of course, the coaching staff, was yung bola was straight and entered the rim,” he explained.
“Regardless kung may tamaan siyang part ng ring, the fact na nahila niya ‘yung ring pababa is a violation already, considered a basket interference,” he added.
That dunk gave San Miguel a 98-97 lead and moved the team on the cusp of completing its rally from 24 down. However, the call was only announced with 6.1 seconds left, prior to a jump ball between Chris Ross and Jordan Heading.
Even that drew the Beermen’s ire, but Castro said that it was the only time that they could call it through the PA announcer, as it was a dead-ball situation.
“It so happened na tuloy-tuloy ‘yung game,” the former coach offered. “There was no dead ball, and then around five seconds remaining, there was a jump ball between Heading and Chris Ross if I’m not mistaken.”
“So that was the only time that we could review — well, we’ve been reviewing it habang live ball, but that was the only time that we were able to announce it through our barker the correction,” added Castro.
Had there not been any pause on the match, the technical committee could have corrected the issue even after the game, meaning that the Tropang 5G would still have won.
“In the event that there was no dead ball, at natapos yung game with the score, under our rules, we can still correct it,” he said.
“So, the possibility of TNT winning the game at the end minus the correction because walang dead ball,” he continued, “mangyayari ‘yun.”
Now, the technical committee is set to discuss matters among themselves, including possible sanctions on the refs for missing the call.
“Mag-uusap kami. We’ll meet after this. But again, just like any goaltending na na-miss during endgame, we review it, we can review it,” he said.
“Bakit kami ang nag-initiate ng review? Just like any goaltending violation we can, us sa technical committee, review it. It just so happened our officials were not able to make a call. Kaya sa amin sa technical committee ‘yun bumagsak.”
#WATCH: PBA Deputy Commissioner Eric Castro breaks down the rule behind the offensive interference call on Mo Tautuaa’s dunk in Game 1 of the #PBA2025 Finals
@justinebacnis /Tiebreaker Times pic.twitter.com/MScr3f2RwU
— Tiebreaker Times (@tiebreakertimes) July 13, 2025
