A sideline altercation and various technical fouls occurred last night during Game One of the best-of-seven semifinals series between the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters and the San Miguel Beermen.
At the 9:45 mark of the third canto of the said game, sideline inbounder Chris Ross was bumped by Rain or Shine’s fiery head coach and, later on, took a swipe at Ross resulting to a technical foul. The Filipino-American point guard went on to confront Guiao but was shoved on the sidelines by ROS big man Beau Belga. Fortunately, the game’s officials were able to pacify both sides and play continued.
Other players assessed a technical foul during the game were Rain or Shine’s Raymond Almazan (5:30, 2nd quarter), Jericho Cruz (1:50, 3rd quarter, and San Miguel Beer’s Yancy de Ocampo (1:50, 3rd quarter).
In a statement released by the PBA’s Commissioner’s Office, “the act of physically contacting an opponent is considered under the rules as grave unsportsmanlike gesture that should have merited an ejection.” Moreover, Belga’s penalty was a result of a violation of league rules prohibiting a player seated on the bench from leaving when a commotion is taking place.
Other players who received fines are Yancy de Ocampo and Raymond Almazan (both PHP 1,600) for their second technical fouls of the conference, and Jericho Cruz (PHP 1,000) for his first technical foul.
Game Two of the semifinals series between the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters and the San Miguel Beermen is set on Thursday, January 7 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
