The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas strongly condemned the incident that happened last Tuesday that saw Jose Rizal University player John Amores hit four College of Saint Benilde players during their NCAA-sanctioned game last Wednesday.
A spat with a game referee triggered Amores, then, later on, heckling by a fan that turned out to be the brother of CSB player Mark Sangco.
In a moment of blind rage, Amores punched Taine Davis, Jimboy Pasturan, and Sangco. He also shoved Migs Oczon. Davis, Pasturan, and Oczon, who were just trying to break the fight.
“The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) strongly condemns acts of on-court violence in basketball, whether it is directed towards a player, an official, or a fan,” said SBP president Al Panlilio.
With this, the SBP, through Executive Director Sonny Barrios, has reached out to board member Dax Castellano of CSB and regional director Paul Supan of JRU and discussed “the shared view of condemning on-court violence, adoption of preventive measures to avoid a repetition of the deplorable incident, including a review of security protocols, and meting out the necessary sanctions in a fair manner. “
The NCAA has since suspended multiple players and will have added measures to help protect the players, the fans, and the officials.
“We in SBP are one with NCAA in its direction to proactively take the appropriate steps to move the league forward in a professional manner and positively address the issues at hand for the benefit of NCAA and the sport of Basketball,” closed Panlilio.
