Terrence Romeo reached boiling point during Game Two of the 2019 PBA Philippine Cup Finals.
Seconds after knocking down his second three of the game that gave San Miguel an imposing 96-78 lead over Magnolia, the three-time scoring champion quickly incurred two technical fouls, leading to his ejection.
And it was because he could not hide his ire against lead referee Peter Balao.
“Para sa akin, napansin ko kasi yung referee, kanina pa niya ko tinatawagan ng mali. ‘Yun lang ‘yung mainit sa akin tingin ko,” said Romeo.
“Favorite niya ‘ko eh. Pero sa susunod dapat tawagan niya ulit ako ng ganun.”
With 6:23 left, Mark Barroca pressed Romeo, with a foul called on the former. Romeo then threw a chest pass to Balao that resulted in a quick tech.
“Nakakainis lang kasi alam ko nakikita niya eh, sa harapan niya nangyayari,” Romeo recalled since he felt there were many missed calls against him.
“Tapos pinasa ko lang yung bola sa kanya, tapos tinechnical niya ako.”
As Paul Lee made his free throw, Romeo – who felt the referee was singling him out – continued to bark at him, resulting in his expulsion from the contest.
San Miguel team governor Robert Non – together with fellow Beermen Christian Standhardinger, Chris Ross, Alex Cabagnot, and Arwind Santos – was then seen trying to stop Romeo from continuing his jawing at Balao. But Romeo admitted he’d been in the heat of the moment.
“Hindi ko alam. Hindi ko narinig yung sinasabi niya kasi inaaway ko yung referee. An alam ko inaaway ko yung referee [kaya] dapat maintindihan niya yung side namin kasi nakaka-frustrate sa side ko e.”
Romeo ended up with 13 points, as San Miguel held on to a 108-101 win to knot the series.
Still, the calls in the game frustrated Romeo.
“Ewan ko. May nakikita ata yung referee na yun na hindi ko nakikita. Kasi yung dapat niyang nakikita, hindi niya nakikita.”
For head coach Leo Austria, this should serve as a lesson to Romeo to keep his composure, especially in big games.
“I like that kid because he is a warrior. That is a sign na ayaw niya na nalalamangan,” Austria remarked about his guard.
“But this is a basketball game. He should be matured. Sa tingin ko makukuha rin niya yun.”
But Romeo has no other choice but to move on.
“No. Move on na ko next game. Kain ako sa bahay ng marami,” he quipped.
“Nood ako Netflix. Laruin ko baby ko, nood kami ng wife ko ng Netflix.”
