Pingris, Devance, Nabong suspended; Hayes fined

A brawl erupts between players of GlobalPort Batang Pier and San Mig Coffee Mixers during their game at the Cuneta Astrodome Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2013. Marqus Blakely and Jo Devance of San Mig went after GlobalPort’s Kelly Nabong as teammate Marvin Hayes laid on the floor. Referees tried to stop the fight that ended with Blakely and Hayes being slapped with technical fouls while Marc Pingris (foreground) and Nabong were thrown out of the game. The Mixers beat Batang Pier, 102-88, at the PBA Governors’ Cup.PHOTO BY: PBA MEDIA BUREAU / SPORTS5 (Paolo Papa)

MANILA, Philippines – Kelly Nabong, Marc Pingris and Joe Devance were slapped with suspensions, while Marvin Hayes was meted a fine for Wednesday’s night on-court melee in the 2013 PBA Governors Cup.

League Commissioner Chito Salud announced the sanctions Friday morning after meeting with the erring players in his office in Libis, Quezon City on Thursday.

Nabong and Pingris, who exchanged blows early in the third quarter of San Mig Coffee’s 102-88 win over GlobalPort at Cuneta Astrodome, were both suspended for two games and fined P60,000 each.

Joe Devance, who decked Hayes in a move which sparked the brawl, meanwhile, was meted a one-game ban and a P30,000 fine “for triggering the commotion that led to the fight,” Salud said.

Devance and Pingris, vital cogs for the San Mig Coffee, will miss the anticipated Mixers-Barangay Ginebra clash while the rookie Nabong will not be in attendance in the Batang Pier’s meeting with Barako Bull this Sunday.

Hayes, who got tangled up with import Marcus Blakely, won’t be sitting out any games for GlobalPort, but was sanctioned a P20,000 fine for his “unsportsmanlike conduct, equivalent to a flagrant foul penalty two.”

Salud again stressed that “fighting is not condoned in the PBA. There is absolutely no justification for our players to get involved in fistfights.”

All fines will go to the PBA Players’ Trust Fund.