PBA suspends Quiñahan, fines Ibañes, Rosser for Game 4 scuffle

Rain or Shine’s JR Quiñahan and Jireh Ibañes, and Talk N’ Text’s Matt Ganuelas-Rosser were slapped with hefty fines after the trio started a scuffle in Game 4 of the Commissioner’s Cup Finals.

The PBA office on Thursday fined Ibañes and Rosser P40,000 each in conjunction of their Flagrant 2s when they got tangled up in the 9:47 mark of the 4th quarter, describing it as “excessive and protracted holding, grabbing, shoving, and pushing.”

JR Quiñahan, meanwhile, was fined with a total of P50,000 for two separate actions.

The league imposed a P40,000 fine on Quiñahan for throwing the ball straight to the face of Rosser and another P10,000 after assuming a fighting stance following the throw.

“This Office considers the act of hitting an opponent with the basketball as a highly-provocative and treacherous act. It is not unlike throwing a punch without warning and worse, without the attendant risk of retaliation. We did not find this factual condition in the incident involving Rosser and Ibañes,” the league said in a statement.

Quiñahan is also suspended for one game due to his Flagrant 2.

“This Office notes the propensity of players from both teams to engage in unnecessary off-the-ball grappling/jostling, extra motions and trash talking.”

“These non-basketball moves and actuations will be called. As we remind both teams that the responsibility of playing the game on its merits ultimately rests on them, the game officials have been directed to take the appropriate measures to prevent the recurrence of these incidents.” CC