Pio Longa (#10). Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
University of the Philippines was penalized after one of its players had the wrong placement of logo on his shorts in the Maroons’ game versus De La Salle Wednesday in the UAAP Season 78 Men’s basketball tournament.
Pio Longa’s shorts had the oblation logo on its right side while the rest of his teammates have it on the left side.
“I’ve been wearing those shorts since the start of the tournament and tonight was the only time they noticed that logo,” said the rookie, who had eight points and three rebounds in a 72-68 loss.
READ: La Salle ends skid, gains share of 4th place after escaping UP
It was Green Archers assistant coach Allan Caidic who noticed Longa’s uniform error.
After a long discussion by the game officials, a technical foul was called against UP, which is based on UAAP rules.
READ: UE drops protest on NU wrong uniform
The 10-minute lull disrupted the momentum of the Fighting Maroons, who had come all the way back from a 19-4 deficit and even led, 32-28, before the game was momentarily stopped at the 8:43 mark of the third quarter.
The Green Archers, who are in a desperate hunt for a Final Four berth, escaped UP with a 72-68 victory to gain a share of the fourth seed with National University.
UP coach Rency Bajar admitted that the lull somehow affected his team’s flow.
“It was big because we were gaining momentum,” Bajar said. “Mind games. Coach Allan and La Salle’s coaching staff saw it but it is what it is. It’s part of the game.”
“But if you’re a matured player you can’t depend on what happened and just continue playing.”
Bajar also said that it was his team’s sloppy play that ultimately led to the loss.
“That situation didn’t really affected us. What really got to us was our turnovers in the last one minute of the game.”