FILE – Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
LUCENA—Marcio Lassiter would rather move on and not dwell on his sorry ejection late in the third quarter with San Miguel waging a huge fightback in Game 2 of the 2017 PBA Philippine Cup.
“I’m not here to criticize the refs. That’s their call and I have to respect it,” Lassiter said. “You guys see me and see what I do. Clearly, I did not taunt.”
After drilling his fourth trey in the third period that got the Beermen to within two, 84-82, Lassiter was whistled for a technical foul for taunting as he celebrated the shot by mimicking the famous chef “Salt Bae.” His mistake, however, was doing it in front of Ginebra guard Sol Mercado as he made his way back on defense.
That proved to be his demise as he was thrown out. He had earlier incurred a flagrant foul penalty one in the second quarter.
“I had that kind of sense that I wasn’t out there on the court. I wanted to support my teammates and be there for my teammates, and I wasn’t able to do that,” he said after posting 21 points and four rebounds.
Without the gunner, San Miguel still fought gallantly before falling to Ginebra, 124-118, in overtime.
Still, Lassiter noted despite the circumstances his team faced – with him getting ejected and June Mar Fajardo and Chris Ross later on fouling out – he could only feel proud with the way the Beermen fought.
“I’m definitely satisfied because it shows how hungry we are. We never give up, but I never get to see the game so I can’t really tell what happened after the game. Hopefully in Game 3, I can be there for the whole game. We just got to recover and just grow from there,” he said.
Game 3 is on Wednesday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.