Photo by Tristan Tamayo/ INQUIRER.net
Lyceum’s historic 18-0 sweep of the NCAA Season 93 eliminations almost didn’t become a reality after referee Edmar Avis’ call late in the first overtime.
After CJ Perez gave the Pirates a 97-96 lead with a gutsy drive with 3.4 seconds to spare, Robert Bolick desperately tried to fish for foul in the last 1.5 ticks, something that the official numbered 16 willingly gave as he whistled Jaycee Marcelino for a foul.
That led to a lot of fans scratching their heads after Lyceum seemed to have lost the shot at history.
Fortunately for Pirates, Bolick botched his first attempt and could only muster for a split to tie the game at 97 and send the game to a second overtime.
The Pirates would then take the 107-105 win over the Red Lions in double overtime to complete the unprecedented streak.
NCAA commissioner Bai Cristobal was quick to leap on the defense of the referees, charging the bad and missed calls made to experience.
“Mistakes will always be there. But what I can say is the referees really tried their best. If I will rate it, you already saw it and you can base it on what you saw, I’m happy with the way they called it,” Cristobal said.
“I will not entertain that anymore. As far as the referees are concerned, we’ll always go on different ways. They will judge it according to what they saw and they will always call for what is good and right for the game.”
Lyceum coach Topex Robinson also didn’t let the errant call affect his team’s psyche late in the game.
“I trust coach Bai a lot. They’re also people who make mistakes. I told my players to just keep on playing. They don’t want to be in that situation also, and we honor them also. We know that they’re gonna make mistakes and it’s not a fault of their own. I told them that instead of making the referees as an excuse, we have to find a way. We have to find a way and we have to really, really grind it with them,” he said.