Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
The game between San Miguel and Phoenix in the PBA Governors’ Cup had it all from blown leads to game-changing runs with a little bit of extra curricular on the side.
After Beermen import Kevin Murphy and Calvin Abueva got tangled up near the Fuel Masters’ bench, the two teams engaged in a heated verbal spat as the referees reviewed the incident.
Phoenix head coach Louie Alas tried to cross the halfcourt line and had to be restrained by security officials at Mall of Asia Arena.
Alas said San Miguel team governor Robert Non was shouting expletives at Calvin Abueva during the heated moments in the game where the Beermen won, 117-100, on Friday.
San Miguel assistant coach Biboy Ravanes also joined the fray and also shouted toward Alas and the Phoenix bench.
“Gov started it, he was cursing at Calvin and we can’t let that happen because we weren’t even cursing their players. We’re just trying to pacify the situation but we won’t curse at them,” said Alas in Filipino.
The altercations happened at the 4:11 mark of the fourth quarter with San Miguel holding a 105-88 lead, just a few minutes after the Beermen capped off a 21-7 run for a 92-77 that turned the tide to their favor.
Murphy, who was called for a flagrant foul penalty 1, and Abueva got tangled up on a box out situation that subsequently spilled to the baseline barriers near the audience.
Upon review, three technical fouls were called against Alas, Phoenix team manager Paolo Bugia, and big man Doug Kramer.
Alas, however, said what happened was just a sudden burst of emotion between the two teams and that it’s nothing personal.
“That was just Gov’s emotion out there, that’s not like him at all,” said Alas, whose team dropped to 6-3. “After the game, he was there and Gov also shook my hand and it just shows that it was just a spur of the moment type of thing.”