Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—Magnolia guard Jio Jalalon denied that he and his teammates threw punches during Game 4 of the PBA Governors’ Cup Finals against Alaska Wednesday night at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Although the game was heated and had its physical moments, especially in the last three minutes when Mark Barroca hit Chris Banchero in the groin, there wasn’t any ejection or a long delay of play.
“We weren’t trying to hurt anyone, if anything happened on the court then I would like to apologize,” said Jalalon in Filipino.
“I didn’t punch anybody, Alaska was pressuring us, some little bumps here and there but I would never punch anyone on the court,” added Jalalon, who finished with seven points, seven rebounds, and six assists.
Alaska head coach Alex Compton accused Jalalon of punching some of his players and that import Mike Harris was also hit in the groin area during the game.
READ: Furious Compton says Magnolia played ‘dirty basketball’ in Game 4
“Jio punched us, somebody punched Mike in the testicles, somebody punched Chris in the testicles, and at what point is that going to be called?” said Compton. “That’s literally a low blow and I’m not happy about that one bit. That’s dirty basketball, to call anything else would be a lie and I’m not a liar.”
Jalalon vehemently denied Compton’s claims and he even went back to the incident between the Philippines and Australia in the Fiba World Cup Asian qualifiers that saw 10 Filipinos, including him, get suspended in Fiba tournaments.
Jalalon, who wasn’t even part of the national team lineup against the Aussies, was slapped with a five-game suspension after he punched one of the Australian players right in the jaw.
“We all know what happened in that Gilas incident, so that’s over and I moved on from that,” said Jalalon. “And I’m really staying away from that.”