ABL: Suspensions likely for Johnson, Dimaunahan

MANILA, Philippines—Two vital cogs face likely sanctions as the Asean Basketball League conducts a “full investigation” on the bench-clearing brawl that marred the San Miguel Beer-AirAsia Philippine Patriots match last Sunday.

The threat of suspension hangs on Patriots top scorer Anthony Johnson and SMB guard Aries Dimaunahan, whose hard foul on the American import sparked the melee in the third quarter of the heated match won by San Miguel, 68-66.

League officials had already gathered the game tapes and the officials’ reports on the incident, a league dispatch said yesterday.

The game got out of hand when Dimaunahan whacked Johnson, who was about to go for a lay up with 1:16 left in the third quarter.

Johnson responded to the hard foul with a head lock on Dimaunahan, which sparked the free-for-all among the players of both teams.

Only Johnson and Dimaunahan, however, were later ejected and the benches of both teams just got slapped with technical fouls.

“We have a big problem if we won’t have Johnson in our next game,” Patriots coach Glenn Capacio said of Johnson, who leads the Patriots with an average of 23.56 points.

The Patriots had hoped to avenge their lone loss against the Beermen, 70-78, but the latest setback allowed the Westports Malaysia Dragons to tie them for the lead at 7-2.

The Beermen climbed to second with a 7-3 card.