An ugly brawl between JRU Heavy Bombers and St. Benidle Blazers halted the NCAA Season 98 match. –NCAA PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—College of St. Benilde and Jose Rizal University’s matchup in the NCAA Season 98 men’s basketball tournament came to a halt on Tuesday after an ugly brawl ensued late in the game.
The Blazers were up 68-51 in the fourth quarter when a fight broke out after Migs Oczon sank a three-pointer to give them a 71-51 lead.
In the ensuing rebound play, CSB’s CJ Flores and JRU’s John Amores got entangled on the floor, leading to the Heavy Bombers’ coaching staff assisting Amores out of the game to de-escalate the situation.
But Amores figured in a shouting match with someone over at the opposite bench, making him run towards the Benilde side where he started throwing a flurry of punches that hit several St. Benilde Blazers.
Mark Sangco of the Blazers was seen trying to stop the charging Amores with a punch, but Amores went on a rampage and ended up hitting Jimboy Pasturan in the eye and Taine Davis in the jaw.
Punches being thrown on the court in this JRU-Benilde match #NCAASeason98 pic.twitter.com/foJGLykX2d
— GMA Sports (@gmasportsph) November 8, 2022
Security escorted Amores to the dugout.
After an hour of review, the NCAA decided to end the game with the Blazers taking the lopsided victory.
“The NCAA Management Committee has decided to stop the JRU Heavy Bombers vs College of St. Benilde Blazers game to avoid further escalation of untoward incidents and for the safety of the players, coaches, and audience,” the NCAA coliseum announcer said in declaring the conclusion of the game.
“This is without prejudice to the further investigation that may cause sanctions to players and coaching staff of both teams. Both teams agreed, Mr. Paul Supan and Mr. Dax Castellano to this decision.”
The NCAA has yet to announce the sanctions on the people involved in the melee.
No one from the JRU was available for comment after the game as the team immediately left San Juan Arena.
St. Benilde coach Charles Tiu said he had already started subbing out some of his players in an effort with the game getting increasingly physical.
“The person involved has been in the same situation before[…] It happens, basketball is physical but I don’t think there’s any need to charge across the bench if he was being heckled by somebody. I pray for Amores and just, bless his soul,” Tiu also said of Amores.
It was not the first time Amores blew his lid. During the pre-season, he also threw a punch at University of the Philippines’ Mark Gil Belmonte resulting in his indefinite suspension in the PG Flex Linoleum-UCBL Preseason Tournament.