SBP condemns acts of on-court violence after NCAA scuffle

JRU’s John Amores trying to confront a referee. –NCAA PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines— The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) president Al Panlilio is condemning the acts of violence in the NCAA Season 98 men’s basketball game between Jose Rizal University and College of St. Benilde, where Heavy Bomber John Amores threw punches at four Blazers that led to his indefinite suspension from the league.

The federation on Thursday released a statement regarding the incident in the NCAA two days ago, denouncing the “acts of on-court violence in basketball, whether it is directed towards a player, an official or a fan.”

The SBP bared that Executive Director Sonny Barrios has reached out to NCAA Trustee to the SBP Board Dax Castellano, who is also CSB’s representative, and SBP Regional Director Paul Supan of JRU and discussed the brawl that happened the final three minutes of the game between the Blazers and the Bombers with the former leading, 71-51.

“They discussed the shared view of condemning on-court violence, adoption of preventive measures to avoid a repetition of the deplorable incident, including a review of security protocols, and meting out the necessary sanctions in a fair manner,” Panlilio wrote.

“We in SBP are one with NCAA in its direction to proactively take the appropriate steps to move the league forward in a professional manner and positively address the issues at hand for the benefit of NCAA and the sport of Basketball,” the statement concluded.

The NCAA on Wednesday banned Amores from all league activities following his rampage, which left two players from CSB seeking medical attention.

The league’s managing committee also punished Amores for bumping and pointing a finger at a referee, disrespecting JRU representative Supan and court officials, charging toward St. Benilde’s bench and making provocative gestures that triggered the brawl.

JRU also released a separate statement, apologizing for the incident and barring Amores from joining the team practice.

But the NCAA also suspended nine players of JRU namely Jason Tan, Joshua Guiab, Jason Celis, Marwin Dionisio, Jan Abaoag, Jonathan Medina, Karl de Jesus, and Christian Gonzales for one game, while William Sy and Ryan will be out for two matches for committing disrespectful acts before league officials.

St. Benilde’s Mark Sangco and CJ Flores will also be suspended for two games for the same reason, as their teammate Ladis Lepalam will serve a one-game suspension.