Allein Maliksi. PBA IMAGES
MANILA, Philippines—The PBA Commissioner’s Office on Saturday handed Meralco’s Allein Maliksi a one-game suspension for an altercation with Converge’s Barkley Ebona in their tense Governors’ Cup encounter the other day.
Maliksi was also fined P75,000 after grabbing Ebona’s neck during the confrontation that happened with six seconds left in the Bolts’ 132-129 win over the FiberXers at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Ebona received a P5,000 fine for his hard foul on Maliksi, which resulted in a Flagrant Foul 1 and the ensuing incident that needed cooler heads to intervene.
The Converge big man was also “warned that a repeat of such incident will merit a stiffer penalty,” according to the PBA’s website.
The sanctions were announced after deputy commissioner Eric Castro summoned both players at the PBA office in Libis, Quezon City to explain their side.
Meralco and Maliksi, who thought that there was malice on Ebona’s part, had already apologized for the incident through separate social media posts.
Ebona explained he had no intention of deliberately hurting Maliksi as the FiberXers were in dire need of stopping the clock with a duty foul.
Maliksi will serve the ban on Sunday when Meralco concludes its elimination round assignment against Phoenix at Philsports Arena in Pasig City.