Allein Maliksi. PBA IMAGES
MANILA, Philippines–Converge on Saturday deemed the actions of Meralco’s Allein Maliksi as an “assault” during an altercation with Barkley Ebona in the final seconds of the hard-fought overtime encounter between the two teams in the PBA Governors’ Cup the other day.
The FiberXers also bared in a statement released by their corporate communications department that Ebona suffered a strain after Maliksi grabbed his neck in response to being fouled with six seconds left in the extra period of the Bolts’ 132-129 win at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“The Converge FiberXers denounce the assault on one of our players during the game against the Meralco Bolts yesterday,” Converge said shortly after the PBA Commissioner’s Office slapped Maliksi with a one-game suspension and a P75,000 fine.
“Actual videos of the incident clearly showed that (Maliksi) tried to strangle (Ebona) following a duty foul at the last seconds of the overtime period of the game. Medico-legal findings after the incident revealed that Ebona sustained [a] ‘soft tissue injury secondary to mauling.’
“Converge joined the PBA with the intention of building a track record of discipline, competitiveness, and sportsmanship that Filipino basketball fans love. And we have carried these values in every game that we played including yesterday’s game,” the team added.
Converge also took offense to the postgame comments made by Maliksi, who also accused coach Aldin Ayo of instructing the team to hurt Meralco import KJ McDaniels.
Maliksi claims that Ayo made those remarks as a response to what he felt was Meralco’s Toto Jose doing the same to Converge import Jamaal Franklin.
“We are deeply concerned that such an incident happened yesterday where one of our players was put in danger by another player. We also take exception to the statements that the Converge team had an intention to harm other players in the court,” the FiberXers said.
“Our previous games, whether win or lose, will show that our players have always played fair and displayed honorable sportsmanship. We trust that the PBA management and board will be fair and just in its investigation and handling of this matter. Such ruffian behavior has no place in a professional basketball league.”
The outcome, despite a 57-point performance from Franklin, dealt Converge a second straight setback, dropping its record to 6-4 going into Sunday’s game against Barangay Ginebra.
Converge needs a win to stay alive in the race for the twice-to-beat advantage in the quarters.