MANILA, Philippines—Far Eastern University’s JR Cawaling escaped suspension Friday following his ejection in the Tamaraws’ semifinal match against La Salle in the UAAP men’s basketball tournament last Thursday.
Officials threw out Cawaling after slapping the senior forward with consecutive unsportsmanlike and technical fouls following his altercation with La Salle’s Simon Atkins in the second quarter of the game won by the Tamaraws, 69-59, in overtime.
“There are two kinds of [unsportsmanlike] fouls, one is not meant to hurt,” said league commissioner Ato Badolato.
“We reviewed the game and Cawaling’s foul wasn’t meant to hurt, it was just to prevent a fastbreak. His technical was for thrash talking.”
But Cawaling, a member of the Smart Gilas national team, drew a warning along with University of Santo Tomas’ juniors star Kevin Ferrer for misdemeanors.
Ferrer was slapped with an unsportsmanlike foul in the Tiger Cubs’ 66-76 loss to the defending champion Blue Eaglets in Game 2 of the juniors Finals.
The top-seeded Tamaraws remain favored in the best-of-three championship starting on Sept. 25 against the winner of the other Final Four series between defending champion Ateneo and Adamson.
Toting a twice-to-beat edge, the No. 2 Blue Eagles only need to win once against the third-ranked Falcons in their 4 p.m. semifinal duel on Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum to claim the last Finals berth.
The Blue Eaglets, led by Kiefer Ravena, will vie for a third straight championship at 11 a.m.
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