UE to appeal 2-game suspension of 2 Warriors

University of the East will file an appeal to the UAAP technical committee today after two Warriors were slapped with the stiffest penalty yet this season in the UAAP men’s basketball tournament.

Rod Roque, UE’s representative to the UAAP Board, said last night that the infractions of African center Charles Mammie and key defensive stopper Lord Casajeros do not merit a two-game suspension since they were “not intentional.”

“We hope that they can lift or at least downgrade [the sanctions],” said Roque.

League commissioner Chito Loyzaga recently slapped a two-game ban on both Mammie and Casajeros and also a one-game suspension on La Salle’s Thomas Torres, all for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Mammie picked up his third unsportsmanlike foul of the season, which merits an automatic two-game suspension, during the Warriors’ double overtime loss to Far Eastern University, 94-98, last Sunday.

“He stuck out his foot on the landing area of the shooter (FEU’s Terrence Romeo),” said Loyzaga. “It was not called, but after a thorough review of the game, I believe that was an unsportsmanlike foul that should have been assessed on him.”

Casajeros incurred his second unsportsmanlike for elbowing Romeo in the face and for again punching the FEU star “on the blind side” in another sequence, which wasn’t seen by the referee.

“That kind of intention deserves a higher penalty,” said Loyzaga. “In my personal opinion, if that foul was seen by the referee, that should have been a disqualifying foul right then and there.”