Basketball
Perpetual Help mulling protest over loss to Mapua
InterAKTV/Justin Gener
Filing a protest over non-calls seems to be in vogue in the college basketball scene today.
After a tight 74-71 defeat to the Mapua Cardinals, the Perpetual Help Altas are planning a protest over alleged non-calls by the referees.
Perpetual team captain Anthony Paulino signed the game’s scoresheet with a note that said “Under Protest.”
Altas coach Aric Del Rosario said it was not him, but athletic director Moses Lozada who wants to file the protest.
One point of contention for Perpetual was the early ejection of Nigerian forward Femi Babayemi at the 6:32 mark of the first quarter for throwing an elbow above the shoulder of Mapua’s Michael Abad. Babayemi was given a disqualifying foul for his infraction without regard to whether it was intentional or not.
The NCAA previously issued disqualifying fouls to similar violations, such as those called on players from College of Saint Benilde in its August 4 loss against Emilio Aguinaldo College that saw a near-melee.
Altas players couldn’t help but express frustration, with star guard Jett Vidal taking to Twitter to vent. “Grabe.. Obvious na obvious.. Luto..” wrote Vidal after the game.
According to Fr. Vic Calvo of Letran, who heads the league’s policy board, once a formal protest is filed, the complainant needs to put up a bond of P5,000. If the protest is upheld, the bond will be refunded. But if the protest gets junked, there will be no refund.
The loss sent the Altas down to a three-way logjam with Letran and Jose Rizal University at third to fifth spots with similar 9-6 records.
Perpetual’s move to file a protest comes on the heels of a similar action from University of Santo Tomas, which filed a protest over its loss to Ateneo in the UAAP last Saturday. Earlier this season, National University contest its loss to Far Eastern University, a protest that was upheld, resulting in a re-play of the game.
