JR Barrios, who shot Konflikt’s winning basket, had only .5 seconds to snatch a full court pass and score an undefended two-points.
Satbahi’s head coach Marlon Sison argued that half a second wasn’t enough, and that the league’s technical committee may have forgotten to press the shot clock after the ball was passed.
Referee Gabriel White ultimately counted the basket, resulting in an immediate protest from Sison and team manager Rey Perez.
As of last night, UFO member Bong Malasarte waited for a proper letter from team Satbahi addressing the league. The score was considered final.
According to procedures, the head coach of a team must have properly signed the game’s score sheet and notify the referees of a possible protest.
White stated that team Satbahi took neither courses of action.
Submitting a formal protest document must also be accompanied with a $250 fee 24 hours after the game.
Earlier, Konflikt pulled through on a late-game rally in the final quarter after Edmark Mendoza and Jawn Joyner’s back-to-back three-pointers.
Team Satbahi lost possession twice on out-of-bound passes but recovered a field goal from Manolo Manalo.
Konflikt’s Elmer Esdrelon fired another field goal behind the three-point line and tossed in a free throw. Seconds later, Barrios fouled Mangali and allowed him two points before resorting to a tie-breaking layup.
Their big turnaround only made the loss more bitter for team Satbahi, who dominated the second and third periods on 10-point leads.
Ivan De Vero drove Konflikt’s offensive on a game high 26 points while Joyner and Esdrelon scored 18 and 14, respectively.
Sison confirmed the submission of his team’s protest document during a phone interview yesterday.
Scores:
Mafea-Konflikt 79 – I. De Vero 26, J. Joyner 18, E. Esdrelon 14, J. Barrios 11, J. Guiab 5, E. Mendoza 3, J. Tumaquip 2
Visminda-Satbahi 77 – E. Mangali 16, M. Manalo 13, D. Barbo 11, M. Sison 10, G. Aquino 10, P. Inos 7, M. De Dios 6, R. Paraiso 4
Quarterscores: 20-16, 37-27, 60-50, 77-79
Mafea-RNV wins by forfeit
Meanwhile, team Mafea-RNV immediately won third place in the masters division.
Team Visminda-Piahi, which only had four players present, had no choice but to forfeit their consolation game.
