ALLAN THE MAN

The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) on Wednesday admitted that referees committed officiating errors during crucial moments in the first two games of the PBA Commissioners Cup semi-finals.

“In game 1 of the Talk N Text and Rain or Shine semi-finals on April 28, the game officials missed an out-of-bounds violation that should have given ball possession to Rain or Shine at 22-second mark of the fourth quarter,” the league said in a statement.

TNT point guard Jimmy Alapag was not called for an out-of-bounds violation late in the game, which would have given the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters a chance of making a comeback.

The non-call triggered a series of events that saw RoS coach Yeng Guiao getting fined P30,000 by the league today.

Guiao had complained to the referees about the call when TNT import Richard Howell passed by him, and the fiery head coach tapped the import , leading into a bench-clearing incident.

Talk N Text won the game, 91-85, to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series.

“In Game 1 of the San Mig Super Coffee and Air 21 semi-finals on April 29, the game officials failed to spot a traveling violation on Asi Taulava that led to a two-point basket for Air21 at the 1:22 mark of the fourth quarter,” the PBA added.

Taulava’s controversial basket was part of a 14-point effort that helped Air21 book a 103-100 upset to take a 1-0 lead in their own semi-finals match-up.

The PBA explained that “both missed calls were not reviewable during the game, and were thus not correctable under the rules.”

“The PBA has taken the appropriate disciplinary and corrective measures on the erring referees,” the league said.