ALLAN THE MAN

The NCAA management committee has decided to uphold the recommendation of commissioner Joe Lipa on Letran coach Louie Alas regarding who made a “slit-throat” gesture in Game Two of the NCAA finals last Saturday at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.

The Knights clinched the equalizer, 64-55, in Game Two behind double-double performances from Jonathan Belorio and Jam Cortes. But an untoward incident took place in the dying seconds as technical committee member Romy Guevarra crossed the court towards the direction of the Letran bench where he reportedly gave Alas a dirty finger sign.

Despite a heartbreaking exit for the San Sebastian Stags in the semifinals of NCAA Season 88, Ian Sangalang has made his mark in Philippine basketball.

He is set to win the league’s Most Valuable Player award after teammate Calvin Abueva was rendered ineligible for the award due to a disqualifying foul earlier this season. Sangalang topped the rest of the league in statistics and was an awesome force in the middle for the Stags all season.

The NCAA is the most-watched Philippine collegiate basketball league on television, according to Nielsen television data.

Since its transfer to AKTV this season, NCAA games have averaged 200,000 viewers from games on June 23 to August 18, according to Nielsen’s national urban television audience measurement (NUTAM) data. This translates to 13 percent more viewers for NCAA over UAAP.