JOEFFREY Javillonar of National University has insisted he had no intention to hurt Jeric Teng during the play that left the University of Santo Tomas star with an injured shoulder and led him to miss half of the Tigers’ UAAP men’s basketball game against the Bulldogs on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Teng injured his right shoulder after being hit from behind by Javillonar while trying to go for an offensive rebound in the second quarter of the Bulldogs’ 71-67 win over the erstwhile unbeaten Tigers.
Asked about the incident, Javillonar admitted he was only going for the rebound when he collided with Teng.
“Going for an offensive rebound lang talaga ako,” Javillonar related to Spin.ph. “Hindi ko sadya ‘yun.”
Teng obviously wasn’t buying Javillonar’s contention as he had choice words for the NU role player after the game.
“Kayo na lang mag-judge kung sinadya ‘yun,” Teng said. “Pero ang message ko sa kanya, may araw rin siya. ‘Yun ang message ko sa kanya. Sa kanya rin babalik ‘yun.” (For full story click 'May araw rin sya:' Teng hits out at NU's Javillonar after suffering shoulder injury)
The UST gallery showed its dismay when the incident was replayed in the huge video monitor at the Big Dome, but Javillonar insisted the video failed to capture the whole story.
“’Yung pinakita kasi sa video, maliit lang. Pero kung nakita ‘yung full video, wala naman,” Javillonar reasoned out.
Javillonar, who was also jeered by the Ateneo crowd two weeks ago after he bloodied the nose of Nico Elorde following an intense battle for the loose ball, said he approached Teng after the game to apologize but the UST shooting guard didn’t respond.
“Pinuntahan ko siya pero hindi niya ako pinansin,” he added.
Javillonar finished the game with just three points as he played for only 11 minutes. He admitted his game was affected shortly after the incident.
“’Yung mind ko wala na sa game dahil sa crowd,” said Javillonar.
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