ANTIPOLO CITY – Vic Manuel insisted it wasn't his intention to worsen an ill-tempered play between Jamie Malonzo and CJ Perez in one sequence in Game 2 of the PBA Governors Cup semifinals Sunday.
San Miguel's 'Muscle Man' said he only shoved the Ginebra big man away to keep an already tense situation from growing worse.
READ: Ginebra beats SMB for commanding 2-0 lead
“Inawat ko lang,” was Manuel’s curt reply when asked about his action. “Baka lalo lang mag-kainitan.”
Game officials however, saw it otherwise and called a technical foul on Manuel with 7:25 left to play in the third quarter and Ginebra leading, 73-61.
The incident was just one of the many tense moments that marred the Kings’ 121-103 win over the Beermen for a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-five semifinals series.
San Miguel was actually on a 7-0 run to cut down a huge 19-point lead to only 12 when the play happened.
After Perez converted on a driving layup against Malonzo, the San Miguel wingman tried to pull the hands of the Ginebra forward, an act which Malonzo obviously resented.
As the two players exchanged some words, Jericho Cruz approached Malonzo and also said something to the Ginebra star before Manuel came from behind and shoved the Fil-Am sophomore.
Manuel’s push led to Malonzo confronting the San Miguel bench, before teammate Scottie Thompson led him away from the fray.
Incidentally, both Perez and Malonzo are teammates in the Philippine men’s basketball team.
Ginebra coach Tim Cone admitted the Kings lost their focus for a while following those physical plays, but were able to regroup and get on the game.
“We got uncomfortable, but we’re able to toughen up and got refocus on the defensive side, made some stops, and were able to extend our lead again,” he said.
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