A BACKCOURT violation which PBA officials failed to call early in the fourth quarter hurt Magnolia in its 112-105 loss to NLEX Sunday in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
The league admitted a backcourt violation should have been whistled on Kevin Alas, who was already on the NLEX frontcourt when he passed the ball to JB Bahio as the veteran guard was about to go out of bounds on the sidelines.
READ: Lalanne pushes NLEX to 2-0 start while pulling Magnolia to 0-2
Bahio hasn’t crossed the midcourt when he received the ball.
The sequence drew a howl of protest from coach LA Tenorio and the Magnolia bench that the play had to be stopped as the Hotshots mentor went inside the court and complained about the non-call.
The game was tied at 84-all with 10:55 to go in the game at the Ynares Center in Montalban.
The 41-year-old Tenorio was later called for a technical foul, with Alas converting the technical free throw.
It later resulted in a four-point swing for the Road Warriors as Tony Semerad hit a three pointer in the next play, giving his side an 88-84 spread.
It was the momentum NLEX needed as it never relinquished the lead, with Magnolia forced to play catch up until the endgame.
The loss sent Magnolia reeling to a 0-2 record to start the mid-season conference.
This marked the first time in three seasons the Hotshots kicked off a conference campaign with back-to-back losses or since the Season 47 Governors’ Cup.
During that season, Magnolia actually went 0-3 with Erick McCree as import, before Antonio Hester came in as replacement and won four in a row. The Hotshots went 7-1 when Hester came on board and finished the eliminations with a 7-4 record to make the playoffs.
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