THE PBA admitted fault on a missed call on Alex Cabagnot early in the fourth quarter of San Miguel Beer’s PBA Commissioner’s Cup semifinal series-clinching 104-99 win over Alaska in Game Four on Sunday night.
Cabagnot apparently committed a double-dribble violation early in the fourth quarter when he attempted to dribble behind his back, only for the ball to get stuck on his back, before making an extra dribble.
League technical director Eric Castro admitted referee Noy Guevarra committed a mistake in the play with a little over eight minutes left in the game, leading to a Marcio Lassiter triple that pushed SMB’s lead to double-digits, 83-73.
“When Cabagnot made the behind-the-back dribble, Ref Guevarra missed to call a double dribble,” Castro said a day after the game.
The PBA official, though, was quick to explain that Guevarra didn’t see the apparent violation, although the league still took responsibility for the error that left Aces coach Alex Compton complaining shortly after they called a timeout following Lassiter’s trey.
"He was not in the correct position to make that call bec. he was aligned (travel/double was not in his line of vision. It was blocked by Cabagnot’s body). But it’s not an excuse,” Castro said.
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