IT was the right call.
The PBA said it didn’t see a blunder committed by a game official who whistled Barangay Ginebra’s Scottie Thompson for his sixth and final foul late in the Kings’ do-or-die battle against the Meralco Bolts for a seat in the Philippine Cup semifinals.
Deputy commissioner Eric Castro said the league technical committee reviewed the call made by crew chief Peter Balao after the highly-emotional encounter on Sunday night at the Mall of Asia Arena, and found nothing wrong with the offensive foul charged on Thompson against Cliff Hodge.
[See Scottie frustrated over loss, but gives ref benefit of the doubt]
Even after the customary review of the game on Monday also yielded the same result, according to Castro.
“Referee Peter Balao made the correct call,” said the league official emphatically, adding the referee was in the perfect position to make the call.
The controversial sequence came in the final 10 seconds of the hotly-contested Game 3 when a charging Thompson appeared to push off Hodge with his left arm a two-in-one transition and the Kings trailing by two.
Balao was on top of the situation, boldly calling the reigning MVP an offensive foul that drew a howl of protest from the Kings’ bench and the pro-Ginebra crowd inside the venue.
The Bolts went on to win the game, 106-104, to advance in the semifinals against top seed San Miguel.
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