THE PBA is set to punish the referee who missed calling an eight-second violation against Meralco in the waning seconds of its 92-89 win over the Bay Area Dragons on Friday in the Commissioner's Cup.
Deputy commissioner Eric Castro admitted umpire Jerry Narandan made the mistake in not whistling the Bolts for the violation in the final four seconds and Meralco holding on to a slim three-point lead.
[READ: Big McDaniels debut leads Meralco past Bay Area]
The Bolts inbounded the ball with 21 seconds to go at the backcourt, but didn't bring the ball down until there was only eight seconds left in the clock.
The Dragons were then forced to make a duty foul with four seconds to go to stop the clock.
After calling a timeout, Bay Area coach Brian Goorjian was shown on TV furious after no call was made by the referees.
"We missed that call," said Castro later.
"Na-rebound nila (Meralco) yung bola, nag-loose yung bola, napunta sa corner. Before mag-cross yung bola sa play ng halfcourt, I think it was around 10 seconds na yata," Castro added.
Too bad, the play wasn't reviewable, according to the deputy commissioner.
"So pinasabi ko na lang kay coach Brian na we missed that call," Castro said, "Crucial yun."
[READ: Goorjian laments 'tough breaks']
Commissioner Willie Marcial said Narandan faces a possible one rotation suspension after failing to make the right call.
Castro said he'll be making the recommendation to the commissioner.