A COMMOTION erupted in the hallway of the Smart Araneta Coliseum immediately after San Miguel's 99-88 victory over Ginebra to take a 2-1 lead in the PBA Philippine Cup finals.
Eyewitness accounts claim Ginebra coach Tim Cone and San Miguel point guard Chris Ross figured in a shouting match in the hallway leading to the two teams' dugouts at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Cone declined to comment about the incident after the match but didn't deny the incident altogether while Ross played coy when pressed by reporters about the incident after the match.
"Nothing, nothing. What happened? I don't know what happened," Ross said.
[See Tim Cone confronts Chris Ross over 'garbage time' three-pointer]
Ross then immediately sent out a tweet denying his involvement in the post-game commotion.
"I wasn't in a shouting match with anyone in the hallway. I was in the locker room getting ready for Game Four," Ross said in a post on Twitter.
Though the two protagonists declined to talk about the matter directly, the incident stemmed from a three-pointer Ross made with San Miguel comfortably up by eight with 26 seconds to go.
Beermen coach Leo Austria was quick to defend his guard after the incident.
"I was stopping him from taking the shot kaya lang upbeat yung bata. I think he feels kailangan hindi abutin ng shot clock, kaya siguro tinira niya pero unfortunately, pumasok," Austria said.
"Nagalit sila. They thought it was disrespectful pero that's not intentional kasi pumped up yung bata."
[See Fajardo adjusts to refs' calls - and stays out of foul trouble in the process]