BAD call.
Plain and simple, that was how Magnolia coach Chito Victolero described the game officials' failure to call a 24-second violation on Meralco in the final seconds of Game 2 of their PBA Governors Cup semifinals on Friday night.
"Nakita namin. Tinignan namin ngayon. I think hindi tumama. So 'yun ang tingin namin. That's our opinion," said Victolero.
Meralco went on and won the game, 81-75, to tie their best-of-seven series at 1-1 on Friday night at the Mall of Asia Arena, but not without controversy.
The incident happened in the final nine seconds and the Bolts up by five points when import Tony Bishop went for a long jumper - with one foot stepping on the three-point line - in an effort to beat the shot clock.
Did it or did it not?
It appeared the ball didn't hit the rim for an automatic 24-second violation, but the referees and table officials saw it otherwise and let the game continue, with Aaron Black getting the offensive rebound before he was fouled by Jio Jalalon.
Victolero angrily questioned the no-call, to no avail.
"That's only my opinion," added the Magnolia coach. "I don't know if I'm correct or not. Let the Commissioner's Office watch or review everything."
Bishop, however, thought otherwise.
"I thought it did hit the rim," Bishop added.
Meralco coach Norman Black refused to be drawn into the dispute, saying it's the discretion of the referee to make the call.
"The referees said it did hit the rim," said Black afterwards. "They can ring the buzzer all they want from the sidelines, but referees can decide whether it did hit the rim or it didn't hit the rim.
"And when they replayed it, it hit the rim. And that's all it takes."
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