COACH Jeff Napa played down the altercation between Letran and San Beda players in the dying seconds of their match and would rather move on to a more pressing concern — stopping the five-game slide of the Knights.
“Nagkilitian lang naman yun,” said Napa on the commotion that flared up in an intense contest between two rival schools at the Filoil Flying V Centre on Friday.
The commotion started when Letran’s Jerick Balanza was called for an unsportsmanlike foul after what appeared to be an elbow on San Beda’s Jomari Presbitero. Players and coaches then stormed the court to prevent a brawl, and fortunately, cooler heads prevailed in the end.
[See Luib accuses Bonsubre of trying to choke him]
The Letran coach said that despite the lopsided loss, 71-83, he was glad to see his wards fight to the end. Their emotions only got the better of them in the endgame, he lamented.
"Knowing yung team namin, hindi talaga kami basta-basta magpapatalo hanggang dulo. Lalaban at lalaban kami," said Napa.
Napa said he is moving on from this incident and will instead focus on helping his wards break out of their five-game slump.
"Still they (Knights) gave their best. Hindi lang talaga kami makahulog," he said.
"Iniisip ko na lang paano ko tutulungan mga bata mag respond coming from a five-game losing streak. Lagi ko nga motto sa kanila, sa dulo ng daan merong liwanag. ‘Yun target namin, yung dulo ng daan na yun," he added.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph