BY NOLI CORTEZ
THE season-ending Smart PBA Fiesta Cup has yet to kick off but action has
already heated up.
A tune-up game between Talk N Text and Air21 yesterday
turned into a brawl at the Sports Kamp in Taguig.
Phone Pals import Aaron MacGhee was ganged up on by the
Express players, forcing officials to abruptly end the game right in the second
quarter of a match that started out as a friendly.
"Hindi ko nga rin alam kung bakit nag-escalate ang
situation," said Air21 coach Bo Perasol. "Nagkagirian muna, naawat, and then
bigla na lang nakita kong nagkakuyugan na."
The incident, which happened right in front of Air21’s
bench, was reportedly sparked by MacGhee’s deadly elbows that caught the ire of
Express forward Ranidel de Ocampo.
The two were separated by the referees, but other Air21
players got into the act and suddenly ganged up on the 6-foot-10 MacGhee.
"Pinagtulungan ang import ko," lamented TNT coach Chot
Reyes, adding some Air21 players who were not playing joined in the fray.
"Kahit nga si (Gary) David nakisuntok din," he said,
referring to the guard sidelined by a bum knee.
Reyes said he doesn’t plan on taking any action just yet.
"I’ll allow the refs to handle the situation. Then we’ll see
what happens," he said.
The PBA referees who called the game are set to present an
incident report to PBA Executive Director and officer-in-charge Rickie Santos,
but the latter said he has already summoned the parties to appear before him
this afternoon.
"After reading the report and interviewing the parties we will decide on the
penalties or sanctions–if needed," Santos said.
