Alaska won’t protest Game 2 loss to Purefoods

The Alaska Aces do not intend to protest Game 2 of the Philippine Cup championship series, which saw the Purefoods Giants winning, 86-85, for a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven titular showdown. The controversial game was marred by a series of disputed calls in the last few seconds, prompting Alaska team manager Joaqui Trillo and multi-titled coach Tim Cone to storm into the scorer’s table after the match to confront officials.

The two were fuming over the last two fouls slapped on Joe Devance – one against the driving James Yap, which they felt should have been a "let-go" and another one against Kerby Raymundo with 1.7 second left and the score tied at 85-all. “I’m sure Purefoods is not happy with the win in Game 2," Trillo told GMANews.TV. “The referees decided the outcome of the match. It won’t have an effect at all if they didn’t call a foul on Devance when he was contesting Raymundo’s shot because even if he didn’t make it, the game would go into overtime and won’t have any effect on both teams." But despite getting into a 0-2 hole as an offshoot of the setback, Alaska is not keen on lodging a protest before the Commissioner’s office. “Being true sportsmen, we’re not filing a protest over what happened in Game 2," said Trillo, a former PBA chairman. “I just wish they would send the best referees who will officiate come Game 3." With the scored tied at 85-all following a Devance split charity, Purefoods had one last crack to win the match or go into overtime. They cleared out for Raymundo who made his move from the top of the key. He shook off Devance, who barely made a contract with the Purefoods forward as he went for a jumper. But referee Maui Maurillo blew his whistle and called a foul on the Alaska forward. Raymundo made his first charity for the final tally then deliberately missed the second one as time expired. The Giants went into frenzy after fighting back from a huge deficit in the closing minutes of the final quarter, apparently surprised themselves that they were able pull this one off over the Aces. Norman Black, a grand slam champion coach who was working on the television panel during the game, was also shocked that Maurillo made that call in the crucial stage of the game. “He did call a foul? That’s surprising, especially in this stage of the game," said Black during the television coverage where he worked as an analyst. Life more important than a game While the two teams were fighting for the highest stake in basketball – the championship – a shocking incident happened in the heat of the match. From the Alaska gallery, a fan, Steve Racelis, collapsed and Cone himself witnessed how he fought for his life. In his Twitter account, Cone partly blamed himself for not doing anything to help out the Alaska fan. “I wish I had been quick-thinking enough to use one of our own timeouts to stop the game for him," said Cone. “He’s undergoing brain surgery at the Lourdes Hospital (now)." Cone refused to discuss Game 2, although it was very evident he wasn’t pleased with the officiating. Instead, he stressed the importance of life over one game. “The game is not sacred. Life is. My prayers and the Alaska organization's prayers go out to him and his family," said Cone. “The worst thing about Game 2 was the PBA's refusal to stop the game when a fan was in obviously serious distress. I was shocked." - GMANews.TV