Palou wants two cagers sacked; Stags eye semis

Commissioner Ricky Palou yesterday recommended to the NCAA Management Committee (Mancom) that Perpetual Help’s Vladimir Joe and Mapua’s Erwin Sta. Maria be suspended for one game for unsportsmanlike conduct during their match won by the Altas, 71-63, Wednesday.

Commissioner Ricky Palou yesterday recommended to the NCAA Management Committee (Mancom) that Perpetual Help’s Vladimir Joe and Mapua’s Erwin Sta. Maria be suspended for one game for unsportsmanlike conduct during their match won by the Altas, 71-63, Wednesday.

Palou said Sta. Maria was caught on the tape hitting Joe in the groin, prompting the latter to retaliate with a punch. Joe was subsequently assessed with a technical foul but not Sta. Maria as game officials failed to see his misdeed.

Palou, however, said Perpetual Help coach Arturo "Bai" Cristobal might appeal the decision since it appeared that Joe did not really intend to hit Sta. Maria.

"It didn’t look like Joe wants to hit Sta. Maria. In fact, pataas nga yung suntok niya. If Joe wants to hit him, he would have hit him," Palou told The STAR. "But whether it connected or not, based on the ground rules, I’m forced to recommend that Joe be suspended too. It’s up to the Mancom to decide on the appeal, if there is one."

If Palou’s decision stays, Joe, a vital cog in the Altas roster, will serve his suspension in the Final Four where the host squad takes on No. 4, which could be among defending champion Letran, last year’s second placer San Sebastian, San Beda or Mapua, on Sept. 10.

On the other hand, Sta. Maria, who was already reprimanded after a flagrant foul on Letran’s Mark Andaya in Mapua’s 62-60 win last Aug. 20, would serve his if his team forges a playoff for the last semifinal berth. Otherwise, it would be in the first game of next season, that is if he is still eligible to play.

Meanwhile, action in the 80th NCAA basketball tournament resumes today with last year’s finalists Letran and San Sebastian colliding at 4 p.m. in a game that could decide the fate of Mapua and San Beda.

Jose Rizal (4-9) and St. Benilde (1-12) clash at 2 p.m. in a non-bearing duel.

A victory by the Knights would give them the No. 3 spot where they would need to beat No. 2 Philippine Christian U Dolphins twice for the right to defend their title. A Letran win will also send the Stags into a three-way tie with the Red Lions and the Cardinals at 7-7 records.

Under the tiebreak rules, San Sebastian will automatically be eliminated since they have the lowest score of -10 as against San Beda’s +19 and Mapua’s -9. The Lions and the Cardinals fight it out in a knockout match for the last semis seat.

If the Stags prevail, the Mendiola-base dribblers clinch No. 3 and face No. 2 PCU Dolphins while the Knights clash with the Altas, the elimination round topnotchers.

Reports have it though that San Sebastian has sought for an emergency meeting should there be a three-way tie after its game versus Letran since it has beaten Mapua twice. If the win-over-the-other-rule among San Beda, San Sebastian and Mapua is used, then the Stags should play Lions in the playoff since they have a 2-2 card while their Mendiola-based neighbors have a 3-1 slate. The Cardinals should be third and last since it lost three of their four games among the three squads.

Sources also raised the possibility of the Mancom enforcing a new way of breaking the tie to appease both San Sebastian and Mapua. Since Mapua and San Sebastian are last two in both tiebreakers, they will play in a knockout duel with the winner taking on San Beda in another do-or-die battle for the last semis spot.