(video grabbed on Facebook via Maxi Green)
JUSTINE Jake Rosete, the University of the Visayas (UV) Baby Lancer who just months ago made headlines for putting an Ateneo de Cebu player in a headlock, is in hot water once again.
This, he was caught on video hitting the already-injured chin of Ateneo de Cebu guard Andrew Velasco in the first half of Game 2 of the best-of-three finals series in the Cebu National Basketball Training Center (NBTC) tournament on Sunday.
A day earlier, Velasco was not able to finish the series opener as he suffered a deep gash on the chin which required eight stitches to close up, as he landed hard on the floor after UV’s Beirn Laurente tried to draw an offensive foul call.
But to add more injury to an already existing injury, Rosete was seen bodying up Velasco as he was jogging up the floor and then, out of nowhere, just hit the latter on his injured chin.
Part of the game
An unsportsmanlike foul was initially called on that exact play. However, after the video was made available, a source has told this writer that Velasco’s parents were in the process of filing a letter to NBTC officials, in the hopes of putting a stop to these heinous actions.
When asked about the play, UV head coach Delfin Pepito said that it was “part of the game.”
“The referee called a technical foul. I did not instruct the player to hit the chin. It was the player’s action,” said the veteran head coach.
UV team manager and Cebu First District Representative Gerald Anthony “Samsam” Gullas has already vowed to look into the matter and will hand a decision as soon as he finishes talking to the coaches on Wednesday.
Rosete gained infamy during the Cesafi tournament last year when he was seen in multiple photographs, putting Magis Eagle Benedict Chua in a headlock during a looseball scramble. Rosete was then given a suspension for the rest of the elimination round for that incident.
Not long after, Rosete made peace with Chua after he went to the latter’s abode to personally ask for forgiveness for the incident.