Cebu City, Philippines — The Cebu City-Max4 Birada is crying foul over unfavorable calls that went against them in the dying moments of their game versus the second leg champions Pasig Grindhouse Kings in the 3rd leg of the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3×3 President’s Cup on Friday, March 1, 2019, at the SM Fairview.
Those calls, or lack thereof, the players believe, was the main reason they fell, 17-21, in overtime.
Cebu also fell to Bacoor, 16-18, later in the day, and the losses dropped them further down from fifth to seventh in the standings.
JR Puerto, who was joined by Nichole John Ubalde, Fletcher Galvez and reigning Cesafi MVP Rey Anthony Suerte, was adamant that they could have gone further had they been given a fair shake by the officiating crew.
“Kaya jud namo sila but layu lang jud kaayu mi sa dughan sa refs. Favor kaayu ang calls nila. Bisan ang commentator nakabantay,” said the former University of Cebu standout Puerto.
“Amo gi improve amo defense, that’s why nag lisud ang Pasig and naa pay chance mo daog mi. Ang refs morag mag favor abe kay defending champion sila,” Puerto added.
Ubalde echoed his teammate’s sentiments and shared: “Murag layo gyud kaayo mi sa dughan ra referee, daghan kaayo ilang na miss na tawag para namo but gihatag gyud namo among best and gi-try namo ug pilde sila. Para namo kaya gyud kaayo namo sila.”
Pitted against the foursome of former PBA player Dylan Ababou, Taylor Statham, Joshua Munzon and 7-footer Troy Rike, Cebu gave it all they had behind the offensive explosion of Suerte who scored all but two of the team’s 17-point output.
The undersized Ubalde was unfazed by the huge height disparity or the big name players he and the rest of the team has to contend with.
“Kabalo man ta nga mas advantage ang dagko pag abot sa 3×3 pero dili na hindrance para namo kay same rami man dulaay pero in terms na pag pabor-pabor sa tawag diha nami pilde,” Ubalde said.
“Big name ang players pero wala ra man sa amoa. Wala namo gi-hunahuna. Ang amo lang jud is to play our game. We just need to play our game and dapat mas aggressive mi.” /bmjo