MANILA, Philippines – Yeng Guiao contested what he felt was a “bad call” as NLEX failed to crack the winning column in the 2019 PBA Commissioner’s Cup following a sorry 79-83 loss to NorthPort on Saturday, May 25.

Guiao said there should not have been a call when Kyles Lao was whistled for a foul after he slightly bumped Nico Elorde, who almost stepped out of bounds, with less than a minute left and the Road Warriors down by one. 

Showing his frustrations towards the call, Guiao was slapped with a technical foul as Elorde went 1-of-3 at the free throw line to give the Batang Pier a 79-77 advantage.

NLEX managed to level the game off a pair of Kenneth Ighalo foul shots, but that turned out to be the last points it scored as Sean Anthony saved NorthPort with a putback and two foul shots down the stretch. 

“We got a really ugly break. I don’t think the foul on Kyles Lao was something that you should call in a situation like that. That’s a really bad call and it cost us the game,” Guiao told reporters after. 

“I’m not surprised that people are complaining about the officiating.” 

The firer mentor added the way the referees defended the call was “stupid.” 

“They justified it by saying there was contact. The problem is not all contacts are foul. To me, that is a stupid way to justify that.” 

Guiao also mentioned a play where there were no fouls called despite seeing Anthony “climbing all over the back” of Ighalo. 

“They did not call that but they called an itsy bitsy physical contact. To me, that’s not justifiable,” he added. 

Winless after two games, NLEX looks to clinch its first win with import Tony Mitchell making his conference debut against Alaska at the Mall of Asia Arena on Wednesday, May 29. – Rappler.com