Nash Racela was adamant about one thing in the Adamson Soaring Falcons’ 69-67 defeat to the UP Fighting Maroons on Wednesday: he and his team heard a whistle right at the very end.
Adamson battled tooth and nail against UP but came up just short. However, the finish to this nail-biting game was marred in some controversy as Racela believes the referees blew their whistle in the Soaring Falcons’ final possession.
With six seconds remaining in the game, Adamson got a steal that ended up with Monty Montebon attempting a desperation half-court heave while closely guarded by UP’s Dikachi Udodo. It was at this point when, according to Racela, the referees blew their whistle.
“We heard a whistle by the referee. We were asking them to review,” Racela told reporters after the game. “We really heard a whistle. Then some saw a referee na sumenyas ng ganun [sign for a foul]. When we watched… si Udodo was really after Montebon.”
Nash Racela Wanted a Review
For Nash Racela, the least the referees could’ve done in that situation was to review the play. But it clearly didn’t happen.
“Ang sa amin naman, we feel like what they could’ve done was really to review it. Now, kung sabihin nila na hindi e ‘di hindi. That was our request. E nag-walkout na sila [referees], umalis na ka agad sila,” Racela said. “They never gave us a chance in the end.”
In the end, it took nearly a minute for the venue announcer at the Smart Araneta Coliseum to announce the final score and clarify that no foul had been called. That lull, if anything, suggests there might have been some confusion of sorts.
Will Adamson Take Things to the Commissioner’s Office?
Nash Racela was later asked if Adamson would raise their concern to the UAAP Commissioner’s Office. His response was blunt and suggested a hard no.
“May option ba kami? Konting tanong ko nga lang, may warning na ako ‘di ba? So ayun, I don’t know if we have options,” he replied.
“But we really heard something,” Racela stressed, before pointing out that the Commissioner’s Office itself can review the said instance.
“I think from the Commissioner’s Office, they could review because may mga mic ‘yung mga referee nila. Sabi nila hindi daw, hindi nila inano ‘yung whistle. But I think it’s their responsibility at least to review it,” he explained.
As of this writing, there’s no word yet on whether Adamson has formally raised the concern to the UAAP Commissioner’s Office.
In the meantime, Nash Racela and the Soaring Falcons will need to regroup as the La Salle Green Archers are next.
