A postgame rumble between Crispa and Toyota marred the opener of the 1977 season in what is considered as one of the most memorable moments in PBA history. The Redmanizers won after a last-second technical foul by Tamaraws coach Dante Silverio.
Crispa-Toyota match marred by
free-for-all
By Al Mendoza
Bulletin Today
Published Monday April 18, 1977
The circus of basketball hullabaloos
that is the Philippine Basketball Association started last night with
a real, crushing, big bang at the Araneta Coliseum.
Crispa snatched a last-minute 122-121
victory over Toyota, courtesy of Tamaraw coach Dante Silverio, whose
being slapped a technical foul with three seconds left allowed
Fortunato Co to sink the pressure-packed marginal shot in his
dramatic march to the charity lane.
But the real meat of last night's story
was the bloody riot that ensued after the game, undoubtedly a
man-size blackeye for the ever-glorified PBA shebang.
Hardly had the game finished and
players from both camps were heading for the dugout when hell broke
loose right behind the southern basket of the Big Dome.
Everybody was rushing toward the riot:
policemen, security guards in blue, spectators and PBA officials
themselves.
Photographers couldn't barge through
the cordon of kibitzers that ringed the scene of the rumble and had
to jump time and again, with their cameras blindly trained at the
rumbling players in a desperate attempt at getting a shot of the
riot.
The riot lasted for 15 minutes. One
spectator from the bleacher apparently unable to get a piece of the
action, lost his cool and hurled a soft drink bottle, hitting the
right waist of a lady, who instantly crumpled to the floor writhing
in pain. She escaped injuries, however.
When it was all over, Toyota's Ramon
Fernandez emerged with a nasty cut below his right eye. He walked out
of the coliseum clutching chunks of ice trained at his cut eye, which
was a bit close and puffy.
Crispa's Rodolfo Soriano took a
pebble-sized lump over his right eye and another lump beside his
mouth besides having absorbed bruises in the neck and arms.
Rey Franco, Soriano's teammare, showed
a reddened right ear and majority of the players from both camps
showed marks of punches and clwaing.
“Si Soriano, apat ang gumugulpi sa
kanya (four people were mauling Soriano),” said Crispa coach Baby
Dalupan. “Wala siyang kalaban-laban (he was helpless).”
“It's all right. I don't want to name
names yet,” said Soriano but added “the four were all Toyota
players.”
Franco tagged Robert Jaworski, who
punched his ear. “Inabangan niya ako sa may paglabas at bigla na
lamang niya akong inupakan (He waited for me at the exit and without
provocation he hit me).
Jaworski sternly denied the accusations
of Franco, who was down on his pants when his ear was hit.
“Basta nakita ko na lang, nagkakagulo
(All of a sudden, I saw a commotion),” said Jaworski, adding :I was
even trying hard to pacify them.”
Jaworski admitted there were people in
civilian clothes who were involved in the melee.
When interviewed, PBA Commissioner Leo
Prieto said he will call a meeting today. He said he will summon all
the players of Toyota and Crispa, including the reports from the
security people.
“There are many versions being
floated around. I don't want to issue statements until I get all the
reports from what happened,” added Prieto.
There were more than 200 security
officers in the coliseum, including Quezon City police authorities.
Oscar Rocha, notorious for fist fights
especially during a game, said he kept himself away from the rumble.
“Break nga ako ng break, e (I was
busy pacifying them),” said Rocha, adding. “Tinatamaan nga ako ng
suntok, pero hindi naman ako nakaganti (I was even hit but I did not
retaliate.”)
All the drama and tense-filled actions
of the game were all lost in the wake of the riot. And so was Presto
Ice Cream's brilliant 122-111 victory over Royal Tru-Orange in the
first game.
The game was still in order until
Fortunato Acuna got a charging foul off Alfredo Hubalde from
Estefanio Bernos, the score standing at 121-all with only three ticks
left.
Bernos then told Silverio his team had
only four men on the court. What followed was a technical foul being
slapped on Dante by Bernos himself.
Crispin Aldiosa of the technical
committee later said Bernos gave Silverio a technical because “the
Toyota coach uttered unprintables at Bernos.”
Silverio claimed he only uttered “Buti
nakita mo (It's good you saw it)” when Bernos told him he had only
four men on the court.
The scores:
Crispa – 122
Co 27
Hubalde 26
Soriano 21
Cezar 14
Guidaben 12
Pages 7
Dionisio 6
Franco 4
Varela 4
Fabiosa 1
Torres 0
Calilan 0
Toyota – 121
Arnaiz 35
Rocha 20
Fernandez 16
Jaworski 15
Sta. Maria 13
Acuna 6
Cortez 0
Clarino 0
Quarterscores: 25-26, 56-56, 90-88,
122-121
Referees: R. Bartolome, J. Obias, E.
Bernos
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