MANILA, Philippines – Scottie Thompson said a foul should have been called on his layup attempt in the dying seconds as Barangay Ginebra suffered a 93-91 loss to Magnolia in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup on Sunday, November 19.
Thompson attacked the basket with the Gin Kings trailing 91-92 inside the final 10 seconds but missed the short stab after a tight contest by Mark Barroca, allowing the Hotshots to complete their comeback from 26 points down.
Replay showed Barroca lightly hit Thompson in the arm during the shot, although the referees let the play continue as Jio Jalalon sealed the win for Magnolia with a free throw.
Ginebra head coach Tim Cone complained about the no call, but the decision remained to the dismay of the legion of Gin Kings fans who saw their team lose another edition of the Clasico.
“It’s a foul for me because that’s what I saw in the replay,” said Thompson, who finished with 12 points, 9 assists, and 8 rebounds, in Filipino.
Thompson, though, acknowledged that the angle of the shot could have been the reason why officials did not blow the whistle.
“Maybe it’s not clear lane for the referee, so he probably saw it differently,” said the former league MVP.
For Thompson, the defeat is a bitter lesson for the defending champion Gin Kings that not even a sizable advantage is safe until the final buzzer.
The 26-point cushion marked their biggest lead squandered in a loss since Ginebra frittered away a 28-point advantage to NLEX in a 113-111 overtime defeat in the 2019 Governors’ Cup in Dubai.
“I think we can all learn from this. All the teams in the PBA are very tough so we need to be ready for them every game,” he said.
The good thing is the meltdown happened early in the conference, with Ginebra having ample time to adjust for another shot at the crown.
“We’ll look back at this game and learn from this,” said Thompson. – Rappler.com
