Palm Cafe blame ref for defeat

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

PALM CAFE'S coach felt that ABMS had six players on the court during Sunday's final of the LBC Cup regular seven stars category.

ABMS won the championship match 94-82 at the Brunei Basketball Association court in Batu Bersurat in a match which they led in all four quarters, but sitting alone on the bench after the final buzzer, the dejected Lito Porlahe refused to accept the defeat.

Palm Cafe beat ABMS 96-78 on Nov 15 in a game which many rightly predicted was a preview of the final, and there was no doubt that Porlahe was disappointed his team could not make it count when it mattered the most.

"It was very difficult for us, the referee was just not fair," said the playing coach.

"There were calls against Leones (guard Geve Leones) which should not have been given and we had many charging fouls against us which were not awarded.

"Our star players like Leones and Requintin (forward Elvin Requintin) came late and the match had already started by the time they arrived, so it was too hard to come back.

"How could we win like that?" he sighed.

It came as no surprise that ABMS's coach did not share his counterpart's sentiments.

"I do not think the referee was on our side," said Kaka Espartero during an interview with The Brunei Times yesterday. Read More…

Source: The Brunei Times