Erring players suspended, slapped fines

MANILA, Philippines — Kia’s Eric Camson, Rain or Shine’s Raymond Almazan and NLEX’s Michael Miranda drew one game suspension each and a combined fine of P70,000 for their misconduct in their most recent outing in the PBA Philippine Cup.

Mark Yee of Kia was also  fined P10,000 for two infractions in the tumultuous Kia-Rain or Shine showdown where the Picanto emerged triumphant, grinding out a breakthrough 98-94 win.

Camson incurred the most sanctions with a one-game suspension plus a fine of P30,000 for instigating a fight with Almazan. Miranda and Almazan were fined P20,000 each.

The stocky forward from Adamson hit Almazan with an elbow, then the RoS center retaliated, trigerring the first scuffle seen during a PBA game in a while.

PBA technical chief Eric Castro said it’s clear in their probe that Camson instigated the fight without provocation.

Camson later apologized for his action in a meeting with PBA officer-in-charge Willie Marcial.

Still, the league OIC didn’t spare the NLEX player a suspension which he will serve in their game versus Meralco at 4:30 p.m. tonight at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

San Miguel Beer stakes its clean slate versus GlobalPort in the day’s other game at 7 p.m.

Almazan and Miranda  serve their suspensions in the ROS-NLEX setto on Friday.

“I apologize to everybody. Right after the game, I already regretted my action. First, I was needed by my team. Secondly, I hurt somebody. I’m actually not that kind of player,” said Camson.

The Beermen shoot for a fifth straight win while the Batang Pier hope to stretch their own run to three games in the return of the tourney to the Big Dome tonight.

GlobalPort will ride the momentum of stirring back-to-back triumphs over Rain or Shine (78-70) and Blackwater (101-76), but the Batang Pier may well need to double their effort if they’re to pull the rug from under the Beermen.

San Miguel, the reigning Philippine Cup three-time champ, is the lone remaining unbeaten team through the first five weeks of the tourney. The Beermen won their first four games over the Phoenix Fuel Masters (104-96), the Meralco Bolts (103-97), the TNT KaTropa Texters (88-76) and the NLEX Road Warriors (109-98).

The Batang Pier, meanwhile, dropped their first two games against the Road Warriors (104-115) and the Barangay Ginebra Kings (97-104) before finally breaking through with two successive wins.