Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — The Mapua Cardinals defeated the Lyceum Pirates, 109-95, on Friday (July 31), but it did not come without any drama.
The Pirates, who were down as much as 43 points, crawled back to give Mapua a scare. With his team’s lead shrinking, Cardinals head coach Atoy Co lost his temper and removed his shirt in the fourth quarter in protest of what he perceived was an obvious show of bias by the officials.
The referees ejected the Mapua mentor from the game.
In a phone interview on CNN Philippines’ Sports Desk on Friday night (July 31), Co apologized for his actions on the court.
“First, I would like to apologize of my behavior. It was just the spur of the moment, out of frustration because I felt that the referees are being biased at that point,” said Co.
“Sincerely, I’m very sorry sa ginawa ko, lalo na sa Mapua community. I’m so passionate with basketball, kaya siguro ganun rin minsan hindi ko napipigilan ang sarili ko.”
Co’s Cardinals currently occupy the middle of the table in the first round of the NCAA with a 2-3 slate.
Mapua’s next game is against the CSB Blazers on August 7.
