UAAP Board overrules Badolato, orders FEU-NU replay

In the eyes of UAAP commissioner Ato Badolato, the last-gasp lay-up of Far Eastern University star RR Garcia was made just in the nick of time.

But the UAAP Board thought otherwise.

Voting unanimously, the UAAP Board has overturned the initial ruling of Badolato, forcing a replay of the second-round match between host National University and FEU, during its regular board meeting held Friday at the Club Filipino in Greenhills, San Juan.

“Because of the pieces of evidence/ statements/ video used in the deliberation was inconclusive and unclear and most of the points brought up showed that time had expired before the ball was fully released, the UAAP board unanimously upheld the appeal of NU for a replay of the game,” said the UAAP Board in an official statement.

With the decision, the win-loss records of the Tamaraws and the Bulldogs revert back to 7-3 and 6-4, respectively.

After the Tamaraws escaped with a 77-75 victory courtesy of Garcia’s basket last Sunday, the Bulldogs quickly filed a protest which Badolato junked last Tuesday, stressing “Obviously, ‘yung bola left the hand of RR in time upon the review of the game.”

NU officials, led by athletic director Junel Baculi, brought the case to the technical committee and then to the UAAP Board, gaining a big reprieve in the process.

“Elated kami pati ang buong NU community,” said Baculi in a phone interview Friday noon. “But there’s still a lot of work ahead of us. We’ll see in the next games if we can sustain it.”

According to Baculi, NU and FEU inhibited themselves during the voting, saying: “We’re out of the board room during the process. ‘Yun ang talagang sitwasyon. Ang sabi sa amin, ‘It’s a unanimous decision (in favor of NU).’ Hindi ko alam kung ano ‘yung exact count so it’s up to you to make the conclusion.”

The replay of the game is tentatively set on Sept. 23, Baculi added.

Reached by phone, Badolato gave a terse message, saying: “Yes, I’m sticking with my decision.”

Yahoo! Sports repeatedly tried to reach FEU officials Anton Montinola, the school's  representative to the Board, and men’s basketball coach Bert Flores to no avail.

Although they got “a good break,” Baculi noted it’s “temporary,” adding: “We can only conclude ‘pag nanalo kami sa replay. Hopefully, we can come out on top.”