Meralco wingman Allein Maliksi and Converge big man Barkley Eboña are both summoned by the Commissioner’s office following their altercation towards the endgame of their highly physical game last Friday, March 3.
Maliksi and Eboña are expected to meet deputy commissioner Eric Castro to explain their side in the scuffle that happened in the final six seconds of overtime in the Bolts’ 132-129 win over the FiberXers.
The Converge forward appeared to have given a hard foul that hit Maliksi on the face while driving to the basket. The Meralco gunner retaliated and confronted Eboña and grabbed him by the neck before cooler heads got in the middle of the two and separated them.
Maliksi was ejected after being assessed by a flagrant foul penalty 2 while Eboña was hit with a flagrant foul penalty 1 incursion.
During his interview with members of the press, Maliksi admitted he blew his top as he felt Eboña deliberately went for his face and not the ball during that hard foul. The veteran winger even felt that the FiberXers bangers should be thrown out as well after throwing a punch during that play, something that Eboña denied in a separate interview.
Still, Maliksi went to Instagram to apologize to Eboña, the PBA, and the fans for his behavior.
“I apologize to the viewers, PBA fans, and to the Converge FiberXers, especially to Kevin Barkley Eboña for the misbehavior that I showed yesterday during the heated moments of the game last night,” Maliksi wrote in the Instagram story.
“None of my actions are excusable. This incident serves as a learning for me to be better. Again, I’m truly sorry,” he added.
Meralco, for its part, also released a statement regarding the incident which it described as ‘Maliksi placing his hands near the neck of Eboña and no pressure applied’, and apologized stressing that ‘the organization has always valued playing the game the right way, with professionalism and fairness’.
“While we stand by Allein, a teammate of good character, we also acknowledge that reacting to provocation does not reflect the culture we have built," the team said.
"We apologize to our fans and thank those who have expressed concern for Allein. Rest assured, the Meralco Bolts will continue to charge forward with the team values we embrace."