MCBL: Where DRAMA happens

For a while I thought we were actors in a made-for-TV movie. However, we were at the wrong end of the script. Almost.

There was so much drama in last night's game, I swear we'd give the blockbuster basketball film, Glory Road, a run for its money.

It all started when our opponent, Coffey, couldn't field the required five players at the scheduled tip-off (which was at 7pm). They only had four at that time. The refs gave them the standard 15-minute extension to hopefully get a fifth player in. The time lapsed and they still couldn't produce five.

We were declared winners by way of forfeiture (more popularly known as default). It was a decision we obviously didn't like since we all wanted to play. But of course, we had to abide by the rules so we'll go ahead and take the W.

At about 7:20 pm, or just few minutes after the extension, Coffey's fifth player surfaced. Once again, we asked the table officials to reconsider but they kept saying it's already done. One even decided change from his referee garb to civilian clothes already.

Just as we were about to play a game amongst ourselves, I was called to approach the officials' table. Being the team captain, they broached one last idea to me, a final resort so to speak. They asked me to call the league commissioner to check if he will allow us to play despite the default ruling.

I dialled up the commish and I was able to speak with him. Luckily, he gave us the go-signal to play as long as we were willing to invalidate our default win.

If you think that was drama enough, think again. We were in for so much more.

Some of my teammates heard one zebra say quite loudly, "Bakit pa ilalaro, eh default na. Sige kayo, baka matalo pa kayo niyan." I guess he just didn't want to have to officiate the game anymore. The boys were referring to the same zebra who went to the locker room to change.

Throughout much of the game, we felt this ref was totally biased against us. We seemed to never get any call go our way. The disparity between the fouls called and freethrows awarded was skewed heavily towards Coffey's favor. All these close calls and their trips to the line kept them in the game. What would've been an easy, blowout win for us turned into a close nailbiter.

To add insult to injury, we got T'd up thrice. One each for Erwin, Emer and JP. Emer got ejected because he had a flagrant foul earlier in the game. JP had to exit the game because the T was his fifth foul. Oh, did I mention I drilled a buzzer-beater at the end of the third period which they subsequently nullified? Talk about game-changing moments.

Despite all these, we took control of the final period as we managed to hold off a very determined and over-achieving Coffey squad and take an 82-73 win heading into the final week of the regular season.

We went from winning by default, to having an almost blowout win, to playing a nerve-wracking close game, and finally, to come out with a nine-point victory. All that drama crammed into a 90-minute stretch.

Who said basketball is just a game?

Record: 5-1
Next game: vs Pepsi - July 5, Saturday, at The Zone