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‘EKWE PLAYED IN WRONG JERSEY’

St. Benilde to protest San Beda win

By Julius Manicad

07/20/2008

San Beda’s immaculate slate in the National Collegiate Athletics Association’s (NCAA) senior basketball tournament is being threatened by an impending protest from College of St. Benilde.

The Red Lions swamped the Blazers, 74-51, on Friday at the Cuneta Astrodome, but something wasn’t right in San Beda’s fourth straight win in the tournament which has Letran as leader with five straight wins with no loss.

The Blazers are set to file a formal protest anytime next week against Sam Ekwe, the Red Lions’ Nigerian import who played wearing the wrong uniform.

Henry Atayde, Saint Benilde representative to the management committee, yesterday confirmed their protest, saying that he will elevate the matter before their president, Bro. Vic Franco, early next week.

The NCAA gave the Blazers until Tuesday to file the plaint.

The NCAA, through its mancom chairman Fernando “Ding” Lozano of Mapua Institute of Technology, has already sent the Red Lions a mandatory infraction report which solidified the Blazers’ complaint.

Atayde considers the report as a victory on their part.

“Rules are rules, and it should be applied to all,” Atayde said. “So with a heavy heart, we have no other choice but to file a formal protest. The letter will be on our president’s desk on Monday and we will submit it to the NCAA mancom on or before Tuesday. It’s up to them to decide, we already did our part.”

Last year, the first and second heaves of a thrower from San Sebastian College was nullified after he was caught wearing the wrong playing uniform in an actual competition. A similar thing also happened to the Blazers’ chess, lawn tennis and volleyball teams after some of their members played wearing the wrong jerseys.

In Ekwe’s case, he was caught wearing the wrong uniform before the start of the third period. Atayde said they almost did not notice the infraction if not for the bold Talk ‘N Text logo in his playing jersey, which they used during their last year’s campaign.

“There is already a precedent. So, I guess this time, we have a stronger case against them,” Atayde said, reiterating that skipper Jacob Manlapaz has signed the protest sheet after the game.

San Beda mancom representative Jose Mari Lacson declined to comment why Ekwe wasn’t in his playing uniform.

“I haven’t talked to him, and we haven’t received the formal protest as well,” Lacson said. “Maybe it was just an ‘honest mistake’ on (Ekwe’s) part.”

Ekwe seems to be a magnet of trouble for the Lions lately. In his campaign with the National Team in the Southeast Asian Basketball Association Champions Cup last summer, the gentle giant from Lagos, Nigeria was held for five grueling hours at the Jakarta airport for failing to present a working visa issued by Nigerian immigration authorities.

In Indonesian soil, he was not allowed to see action as he was found lacking pertinent papers to be classified as an import, leading to the Nationals’ disappointing finish in the league.