NLEX Road Warriors played for a semifinals seat in the 2019 PBA Governors’ Cup knockout quarterfinals last night against NorthPort Batang Pier sans two players.

The no. 1 seed Road Warriors headed into the match without center John Paul Erram and rookie guard Paul Varilla, who were both slapped with one-game suspension by the PBA Commissioner’s Office.
Erram was fined P60,000 for elbowing Batang Pier’s import Michael Qualls behind the neck as defense to his teammate Varilla, who was stepped on the body by Qualls.
Varilla, on the other hand, was also suspended for punching Qualls as retaliation for the latter stepping on his body and also inadvertently elbowing Batang Pier’s center Christian Standhardinger. He was told to pay P50,000.
Road Warriors’ Philip Paniamogan was penalized P5,000 for elbowing Standhardinger’s abdomen, while Standhardinger was also told to pay the same amount for elbow on Road Warriors’ guard Kiefer Ravena’s abdomen.
Curiously, Qualls was spared from any suspension nor fines by PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial despite instigating the brawl. He was also not called any foul for that clear step on Varilla’s body.

NorthPort pushed the match a do-or-die game following a 115-90 victory over the twice-to-beat bearing NLEX in the series opener on Monday night./ASC, WDJ