The Bacolod Master Sardines big man Lalata and UP standout Juan Gomez de Liano had met on Thursday to clear the air that had happened between the two.

Lalata felt bad about what had happened and initiated an apology to Gomez de Liano, who is now suffering sprained right ankle after he landed on Lalata’s right foot after making a layup with 5:15 left in the game.

The 20-year-old awed in pain and held on to his ankle, which league official Anton Altamirano accompanied the player to the Nueva Ecija’s bench.

“Juan, sorry sa nangyari. Alam mo naman na idol din kita. Teammate kita sa Marinero. Sorry,” Lalata stated. 

“Hindi ko intensyon na sasaktan yung kalaban. Hindi ko intensyon na manggulang. Nag-sorry talaga ako sa kanya” he sincerely admitted. 

On Gomez de Liano’s part, he accepted the apology but couldn’t bear to wonder about the happenings of the incident. 

“I know Chris. He’s a nice guy. We were teammates in the D-League. It wasn’t his intention, the way I saw it. I just want to understand why he needed to box out when the play already ended,” he said as the two played in Marinerong Pilipino the UP star admitted.

Altamirano’s intuition stated that Lalata had intruded the landing spot of Gomez de Liano, saying, “I understand that there was no intention but there is no doubt that you (Lalata) violated Juan’s (de Liano) landing spot.”

Moreover, Altamirano alerted Lalata that repeat of the same action could inflict the player serious punishments. 

“I’d like to give a stern warning sa’yo. Next time it happens, ma-sanction, ma-penalize ka na namin,” Altamirano warned Bacolod’s big man.