Referee Hallig called a foul on TNT’s Brian Heruela while he was defending Paul Lee. However, there was video evidence that Heruela did not hit Lee, who was trying a 3-point shot at the time.

After such turbulence, the PBA’s technical committee reviewed the game and ruled that there was a “wrong call,” which the Magnolia Hotshots went on to win 106-98.

“We made a wrong call, we admit that. No excuses,” PBA Deputy Commission Eric Castro said.

Nevertheless, Castro noted that there’s nothing left to do but “move on and do a better job in the next games, plain and simple.” 

“Admittedly there was no contact. But things like this happen. Referees are humans. Magkakamalit magkakamili sila. But their mistakes don’t go unpunished,” Bong Pascual, the league’s head of officials added.

As a result of the problematic call, the league was swift to reprimand Hallig and was promptly replaced by an alternate official throughout the game.

Also, commissioner Willie Marcial removed him from the roster of game officials for the rest of the championship series as a result of his actions.