UAAP: ‘Don’t be biased,’ says foul-plagued Akowe on officiating in UST’s loss to NU

University of Santo Tomas’ Collins Akowe against National University’s Mo Diassana in UAAP Season 89 men’s basketball. UAAP Media. MANILA — Collins Akowe had strong words for the officiating after University of Santo Tomas absorbed its third straight loss in UAAP Season 89 men’s basketball.

Plagued by fouls throughout the contest, Akowe finished with 11 points and five rebounds on 2-of-7 shooting as the Tigers fell to National University, 75-71, on Saturday.

Still, the bruising sophomore insisted that his struggles were not caused by the Bulldogs’ big men.

“Struggled against their front line? I wouldn’t say though, there wasn’t any struggle for me,” said Akowe. “The thing is I couldn’t get more touches and I just couldn’t do my part of the job.”

Instead, Akowe pointed to what he viewed as inconsistent foul calls that limited his ability make his mark.

“I don’t know what to do anymore. I don’t know if I’m going to touch the person because the fouls we were calling were just… I don’t know. I can’t even play defense. Any silly touch, they call a foul. I have scratches all over me, no foul. It is what it is, man,” he added.

By the numbers, UST’s frontline struggled to match up with Mo Diassana, PJ Palacielo, and Kenshin Padrones, as the Bulldogs turned a dominant 59-29 rebounding advantage into a 46-16 edge in points in the paint.

However, Akowe believed the disparity stemmed in part from what he felt was an uneven whistle with regard to physical play.

“I’m used to it, but you don’t need to be biased,” he said. “You gotta be fair. If you bump me, I bump you. It’s easy. Don’t be biased, don’t pick a side. I was bumped several times, no fouls and all of that.”

“But for me, I didn’t even touch, and they were calling fouls. That alone even [messed] up, sorry for the language, [messed] up my mental health. I don’t know, I wasn’t able to focus on the game because I was scared of touching these guys boxing out. Because, man, the referees, I don’t know, bro,” Akowe added.

Making matters worse for the Tigers, they remained winless in the second round and slipped to solo seventh place as they absorbed their sixth loss in 10 outings.

But despite their struggles, Akowe remains optimistic about UST’s Final Four chances, drawing confidence from how the team has responded to adversity.

“It’s a loss. You don’t expect us to be happy, but the best thing is how we stay together, this is a character test for us,” he said. “We have four more games, hopefully we get to win the last four games and see where fate takes us.”