Protests thumbed down, guard ruled ineligible

Northern Marianas College get to keep their record but lost prized playmaker Dave Palacios after the 2004 Government Basketball League finally made a decision on the protests lodged against the defending champions and another team.

According to Mike Muna, Basketball Association of the Northern Mariana Islands president and chairman of the league, the defending champions as well as Department of Public Safety II will keep their win-loss slates as none of the protests against them were upheld during the meeting held yesterday at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium conference room.

NMC, however, still paid a stiff price as Palacios, who the league found out doesn’t work for a government agency, was ruled ineligible to play for the rest of the season.

Ray MacDuff, who coaches the team, said the decision sits well with him but he admits that NMC would have a hard time defending their title with the loss of one of their vital cogs. In the game against Procurement & Supply last Monday, Palacios hit two consecutive triples late in the game to lead NMC’s comeback win.

Ed Diaz of DPS II, meanwhile, was cleared to play after it was learned that the Marianas Visitors Authority hired the former league MVP recently.

Department of Community and Cultural Affairs put their Dec. 10 game against NMC under protest, while P&S also questioned the eligibility of Diaz when they lost to DPS II last Dec. 27.

Muna also said that the league decided to have all 12 teams advance to the playoffs instead of just eight as originally planned. He said they had to make the concession to ease the feelings of teams that had their protests thumbed down.

The current team standings of the league has Public School System way in front with a perfect 7-0 record followed by DPS I and Department of Labor, which have identical 7-2 slates. DCCA is just a half game behind at the No. 3 spot with a 6-2 record, while NMC rounds out the teams with .500 records at 5-4.

Commonwealth Health Center is just a game short of evening its record at 4-5 and Tinian is in the same boat at 1-2, having only played three games thus far. DPS II is two games off the .500 mark at 3-5.

P&S and Commonwealth Ports Authority have under performed as of late and are lagging behind with similar 3-6 marks, while Office of the Public Auditor has only a win to show after nine games at 1-9. Mayor’s Office is still searching for their first win in the league and are at the cellar with a 0-6 standing.

The meeting yesterday also resolved the date of make-up games brought about by scheduling snafus and the lack of referees in several games. League coordinator Joey Dela Cruz said he would furnish them as soon as he finalizes the new schedule.