Poor judgment and bad calls were absolutely the reason why the Burger King Whopper loss only to a low-scoring 79-83 decision against the Sta. Lucia Realtors Friday in the 35th Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup at the Cuneta Astrodome.

Cabagnot and Gonzales, who both came from Coca-Cola via trade in exchange of Gary David and Chico Lanete last Monday, provided the needed spark for the Whopper especially in the payoff frame by combining 17 of their 23 points there.

Cabagnot scored on drive to put Burger King on top at 68-63 with less than seven minutes left in the last period, but successive poor judgments and bad calls from the refs gave the Realtors the opportunity to come back and win.

“It was almost a memorable debut but our rally was held back,” said Cabagnot, who debuted with 17 points and nine boards. “I’m hoping to win in our next game.”   

The horrible calls from the game officials gave the Realtors and Joseph Yeo the opportunity to torch the Whopper with their torrid shooting, pushing Sta. Lucia back on top at 78-72 and did not look back.

Coach Yeng Guiao lost his temper that resulted to his ejection in the last 1:30 minute mark.

“It was unfair and bad calls have blown us tonight,” said by one Burger King fan. “The people are expecting a good game and not a game decided by these three refs.”

Although the Whopper had limited Kelly William’s production, it was Yeo who spelled the difference in the game with his magnificent personal best 31 points – 25 points in the second half.

Sta. Lucia Realty improved to 9-6 card that strengthened its bid to earn an outright quarterfinals slot.

Burger King, which already qualified in the do-or-die wildcard phase, absorbed 5-11 win-loss log.

Gonzales, who started his career with Air21 after being drafted ninth overall in 2004 rookie draft, posted 13 points and six boards, while Carlo Sharma was 5-of-12 in the field for 10 points and Ronjay Buenafe added nine points.

Richard Yee had eight points, while Ramsey Williams made six points along with three rebounds and four assists in 19 minutes. Ronnie Matias got six points and six rebounds.