MANILA, Philippines – Japeth Aguilar had to be rushed to the hospital following a friendly fire from Barangay Ginebra teammate Stanley Pringle in their PBA Governors’ Cup clash against Alaska. 

Aguilar appeared extremely hurt after having his eye accidentally poked by Pringle during an offensive play midway through the final quarter of their 102-83 victory on Sunday, September 22. 

Driving towards the basket, Pringle got a piece of Aguilar after kicking out the ball for a Justin Brownlee three-pointer. 

“It was a deep, deep poke – the one where the finger gets to the side of the eye and gets stuck in there. It wasn’t just a scratch. The finger really got in,” said Gin Kings head coach Tim Cone. 

Aguilar – who finished with 8 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 blocks – never returned and was hospitalized even before the end of the game. 

“We’ll know more as the information comes in. At this point, we don’t know what’s going on but we hope it’s not too major. The eyes are a delicate thing,” Cone added. 

The Governors’ Cup has seen a number of injuries early on, with Alaska’s Noy Baclao suffering a ruptured left patellar tendon and NLEX’ Poy Erram sustaining a collateral ligament sprain on his left elbow. 

Aguilar has a few days to recover before Barangay Ginebra tangles with Phoenix on Saturday, September 28, at the Araneta Coliseum. – Rappler.com