Eight players were suspended for their roles in a wild brawl that erupted during handshakes following a basketball game in San Antonio between host University of the Incarnate Word and Texas A&M University–Commerce, officials said Wednesday.
The visitors had come away with a 76-72 overtime victory at UIW’s Alice P. McDermott Convocation Center on Monday night and players were in the handshake line when fists started flying.
Both schools are members of the Southland Conference and the league handed down punishments on Wednesday.
For A&M-Commerce, forward Jerome Brewer, Jr., guard Ant Abraham, and forward Kwo Agwa will all miss three games while guard Prince Davies will be suspended for one contest.
Brewer is the team's second leading scorer at 13.8 points per game while Agwa has the second most blocked shots with 26.
For UIW, point guard Elijah Davis was hit with a three-game ban while guard Alex Anderson, center Gabe Beny Til and forward Marcus Glover were each suspended for two games.
Davis has the most assists on the team with 76 so far this season while Anderson is the second leading scorer at 12.4 points per contest.
“The Southland Conference Board of Directors has set clear expectations for sportsmanship and behavior of our student-athletes, coaches, and spectators during and after competitions," Commissioner Chris Grant said in a statement. "Unfortunately, these expectations were not met on Monday night, and the Southland Conference will not tolerate any unsportsmanlike behavior."
ESPN cameras on Monday night were focused on the handshakes at mid-court when the fight appeared to start just off camera, close to the UIW bench. Staff and others not in uniform also appeared to be in the middle of the fracas and hit the floor.
The ESPN commentators began a play-by-play of the fight and said during the broadcast that a girl in the stands had been hit and one of the team managers had a bloody face.
UIW is a Catholic school with a little more than 9,000 students in San Antonio. Texas A&M University-Commerce, formerly known as East Texas State University, has an enrollment of about 12,000 students.
"UIW and Texas A&M University-Commerce apologize for the behavior exhibited by our respective men’s basketball programs following the game on Monday night," the schools said in a joint statement after the fight.
"The unsportsmanlike conduct that occurred after the game does not reflect the values of the universities involved, as well as the Southland Conference and their member institutions."
Both schools are set to play their next games on Saturday.
A&M-Commerce is scheduled to play at Nicholls while UIW has a game at McNeese State.
Both teams sit near the bottom of the Southland Conference. A&M-Commerce is 4-10 in league play and 10-17 overall while UIW is 3-10 and 8-18.
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