Australia vs. Philippines basketball game bursts into a huge brawl
Australia's match against the Philippines has descended into chaos after a fistfight broke out during the pair’s FIBA World Cup qualifying clash.
The explosive encounter, which led to objects being thrown around the court as players wildly threw punches, was sparked after Boomers guard Chris Goulding was shoved to the floor. They then deliberately fouled the Australians so they could gradually be disqualified from the game and bring an early end to the drama that ended with an 89-53 win to the Boomers with 1:57 left in the third quarter.
All hell broke loose when Kickert appeared to strike the Philippine player that hit Goulding with an elbow, and which saw the home team clear the bench and start a virtual street fight in a stunning over-reaction.
They furiously chased Kickert around the court as fists, feet, and chairs started to fly. Australian guard Nathan Sobey was pinned under a courtside chair and punched by a number of Philippine players.
Nine Philippine players and four Boomers were ejected from the game after the nasty brawl was sparked when Australian guard Chris Goulding was sent to the floor with a heavy shove with four minutes left in the third quarter.
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Goulding, Nathan Sobey, Daniel Kickert and Thon Maker were the Australians ejected after the shocking fight.
Matthew Dellavedova, who recently was released by Bucks, is part of the Australian team but seemed to be largely uninvolved with the fight itself. Australia's Nathan Sobey, who played college basketball at Wyoming, couldn't say the same.
What made the whole situation even more bizarre, is the fact that Philippine players were posting for a selfie when the officials were checking replays to decide on a course of action.
The game was incredibly allowed to carry on despite the Philippines having only three players available for the remainder of the quarter. The match was eventually forfeited by the home side at the close of the third.
FIBA said in a statement that it will review the matter.
"Following the incident that occurred in the third quarter of the Philippines-Australia game on Monday in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Asian Qualifiers, FIBA will now open disciplinary proceedings against both teams," the governing body said. "The decision(s) will be communicated in the coming days."
