This can’t be good for foreign relations. Georgetown’s basketball team traveled to China to play Bayi Rockets In a nearly two-minute video, which Timothy Burke of Sports Grid “obtained from a Chinese source,” it shows Georgetown’s Jason Clark not taking lightly to a foul by Rockets player Hu Ke, and it was chaos from that point on. Even smaller fights broke out throughout the arena which saw chairs being thrown.
According to the Washington Post
“Georgetown Coach John Thompson III pulled his players off the court with 9 minutes 32 seconds left in the game and the scored tied at 64 after a chaotic scene in which members of both teams began throwing punches and tackling one another.”
Georgetown senior center Henry Sims had a chair tossed at him by an unidentified person, and freshman forward Moses Ayegba, who was wearing a brace on his sore right ankle, walked onto the court with a chair in his right hand. According to Georgetown officials, Ayegba had been struck, prompting him to grab a chair in self-defense.
It was the second time both benches emptied in physical game marred by fouls. By halftime, Bayi had 11 fouls while Georgetown had 28.
Immediately before the fighting began, Bayi forward-center Hu Ke was called for a foul against Georgetown’s Jason Clark. The senior guard clearly took exception to the hard foul and said so to Hu, triggering an exchange of shoves.
That’s when players from the Georgetown and Bayi benches ran onto the court, and bedlam ensued.
Said John Thompson III in a statement:
“Tonight, two great teams played a very competitive game that unfortunately ended after heated exchanges with both teams. We sincerely regret that this situation occurred.
“We remain grateful for the opportunity our student-athletes are having to engage in a sport they love here in China, while strengthening their understanding of a nation we respect and admire at Georgetown University.”
Video below of the incident:
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