A record number of college basketball players were ejected during Friday’s game between Robert Morris and Jacksonville. It made for a surreal image as play continued after a bench-clearing brawl.
17 total players were ejected. Both sides had to continue the final six-ish minutes of the game with just five players in the lineup— no subs, no walk-ons, nothing. Everybody else was thrown out.
Both benches were asked to hit the showers early. The game eventually resumed and the Dolphins went on to defeat the Colonials by eight, 74-65.
Even in victory, the visiting side chose not to shake hands and completely snubbed the home team after the buzzer. Nothing was forgiven, clearly.
All of the ejections stemmed from the same incident. Both teams engaged in a melee at half court.
Things were chippy all afternoon and tensions eventually boiled-over. Punches were thrown and both benches cleared, which led to their ejection.
Jacksonville called a timeout. Jawing back and forth quickly escalated from there.
Here is how it looked on the broadcast:
Here is how it looked on the court:
Dolphins head coach Jordan Mincy issued an apology for what happened during his postgame press conference. As did Andy Toole, briefly.
The mayhem in Moon Township was the most violent fight we have seen thus far this season. By ejecting both benches, the officials made history. Never before have 17 players been tossed, unofficially.
Similar sequences have happened, like when Alabama played Minnesota three-on-five, but fewer than 10 players received an ejection. Nearly two dozen were sent to the showers on Black Friday.
It is unclear at this time as to whether any further punishment will be issued. Suspensions may still be coming, although the two teams play for separate conferences so they will likely be allowed to move on and return to normal lineups — and benches — during their next college basketball games.