WESTMINSTER Warriors finished their English National League match at Bradford Dragons with only four players after ten men were ejected by the referees following a late melee.
The visitors, who had beaten Division One title contenders Derby Trailblazers the previous weekend, trailed 79-56 at three-quarter time and frustration got the better of them with three-and-a-half minutes left.
Michael Odomosu grabbed Dragons point guard Jeremee Davis in a headlock in a seemingly unprovoked attack and the skirmish that followed took the referees several minutes to sort out before ten players were expelled from the arena, leaving the Warriors short-handed.
With the game's spirit punctured, the sides simply went through the motions of seeing the clock run down, with the Dragons eventually winning 94-71.
Westminster had been confident before the start but were forced into their first time-out after just five minutes when they were trailing 19-10.
It was an inspired call as, by the end of the first quarter, the deficit had been reduced to two points at 24-22.
The same pattern emerged in the second period but this time there was no recovery as the Dragons led 51-39 going into the locker rooms.
Miguel Lorenzo topped the scoring for the Dragons with 24 points, followed by Davis (19) and Rihards Sulcs (17).
Dragons coach Chris Mellor said: "In the first half, we traded baskets far too often, but our defence stepped up in the second half and we got ourselves a nice cushion.
"The incident near the end, with both benches clearing, was disappointing but I don't blame JP (Davis) for any part of it and I hope that the league take suitable action."
It was a home double-header weekend for the Dragons, who were clawed 75-63 by Essex Leopards the following day.
The Leopards had hit back from a 15-point interval deficit to beat Hemel Storm the previous evening and, despite the Dragons taking an early lead, the visitors held an 18-16 advantage at the first break.
While the Dragons huffed and puffed, they were unable to breathe fire into their performance and they trailed 44-31 at halfway on the path to defeat.
Sulcs sank 19 points to lead the hosts' scoring, with Davis notching 15 points and John Bantock ten.
Mellor said: "I thought we competed hard but we went 0-13 from the three-point line compared to their 10-24 and that was the difference."
The Dragons are at Derby on Saturday, before facing Kent Crusaders at the Dragons' Den on Sunday (4.15pm).
Elsewhere for the club, the under-16s enjoyed a double celebration by winning 69-53 at Toxteth Tigers on Saturday and 109-94 at home to Northamptonshire Titans the next day.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here