Ron English, Ohio Valley Conference interim commissioner, responded to the events of Tuesday night’s Eastern Kentucky-Tennessee State men’s basketball game Wednesday.

Following a bumping and elbowing incident between Eastern Kentucky’s Shawn Fields and Tennessee State’s Cedric Bryson under Eastern Kentucky’s basket, play was stopped and the two players were assessed technical fouls and ejected from the game.

While the penalties were being assessed, Tennessee State’s Josh Cooperwood pulled an Eastern Kentucky player backward with his arm wrapped around the other player’s neck. Cooperwood’s actions resulted in both benches clearing.

Bryson and Eastern Kentucky’s Champ Slaughter and Kenyatta Dix were thrown out of the game for separate fighting incidents, and according to NCAA rules, all three are suspended for their teams’ next game. English also suspended Cooperwood.

Eastern Kentucky’s Sherard Rogers, who threw a box of mini-basketballs at a group of players during the melee, was suspended immediately by head coach Travis Ford. Following Ford’s suspension of Rogers, English decided not to impose any further penalty.

English was not available to comment but was quoted in a press release saying, “In reviewing the tape made available to us, the one-game penalty for those noted is appropriate.”

English went on to say, “This situation did not include wild swinging, punching and kicking by multiple players. There were a few select punches thrown, and the game officials were able to identify those individuals involved and took the appropriate action.”

English commended the officiating crew of Mike Stuart, Tracy Woodson and Patrick Evans for their handling of the situation, and the ejection decisions they made. English also stated he fully supports their decisions to restart the game when each team had only four eligible players remaining.

According to English, the three game officials praised Ford and Hosea Lewis, Tennessee State interim head coach, for helping to get their teams back to their respective benches.

But English also said the coaches job, in the first place, is to keep their players on their bench, so both coaches would be assessed a one-game suspension consistent with OVC policy.

Joanne Glasser, the president of Eastern Kentucky University, was present at the game and apologized to Lewis after the game. She also apologized in a phone call to James Hefner, president of Tennessee State University, for what occurred.

In the press release, English said, “I cannot express strongly enough the disappointment that the entire OVC family feels over the events that occurred on Monday night. This type of behavior has no place in athletics and no place in the OVC. This conference is committed to ensuring that this type of event does not occur in the future. The coaches and players in the OVC have worked hard over the course of the last decade in areas of sportsmanship and fair play. This incident serves as a reminder that we must continue that resolve.”