OH MY GOD. Thon Maker involved in the biggest basketball brawl since the Malice at the Palace... pic.twitter.com/nTNt5wRS6p
— Dime on UPROXX (@DimeUPROXX) July 2, 2018
A massive brawl broke out during a one-sided FIBA World Cup qualifying match between Australia and the Philippines on Monday.
With four minutes remaining in the third quarter and Australia up 79-48, the Boomers' Chris Goulding was shoved to the ground by Filipino guard Roger Pogoy. Goulding's teammate Daniel Kickert retaliated by elbowing Pogoy in the head, and a ruckus ensued in Philippine Arena.
Australian Milwaukee Bucks center Thon Maker got involved in the fight, and can be seen flying through a crowd of players. Former NBAer Andray Blatche (a naturalized citizen of the Philippines) also threw punches at multiple Boomers.
Bucks guard Matthew Dellavedova held back his Aussie teammates on the bench.
Bench-clearing brawl between Gilas and Australia. pic.twitter.com/RotOFNiMgl
— Camille B. Naredo (@camillenaredo) July 2, 2018
A combined 13 players were ejected, leaving only three players on the Filipino side. After playing three-on-five for a brief period, the Philippines forfeited, losing the contest 89-53.
"Basketball Australia deeply regrets the incident in tonight's match between the Boomers and the Philippines in Manila," Basketball Australia chief executive Anthony Moore said in a statement, according to USA Today's Jeff Zillgitt. "This is not the spirit in which the sport should be played and certainly not in the spirit in which we aim to play basketball. We apologize to our fans and will await the penalties to be handed down."
