The basketball brawl of the decade just went down in an Australia-versus-Philippines FIBA World Cup Qualifier. It started with an elbow to the face of Australia's Chris Goulding. Then came another elbow in retaliation, then a flying punch—and then all hell broke loose.
Absolute scenes. Basketball fight. pic.twitter.com/ny9mBig1o9
Disgusting pic.twitter.com/uNBBjaTECu
Wow, unbelievable violence on the #basketball court, Filipino players attacking Australia players in World Cup qualifying. Disgusting. pic.twitter.com/M6OUQr9NGo
The Philippines' bench cleared. Nine players from the squad were ejected following the fight, so they had to play three on five.
3 on 5! pic.twitter.com/ya22ppuabQ
Caught up in the middle of it: the Milwaukee Bucks' and Australia's Thon Maker (No. 7 in yellow), who jumped into the center of the ruckus and at one point attempted a drop-knee.
This is one the biggest on court FIGHTS of the last decade!!! WOW. In the hand between Philippines-Australia of #fibawc qualifierspic.twitter.com/fNUq5amZyt via @ardemj
Thon Maker out here throwing knees! 😳 #Boomers pic.twitter.com/feizBcSBkc
Former Washington Wizards and Brooklyn Nets power forward Andray Blatche landed a massive punch.
Andray Blatche thinking he's JBL with the Clothesline From Hell #Boomers pic.twitter.com/JOM9yuNbHC
One player even got hit with a chair. A chair!
Oh my god. He threw a chair! #Boomers pic.twitter.com/9T5bs5VLou
The crowd started throwing bottles at the Australian players, leading the organizers to plead with the fans to calm down.
"We will wait for the referees on their decision... We will continue the game." -- Panlilio
Once two Philippines players fouled out, the game was down to five-on-one—so the refs called it, sealing the Aussies' massive win.
Game is over with 1:57 left in Q3. FINAL SCORE:
AUSTRALIA 89, GILAS 53
Just...wow.
This just happened. After one of the wildest on-court brawls in recent memory, the Philippines team pauses to pose for a selfie, like there’s something to celebrate pic.twitter.com/fTXAaBA5lp
Both teams had already advanced to the next round of qualifying. We'll see if FIBA enacts any punitive measures.
