AN UGLY fight broke out between the Mapua University Cardinals and China's Ningbo University in the 13th Asian University Basketball Championship at Technology University of the Philippines (TUP)-Manila Gym on Monday, July 7.

The brawl occurred at the six-minute mark of the third quarter with the Cardinals hanging on to a 64-57 lead.

Video footage of the incident had circulated online since then. In the footage, the two squads battled for a rebound following a miss by Mapua’s Cyril Gonzales.

Two players from the opposing teams fell to the floor and fought for the ball. The trouble broke out when a player from the Chinese team sneaked in a kick and hit a Mapua player in the leg.

The Mapua player reacted by also kicking the Chinese player. All hell then broke loose as punches were thrown while some players wrestled.

Game officials and security personnel struggled to break the massive brawl.

Fortunately, the proverbial cooler heads prevailed. Officials then decided to halt the match.

As of this writing, tournament organizers and the involved teams had yet to issue statements over the issue

Aside from Mapua and Ningbo, the tournament is also participated by De La Salle University–Dasmariñas, Universitas Islam Indonesia, and Philippine Normal University and host TUP.(CCM)

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• #Ningbo University
• #13th Asian University Basketball Championship
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