[ChuckS]

Atlantic 10's Clarification of the VCU-St. Bonaventure End-of-Game Officiating Statement

Although the game officials cited crowd interference as the rationale for assessing the administrative technical foul at the end of regulation in the VCU-St. Bonaventure men's basketball game, that interpretation was inaccurately associated with the SBU students and fans storming the court during regulation.

The administrative technical foul was assessed for multiple reasons. The most significant was an individual taking the game ball from the inbounding baseline (assuming time had expired) and walking down the sideline, causing the VCU player to look for the ball, and chase the individual to secure the ball for inbound. Simultaneously, one of the game officials collided with a fan on the court, prior to the inbound toss. It was after these violations that the clock expired, and the students and fans stormed the court with :00 on the clock.

As a result of this mis-representation of the administrative technical foul assessed to St. Bonaventure, which reflected poorly on the SBU student body, the officiating crew will be disciplined for not immediately stopping the game for disruption of play.

There were an unfortunate series of events in this game, which impacted both institutions and the A-10 ... thus, the conference will continue to work with all involved including the game officials for stronger game management in the future.