Elbow during live ball

[Buckley11]

By definition in the federation rule book no contact technical can occur during a LIVE ball...But...can a contact situation be considered unsporting and be assessed a T during a live ball? Here's the sitch;

A1 rebounds missed shot by team B. While in the backcourt, B1 is "smothering" (no contact) A1. A1 "chins" the ball and in frustration intentionally elbows B1. The action was not considered flagrant, but the calling official issued a Technical Foul for unsporting conduct, even though this was a CONTACT foul.

Our crew met following the play and I expressed my interpretation that the foul should either be

1)player control-if not intentional,
2)intentional personal foul - if intentional,
or 3)flagrant personal if deemed flagrant by the officials.

The crew stayed with the unsporting T.

Our entire crew is trying to bring clarification to this matter to either justify the final decision or to avoid making this same mistake again.

Please confirm the correct interp.....or let us know if there is an instance where this CAN be administered as an unsporting Technical foul.

Thanks in advance for your response(s)