Official interference

[buckrog64]

Was watching a varsity boys game the other night when a steal in the front court took place and the center official of a three man crew found himself on the receiving end of a direct bump from the player who stole the ball. He simply was in the way and the contact caused the loss of the ball. The ref immediately blew the play dead and gave the ball to the team who stole it. He patted himself on the chest as if to say, 'my fault,' and no one really got too uptight about it. Question is, did he do the right thing, by the book? or is an official simply a part of the floor and each team takes his chances? I would guess he was 3-5 feet from the sideline when this happened.