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Watch: Insane bench-clearing brawl erupts in middle of basketball game

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A fight broke out at an International Basketball Federation World Cup qualifying game between the Philippines and Australia Sunday that makes the infamous “Malice at the Palace” looks like child’s play.

There were flying kicks, chair shots, clotheslines and debris thrown on to the court.

It broke out in the third quarter with Australia dominating 79-48. With about four minutes left in the period, the Phillipines’ RR Pogoy shoved Australia’s Nathan Sobey with a forearm after making pass while driving near the foul line.

Australia’s Daniel Kickert responded by leaving the man he was guarding and delivering a blow with his elbow across the face to Pogoy that dropped him. The video below shows a closer look at how hard Kickert hit him.

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This ignited an all-out brawl. Philippine player Andray Blatche, who played in the NBA for 10 years with the Wizards and Nets, started throwing punches. With this one it looks like he hits his own player.

Thon Maker of the Milwaukee Bucks, who plays for Australia in this tournament, was delivering some flying kicks.

It spilled out into the stands, with a fan throwing a chair at an Aussie player.

The public address announcer called for security and then implored the teams to head to their benches. Security managed to keep some of the Aussie players from getting involved.

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Should both teams be disqualified from the tournament?
Fans can be seen tossing bottles and other debris on to the court. The game was played in Manila, so it was a home game for the Philippines.

Nine Philippine players were ejected along with four Australian players. The Philippines only had five players left and had to forfeit in the fourth quarter when one fouled out, reported USA Today.

“Following the incident that occured in the third quarter of the Philippines-Australia game on Monday in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Asian Qualifiers, FIBA will now open disciplinary proceedings against both teams,” FIBA said in a statement, reported USA Today. “The decision(s) will be communicated in the coming days.”

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Dave is a lifelong sports fan who has been writing for The Wildcard since 2017. He has been a writer for more than 20 years for a variety of publications.
Dave has been writing about sports for The Wildcard since 2017. He's been a reporter and editor for over 20 years, covering everything from sports to financial news. In addition to writing for The Wildcard, Dave has covered mutual funds for Pensions and Investments, meetings and conventions, money market funds, personal finance, associations, and he currently covers financial regulations and the energy sector for Macallan Communications. He has won awards for both news and sports reporting.
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