2 visiting basketball players suspended after fight at Riptide game

After a fight between the Saint John Riptide and Kitchener-Waterloo Titans on Thursday night, two players with the visiting Ontario team have been suspended.

The Titans suspended Kevin Foster and Tramique Sutherland indefinitely for "altercations" in the game against Saint John, the team says on the Titans website.

"In no way, does (Kitchener-Waterloo) condone this behaviour and as a result we are taking immediate action."

One of my players felt he was kicked. He sort of retaliated. He made a bad decision, threw a punch.- Stu Julius, Titans general manager

A video that starts after players rushed onto the court shows one Riptide player being shoved.

Players can also be seen holding each other back to prevent brawling.

"One of my players felt he was kicked," said Stu Julius, general manager for the Titans. "He sort of retaliated.He made a bad decision, threw a punch.

"Their bench erupted, our bench stayed where it was.The guys on the floor dropped the ball. Certainly, punches were thrown."

He said another one of his players threw a punch and so he suspended both.

Under review by league

The National Basketball League of Canada is reviewing the incident.

Julius said he stands by his decision regardless of what the league decides.

"That's not what we're about."

Charles Breen, who speaks for the Saint John Police Force, said two police officers were working security at the game.

"As the entrance to the dressing rooms was under the bleachers, the Saint John team was sent to their dressing room first," Breen wrote in a statement.

"However, the Saint John players did not go to their dressing room and hung around under the bleachers, waiting for the Kitchener team to come off the floor."

Helped visitors out

At this point, the two officers on security advised the Riptide players to leave the area and helped the visiting team to leave safely.

"Which they did without incident," Breen wrote.

"The Saint John players were then advised to leave the bleacher area and go back to their dressing room, which they eventually did."

No one was injured and no charges were laid.

Riptide issued a statement apologizing to fans for what happened.

"We take these matters very seriously, and it will not be tolerated," the statement said. "We hold our players, staff, and management team to the highest standards of personal conduct and are taking steps to ensure an incident like last night is handled properly and not repeated."

Riptide won the game 121-99.