Three Austin Peay basketball players and one North Florida player received suspensions for their roles in a fight that broke out after the teams’ game Saturday in Clarksville, Tenn.
The ASUN Conference announced Monday that Austin Peay’s Kamarie Coffey, Cameron Copeland and Carlos Paez will serve one-game suspensions when the Governors play Stetson on Wednesday. Austin Peay added an additional game to Coffey’s suspension, keeping him out for Friday’s game at Florida Gulf Coast.
The ASUN also suspended North Florida’s Jonathan Aybar for one game, which he will serve Wednesday when the Ospreys face Eastern Kentucky.
Austin Peay snapped an 11-game losing streak by beating visiting North Florida 73-71 on Saturday. In the final seconds of the game, with the Governors holding a 72-71 lead, Copeland attempted a flashy dunk and Aybar caught up and pushed him from midair to the ground.
That incited several Austin Peay players to surround Aybar. Video from the game broadcast showed at least one player corralling Aybar by the neck and nearly bringing him to the floor. Security guards needed to break up the brawl, but video later showed players running into a hallway behind the court, where the fight apparently continued.
“I am disappointed with the behavior at the conclusion of (Saturday’s) game with North Florida,” Peay athletic director Gerald Harrison said in a statement that day. “Our student-athletes are held to a higher standard, and tonight’s behavior does not represent the ‘Total Gov Concept.’ Austin Peay and the ASUN Conference take pride in sportsmanship. That didn’t happen today.”
–Field Level Media
