Basketball referee gets knocked out after being hit during tip-off in match

Incident happened at the start of LaSalle versus Vanderbilt in Brooklyn

Referee Rick Crawford was knocked out after being hit during the opening tip-off in the consolation game between LaSalle and Vanderbilt the Brooklyn Centre on Saturday night.

Moments after the opening tip-off, Crawford was struck by the elbow of Vanderbilt's center Damian Jones, and dropped to the floor.

VIDEO: WATCH THE TIP-OFF BELOW

Crawford was treated by medics for around 10 minutes as he received attention, and the Barclays Centre fell silent. He left the court on a stretcher with his neck in a brace. Vanderbilt's Twitter account tweeted after the match that "it looks like Crawford is coherant and moving extremities".

A spokesman for the Barclays Centre said the official was talking as he made his way to the hospital and could remember what happened.