Basketball: Dismissals bring game to standstill

HEMEL HEMPSTEAD'S Budweiser League game with Birmingham Bullets on Saturday night came close to being abandoned by the referee Keith D'Wan when the Royals' Mike Carty refused to leave the court after being disqualified.

D'Wan, secretary of the English Association of Basketball officials and an international referee, dismissed Carty and Birmingham's England international Tony Simms for a bout of 'nose to nose trashing'.

Carty then refused to leave the court and D'Wan said: 'He kept coming back to confront Simms and after the third or fourth time I told him to leave the arena completely.' When he refused, D'Wan told the table of officials and commissioner 'that's it, I've had enough. I'm abandoning the game.'

D'Wan's threat calmed the situation and, after a cooling off period, the final seven minutes were played, with Birmingham beating Hemel

84-72.

D'Wan's report to the English Basketball Association's disciplinary committee will also contain his personal view that the incident reflects the poor professional standards being set by players and their clubs.

Thames Valley Tigers, the league leaders, lost 91-89 at home to Doncaster Panthers, but second-placed Manchester Giants lost 75-72 at Leicester City Riders.