There are certain things that happen within a basketball game that everyone can agree are dirty. Things like pushing someone in the back while they’re in the air going for a layup or dunk, undercutting someone in the air, stepping under a shooter’s foot, or sticking a leg out to trip someone on a drive are pretty universally viewed as dangerous.
Sometimes these things are subtle, and sometimes they’re more obvious. Something you rarely, if ever, worry about on the basketball court is someone trying to take your head off a good two or three seconds after shooting a three-pointer, but that’s what happened in a D-III college hoops game between Fitchburg State and Nichols.
Nichols’ guard Nate Tengalia fired up and hit a wide open corner three, as Fitchburg State’s Kewan Platt seemingly lazily jogged out for a half-hearted contest. However, while Tengalia held his form and watched the ball go through the hoop, Platt decked him with a brutal elbow to the face and jogged away.
This is disgusting 😣 pic.twitter.com/D8xihwFmwT
— Overtime (@overtime) November 14, 2018
While there are times where the intent of a dirty or dangerous play can be argued, this is not one of those times. Platt was swiftly ejected from the game, then Fitchburg State went a step further and suspended him indefinitely, barring him from campus as they review the incident to determine further sanctions.
The Fitchburg State community is appalled by the conduct displayed during Tuesday night’s home basketball game. The player involved has been indefinitely suspended from the team and barred from campus, effective immediately.
— Fitchburg State (@Fitchburg_State) November 14, 2018
His behavior is antithetical to our community values and good sportsmanship. Fitchburg State does not tolerate behavior that violates those standards. The case is being reviewed at the student conduct level for consideration of further sanctions.
— Fitchburg State (@Fitchburg_State) November 14, 2018
One would think this would be the end of Platt’s tenure at Fitchburg State and, given that he’s a D-III athlete, likely the end of his collegiate basketball career. Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Eisenberg did some digging to determine if there was anything from earlier in the game to explain this play and could not find anything, with Fitchburg’s coach being unsure what provoked the situation.
Tengalia was not seriously injured, luckily, and stayed in the game to hit both of his free throws en route to an 84-75 win for Nichols.
