College basketball game ends with teams playing 4-on-5 after bench-clearing scuffle

Louisiana Tech was forced to play the final 6:03 of its game against UAB Thursday night with just four players after a bench-clearing fight between the two teams resulted in mass ejections.

The Bulldogs lost the game, 79-70, but they did salvage some pride by outscoring UAB while playing a man down.

The fight started when UAB’s Hakeem Baxter threw a punch that appeared to connect with Louisiana Tech’s Jacobi Boykins’ neck. Both of those players were assessed flagrant technicals and ejected.

Outside of the initial blow, there didn’t appear to be any subsequent punches thrown in the scuffle. Still, the fact that every Louisiana Tech player left the bench led to the mass ejections and the Bulldogs being forced to end the game with only four players.

The game had significance outside of the bizarre circumstances that it ended with, as both teams now sit at 6-2 and in a three-way tie for second in the Conference USA standings. Middle Tennessee, one of the biggest stories of last season’s NCAA tournament, leads the league with a perfect 8-0 record.