3 Austin Peay players suspended after brawl vs North Florida

Seattle Sports

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Three Austin Peay players were suspended for their roles in a fight at the end of its final home game of the regular season.

Carlos Paez and Cameron Copeland will sit out Wednesday’s game at Stetson. Kamarie Coffey will have to sit out Wednesday and on Friday for the game at Florida Gulf Coast.

The suspensions were announced Monday by the school and the ASUN Conference. The school said in a statement that it “will have no further comment about the matter.”

With four seconds left in Saturday’s game and Austin Peay up on North Florida by one, the Governors got possession of the ball on North Florida’s end of the court and Copeland went up for what appeared to be a layup or dunk at the buzzer. A North Florida player jumped into Copeland to try to defend the shot and sent Copeland to the floor.

Copeland got up and pushed the player as teammates ran off the bench and a fight ensued, ending up in the first row of seats behind the basket. The teams were separated shortly after, though the ESPN broadcast noted the possibility of it continuing near the locker rooms.

North Florida has not announced any suspensions, the Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle reported. The newspaper also said Austin Peay Director of Athletics Gerald Harrison said in a statement Saturday that he was disappointed and that “tonight’s behavior does not represent the ‘Total Gov Concept.’”

Austin Peay is 9-20 this season.

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