After being ejected for arguing a no-call on an elbow to the head of freshman forward Stefan Jankovic, Missouri coach Frank Haith opted to pull his team off the floor midway through the third quarter of an exhibition game with Dutch U-24 national team.
Frank Haith Pulls Missouri Off The Floor During Netherlands Exhibition
Missouri forfeited an exhibition game to the Dutch U-24 national team after head coach Frank Haith pulled his team off the floor in the middle of the third quarter.
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The Tigers were leading the game by 25 points at the time, but the move resulted in the official result of a Missouri forfeit.
“In my mind I was just fearful for the safety of our players, but in retrospect I wish I had let our team play it out and learn from the adversity,” Haith said in a release from the school. “I take complete responsibility. This is a learning experience for us all.
“This in no way reflects how the Dutch team played tonight. They are a great team and for us to be up 25 at the half, we were obviously playing well. I had a split second to make a decision and I chose to err on the side of caution.”
Though Haith was apologetic after the game, it’s not difficult to understand the motivation behind the move.
It was almost exactly a year ago when a scary brawl between Georgetown and a team from China made headlines worldwide. The event resulted in Hoya players and staff going straight from the court to the team bus for fear of their safety.
Missouri began its exhibition tour with an 87-64 victory over Rotterdam on Friday. Pepperdine Keion Bell led the Tigers in scoring with 17 points.
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