The Atlantic 10 office is reviewing the altercation between Xavier and Richmond players after Saturday's game. But because the altercation occurred in an off-court hallway, there were few witnesses — none of them impartial — and there is likely to be no agreement as to who was at fault.

        That's why talk from Richmond officials about having the league punish or censure XU may be fruitless.

        “If they want to try to pursue that, go ahead,” XU center David West said. “It wasn't like they were innocent.”

        Richmond AD Jim Miller said his biggest beef was with the Musketeers' on-court celebration, which he considered taunting: “That's the worst I've ever seen.” But the Musketeers contended their reaction was mild compared to profanity and verbal assaults the fans directed at them all game.

        A-10 publicist Ray Cella said Sunday that commissioner Linda Bruno was in the process of reaching the parties involved.

        XU athletic director Mike Bobinski, who did not attend the game but talked to his coaching staff and support staff, said it was a regrettable incident but might have been avoided if the teams didn't have to exit through the same hallway to their locker rooms.

        “Whatever happened, it was a very avoidable circumstance,” he said. “It sounds like an event management issue.”

        XU rallied from a 16-point, second-half deficit for a 67-64 victory. When the buzzer sounded, some jubilant Musketeers ran toward the rowdy Richmond student section and defiantly crossed their arms in the shape of an “X” and yelled toward the students. They were within 15 feet of the stands, and security personnel had to restrain some students from running onto the court.

        When the players left the court, they encountered a bottleneck in the hallway. A shouting match started, then grew worse, with punches reportedly thrown.

        XU players got a police escort out a back door of the building, and assistant coach Alan Major subbed for coach Thad Matta in the postgame radio show so Matta wouldn't have to return to the court.

        Matta declined comment Sunday, but players from both teams focused on the shared hallway as a key factor in the fracas.

        UR's Scott Ungerer told the Richmond Times-Dispatch, “That's what can happen when both teams go into their locker rooms after a very emotional game.”

        Bobinski suggested provisions be made league-wide for teams to enter and exit either through different hallways or at staggered times.

        In shared-exit situations in the NHL, visiting teams can't leave the ice until the home team has vacated its bench. Notre Dame had problems in the past with scuffles in the entrance to its football field, but now staggers the times teams take and leave the field.

        XU made a public apology to Cincinnati after its student section made a lone profane chant during the Crosstown Shootout.

        “I'm all for an intense, charged-up environment, but there's a point where it's not fun,” Bobinski said.

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