Xavier suspends four players for melee

CINCINNATI Xavier University Associate Vice President and Athletic Director Mike Bobinski announced today that four XU mens basketball student-athletes will serve suspensions as a result of their parts in yesterdays incidents at the Crosstown Shootout. Bobinski made the announcement on behalf of Xavier and the Atlantic 10 Conference. Freshman Dezmine Wells, who had a mandatory one game suspension for being ejected from the game for fighting, has been given an additional three games by Xavier and will serve a four-game suspension. Sophomore Landen Amos has also been given a four-game suspension. Junior Mark Lyons will serve a two-game suspension. Senior Tu Holloway will serve a one-game suspension. I have been working closely with Atlantic 10 Conference Commissioner Bernadette McGlade and the A-10 staff since yesterday afternoon, said Bobinski. We have all thoroughly reviewed the video evidence from a variety of sources. The Atlantic 10 fully supports our decisions on the suspensions announced today. We accept full responsibility for our part in the events that occurred at the end of our game yesterday. It was both embarrassing and disappointing and clearly did not reflect the standards of behavior we expect from our student-athletes. We resolve to do whatever is necessary to prevent an incident like this from occurring in the future. Additionally, we regret the poorly-chosen words our student-athletes used in the post-game press conference and have addressed the matter with them. This was an unfortunate incident that occurred, and is not representative of the values within the Atlantic 10 Conference, Commissioner Bernadette V. McGlade said. The additional disciplinary actions taken by Xavier University are fully supported by the conference. In the long run they will help the student-athletes and Xavier University in maintaining the high standards we expect. These penalties reinforce Xaviers and the Atlantic 10s commitment to sportsmanship and accountability and the importance we place on the integrity of intercollegiate athletics.