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Cheerers banned from SIAC event

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The cheerleaders and dance teams for Albany State and Tuskegee were sent home from the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament after fighting.

An SIAC statement Wednesday said the fight happened at halftime of the schools' first-round men's basketball game Tuesday at Bill Harris Arena.

The statement from league commissioner Gregory Moore says "the obligation to observe basic principles of sportsmanship and fair play extends to all participants at the SIAC basketball tournament."

He said the cheerleaders and dance teams for both Albany State and Tuskegee would be barred from performing for the rest of the tournament and that the schools were sending them back to campus.

Tuskegee won the game 80-63.

Tuskegee said in a statement that it would investigate the incident based on the university's code of conduct policies.

Albany State athletic director Richard Williams also said that the incident would be reviewed and promised "appropriate action."

"We expect our student-athletes and representatives to conduct themselves accordingly; anything less is unacceptable," Williams said in a statement.