Hamilton Co. Prosecutor Joe Deters to review brawl from Crosstown Shootout

CINCINNATI - Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters announced Monday that his office will look at the brawl from the Crosstown Shootout and determine if any charges should be filed.

"My office will review this matter to determine whether any criminal charges are appropriate. We will have no further comment until a decision is reached," said Deters in a statement released Monday morning.

The University of Cincinnati held a press conference Monday afternoon to discuss several players' suspensions for their role in the brawl at the Crosstown Shootout.

UC players Octavius Ellis, Yancy Gates, Ge'Lawn Guyn and Cheikh Mbodj spoke at the 2 p.m. press conference along with head coach Mick Cronin.  The suspended players apologized for their behavior during Saturday's game.

Xavier students returned to campus for a study day on Monday. They have exams from Tuesday through Friday this week. "I think that everyone just wants to look past it because we know we have a really good basketball team and we don't want this to affect the rest of the season," said Cathie Bisher, a Xavier student.

Meanwhile, UC students are on winter break until the beginning of January. "I think we are ready to move on but is embarrassing though as a student here because everyone is talking about it especially on Facebook and Twitter but I think we are ready to move on from it for sure," said Bridget Sullivan, a UC student.

Cincinnati forward Gates got a six-game suspension on Sunday for throwing punches during a brawl with Xavier in the closing seconds of their annual crosstown rivalry game.

Gates punched Xavier's Kenny Frease in the face, causing a nasty gash, and hit at least one other Musketeer during the fracas, which prompted the referees to call Xavier's 76-53 win with 9.4 seconds left on Saturday.

Mbodj and Ellis also got six-game suspensions. Guyn was suspended for one game.

Mbodj kicked Frease while he was on the court after getting punched by Gates. Guyn shoved Xavier's Tu Holloway in the face at the start of the bench-clearing fracas.

The players' punishment will go into effect immediately and will be concurrent with the NCAA standard one game suspensions that would be applied to Gates and Mbodj for being ejected during the game. 

"After reviewing all available video and giving due deliberation to the seriousness of this behavior, we have decided to take these actions," said UC Athletic Director Whit Babcock. "We want to deal with this in a prompt and direct manner and send the message that we will not tolerate this from those who have the privilege of representing the University of Cincinnati."

"We have advised the BIG EAST Conference of our decision and the measures we're taking. I'm thankful for the full support of President Williams and Coach Mick Cronin."

"Further, I want to apologize to our students, alumni, faculty and staff, as well as to our fans and community. We hold our student-athletes to a very high standard and take very seriously the role that our entire department plays in reflecting the overall image of this great university. We will continue to work diligently to represent the Bearcat family and the Cincinnati community in a first-class manner. There will be zero tolerance for a repeat of this behavior."

Xavier held a news conference Sunday at 4:15 p.m. announcing their reactions and suspensions. Read more about their comments at http://www.wcpo.com/dpp/news/region_central_cincinnati/evanston/xavier-also-suspends-4-basketball-players-after-shootout-brawl .