Both coaches admitted they'd never been in a game like it after three players were ejected and nine technical fouls dished out in a heated NBL clash between the Illawarra Hawks and Adelaide 36ers.
A 40-point burst in the second quarter set up the 120-109 home win - just the fourth for the Hawks this season - but the high rate of sanctions from match officials was the big talking point on Sunday's game.
"I've never been in a game like that with so many ejections and tech fouls," Hawks coach Rob Beveridge said.
"It was pretty confusing. I didn't know who was getting what.. [NBL referees boss] Scott Butler has a pretty tough job and we've just got to worry about ourselves."
Adelaide coach Joey Wright copped one of the tech fouls and was cautious afterwards.
"I don't think I can get into trouble saying I've never been in a game like that," Wright said.
Todd Blanchfield scored a game-high 24 points for the Hawks and American guard Jordair Jett added 18 off the bench. Big man AJ Ogilvy was also instrumental with 19 points and 13 rebounds.
Demitrius Conger led Adelaide with 22 against his former team, while Nathan Sobey had 16.
Adelaide import Jacob Wiley was banished from the contest in the first half after copping consecutive technical fouls for his role in a heated exchange with Jett.
Illawarra duo David Andersen and Tim Coenraad were ejected for separate incidents in the fourth quarter.
The first sign of tension occurred late in the first quarter when Sixers centre Harry Froling tangled with fellow rookie Daniel Grida.
Tempers boiled over again with 6:37 remaining in the first half when Jett and Wiley clashed, resulting in a second melee.
Jett was one of three Illawarra players to be issued with a technical foul, while Wiley received his double technical foul and was automatically ejected.
Wright was called for his technical foul for continuing to debate the rulings.
Illawarra built a 20-point lead in the third quarter before the game erupted again, this time between Sobey and Hawks veteran David Andersen.
Sobey was hit with a technical foul, while 37-year-old Andersen was ejected after copping simultaneous unsportsmanlike and technical fouls.
The last technical foul was called early in the final period, as Coenraad received his marching orders on a flop ruling.
Illawarra's record now stands at 4-7 while the 36ers slipped to 5-7 heading into this week's international break.