Suspensions lifted for 4 LIU players in brawl

NEW YORK (AP) — The star of the Long Island University Brooklyn basketball team and three teammates arrested in a campus brawl had their suspensions lifted Monday and were instead put on school probation and will be suspended for two games each.

Julian Boyd, a forward who was named the Northeast Conference player of the year last year, and three other players, Jamal Olaswere, Troy Joseph and C.J. Garner, were suspended from school after the brawl last month.

The fight broke out during a welcome-back party for students at the Brooklyn campus. Initially, there was an altercation among members of the basketball and track teams. Then, a second fight broke out between basketball players and other students, including a DJ at the party. Police say the four players were arrested after five students filed complaints. Those students were not seriously injured.

The four were arraigned on assault charges and suspended from school, but they appealed the suspension.

On Monday, LIU’s provost Gale Stevens Haynes said suspensions were lifted after careful consideration, but the school would require the students to undergo anger management and other counseling, and do community service.

The Blackbirds won the Northeast Conference regular season and tournament titles the past two seasons. They went 25-9 last season, 16-2 in the conference, and lost to North Carolina in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

The team begins practice this month and games begin in November.

Olaswere is from Bartonsville, Md.; Boyd is from San Antonio; Garner, 22, is from Silver Spring, Md.; and Troy, 21, is from Brooklyn.