The British Basketball League has forced the Glasgow Rocks to forfeit their season opener after the team used three ineligible players.
One of those was former Caldwell County High School and Lipscomb University standout Eli Pepper.
Americans Pepper and Greg Pryor, along with France’s Maxime Djo Ebala, were not registered to play in the 96-80 Glasgow victory over the Manchester Giants on Sept. 20.
Pryor scored 24 points, Pepper 17 and Djo Ebala four.
The BBL had originally ruled that the contest be replayed, with Pepper, Pryor and Djo Ebala not eligible to participate in that contest.
However, the British Basketball Federation’s (BBF) Appeals Panel considered an appeal by Manchester Giants Basketball Club, which said the game should be a forfeit.
The appeal was against the decision of the Basketball League’s (BBL) Disciplinary Panel, which had ordered that the match be replayed and had fined the Rocks an undisclosed amount, after concluding that the Rocks had made a genuine error in fielding the three ineligible players.
The Appeal Panel, made up of two BBF directors and an independent director from the BBL, unanimously upheld the appeal and awarded the contest to the Manchester Giants. In line with FIBA regulations, the winning score for the forfeited game is 20-0.
The panel reached its conclusion based on previous precedent in the BBL, where the playing of ineligible players has resulted in a forfeit.
The next game on the Rocks schedule is Friday, Nov. 8, against the Leicester Riders.