Missouri Valley Commissioner Doug Elgin said Monday that referee Brad Gaston erred when he assessed Creighton coach Dana Altman a technical foul in the waning seconds of Saturday's game at George Mason.

In a telephone interview from St. Louis, Elgin said the league is still investigating what happened at the end of the nonconference game in Fairfax, Va., and whether any disciplinary action might be taken against any individual.

Based on what he's seen and heard, Elgin said, the technical foul should not have been called.

“My take is that unless it is absolutely necessary, you do not make a technical call late in the game,'' Elgin said. “I just think that it's always best when you let the game get decided by what happens on the court.

“There might be instances where a technical has to be called but, from what I've seen in this case, I think it was a mistake to call it.''

Creighton was clinging to a 72-70 lead when George Mason inbounded the ball with 23 seconds to play. The Patriots' Cam Long drove the lane and collided with Creighton's Justin Carter about five feet from the basket.

From his vantage point on the baseline, Gaston called a blocking foul on Carter. Altman, in the coach's box about 75 feet away, protested the call by swinging his arms in disgust and yelling. He said he did not use any profanity.

Gaston called the technical as he approached the scorer's table. George Mason's Luke Hancock made the two technical free throws to tie the game, and Long made one of two free throws to give the Patriots a 73-72 lead with 18 seconds to play.

After a Creighton turnover, Hancock scored on a breakaway dunk to seal a 75-72 victory.

Elgin and Eddie Jackson, the Valley's coordinator of officials, said they both had watched videotape of the play in question. Based on what he saw, Elgin said, the blocking call might have been correct.

Elgin also saw tape of the reactions from Altman and the Creighton bench following the technical call.

“What I haven't seen is what happened on the sideline immediately after the call,'' Elgin said. “We're trying to get some tape of that, if it even exists.''

Creighton Athletic Director Bruce Rasmussen was seated courtside and was within a couple of feet of Altman when the call occurred.

Rasmussen said he did not hear Altman use any profanity during his verbal protest of the call. Rasmussen said Altman was not out of the coach's box, nor was his reaction any different than what Rasmussen has seen from other coaches.

“I started coaching basketball in 1971, and I've probably seen a thousand games since,'' Rasmussen said. “All I know is if what Dana did in reacting to that call is the benchmark, then you'd probably see 50 or more technicals called in a game.

“He did not swear. He wasn't overly demonstrative. He hadn't been riding the officials. He had not been given a warning. I don't have any idea why the technical was called, and again, if that's the standard, then countless technicals should be called.''

Elgin said he holds officials accountable for their actions, just as he does coaches and student-athletes. Elgin said if it's deemed that Gaston's actions were inappropriate given the situation, the referee could face discipline ranging from a private reprimand to suspension.

Because Saturday's game was a rematch of last February's BracketBuster game, the Valley assigned the officials for the game. Don Daily and John Moore were the other officials who worked the game.

Gaston had not worked a Creighton game since the 2007-08 season, when he did three. Daily and Moore each worked two Creighton games last season.

Although disappointed the call figured into the outcome of the game, Rasmussen said it's time to move past the issue.

“There's a difference of opinion about what happened,'' he said. “The thing to remember is that in athletics, mistakes are going to be made. Coaches make them, players make them, officials make them.

“I think too much is being made of that call. There were mistakes made in that game, and we made plenty of them. You have to be good enough to overcome the buts. You know, ‘We would have won but ...' We're not good enough to overcome the buts at this point. We have to get better, and we will.''

Contact the writer:

679-2298, steve.pivovar@owh.com

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