A semi-final in the Chinese national women's league had to be abandoned in the dying seconds as scores of enraged fans stormed on to the court and attacked the referee, the latest incident in a season that has been marred by crowd trouble.
Heilongjiang, playing host to Liaoning on Sunday night in the WCBA play-off tiebreaker, let their lead slip away in the fourth quarter and trailed 85-82 with only 13 seconds remaining on the clock.
Local fans, angered by decisions referee Ma Lijun gave against their team, rained water bottles, cigarette lighters and other debris on top of him.
Then, scores of supporters, both men and women, jumped the barricades and ran on to the court to attack the referee, who had to be protected by police, an official said.
One fan took control of the public address system and egged the mob on, shouting: 'Keep going and the victory will belong to us.'
The referee, who was escorted from the arena, reportedly suffered head injuries, as did a young boy who was hit on the head by a flying object. The two teams fled to the dressing rooms, and it took security officials more than an hour to clear people off the court.