Victim Of Viral Basketball Cheap Shot Is From Tewksbury

TEWKSBURY, MA -- If you have watched sports talk television, been on Facebook or read Patch in the past 24 hours, you have probably seen Nate Tenaglia. He's the Nichols College sophomore guard who calmly sank a three pointer then got elbowed in the face by Fitchburg State's Kewan Platt. What you may not have known is that before Tenaglia was playing for Nichols State, he was playing for Tewksbury Memorial High School.

"I couldn't believe my eyes," Phil Conners, who coached Tenaglia in Tewksbury and now coaches at Burlington High School, told the Lowell Sun. "Biggest cheap shot I've ever seen."

Tenaglia, who had guarded Platt the entire game, finished the game and was being monitored after the blow, according to a statement released Wednesday by Nichols College. The three pointer he sank came with less than three minutes left and, along with the two free throws he made after Platt's technical foul, effectively sealed the win for Nichols.

Platt was suspended from the team and Fitchburg State barred him from campus. "His behavior is antithetical to our community values and good sportsmanship. Fitchburg State does not tolerate behavior that violates those standards," the school said in statement.

For his part, Tenaglia entered the always-on sports news cycle. The clip was aired on national networks and tweeted by ESPN's SportsCenter. Sport Illustrated tried to determine why Platt seemingly overreacted and posted a video of Platt getting upset earlier in the game when he felt the referee had missed calling a foul on Tenaglia.

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Photo and video by Nichols College.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).