College basketball: Michigan State vs. Eastern Michigan - Nov. 23, 2015

Eastern Michigan Rob Murphy tries to talk to a referee in the first half of their NCAA basketball game against Michigan State at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Mich., Monday, November 23, 2015. (Mike Mulholland | MLive.com)

(Mike Mulholland | MLive.com)

ANN ARBOR -- The Mid-American Conference has suspended a pair of its officials following a controversial conclusion to Saturday's Eastern Michigan-Ball State men's basketball game.

Two of the three officials working in Ball State's 88-87 win will miss two games, and won't be eligible to officiate in the MAC tournament in March after missing a handful of calls in the late seconds of the contest.

"The final play of the game was not handled appropriately by several officials and unfortunately took away from what was a highly-competitive and entertaining game from the competing students and fans," MAC Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher said in a statement.

Ball State trailed 87-85 with 22 seconds left in the second overtime when a 3-point attempt by Francis Kiapway missed long. EMU's Brandon Nazione grabbed the rebound and took the ball to the corner, where he was swarmed by a trio of Cardinals.

After 11 seconds of tussling in the corner and an apparent traveling violation, Ball State's Ryan Weber emerged with the ball and found Kiapway for the game-winning 3-pointer.

Afterward, Eagles coach Rob Murphy told reporters from the Eastern Echo, the university's student newspaper, that it was the worst ignored call or sequence he's seen in his 20 years of coaching.

"It was terrible. All three officials watched us get the rebound and consistently get fouled. They stole the ball by hitting Brandon's hand and then Ethan (Alvano) had it and hit his hand. The officials watched them travel, and they watched them shoot a 3."

While the MAC didn't single out the suspended referees, the three officiating Saturday's game were Todd Williams, John Gaston and Robert Kruger.

With the loss, Eastern Michigan slipped to 10-9 overall, including 2-4 in conference play. On Tuesday they'll travel to Kent State for a 7 p.m. tip.

Justin P. Hicks is a sports reporter and storyteller for MLive / The Ann Arbor News. If you have a unique story you'd like to share, you can reach me at jhicks3@mlive.com. I'm also on Twitter, Facebook and MLive.