A wild brawl has seen Australia's FIBA World Cup qualifying clash with the Philippines in Bulacan abandoned early, after no fewer than 13 players were ejected from the match.

Tensions boiled over with four minutes remaining in the third quarter, with players and officials from both sides, plus a number of unruly fans, flooding the court in disgraceful scenes of violence.

The Boomers were cruising to victory with a 79-48 lead before the match descended into farce after Philippines guard Roger Ray Pogoy lashed out at Australia's Chris Goulding with an errant elbow.

Boomer Daniel Kickert's retaliation on Pogoy sparked an all-in brawl which Fox Sports commentator Matt Russell described as "sickening", and which included punches, elbows, kicks and objects — including a chair — hurled at players.

Australia's Thon Maker leapt into a Filipino opponent during the brawl. ( AP: Bullit Marquez )

The game was interrupted for more than 30 minutes as the referees assessed the situation, but eventually continued in ridiculous fashion, with the Philippines only able to field three players against Australia's five.

Basketball Australia said on social media that all the Boomers team were safe and well after the incident.

International rules state that games must continue unless a team only has a single player available and the remaining Filipino players eventually fouled themselves out of the game, which was called off before the end of the third quarter.

Basketball Australia chief executive Anthony Moore issued a short statement after the match.

The Philippines' Jason William jumps to punch Australia's Daniel Kickert. ( AP: Bullit Marquez )

"Basketball Australia deeply regrets the incident in tonight's match between the Boomers and the Philippines in Manila. We are extremely disappointed with what happened and our role in it," Moore said.

"This is not the spirit in which sport should be played and certainly not in the spirit in which we aim to play basketball. We apologise to our fans and will await the penalties to be handed down."

This morning Moore said the focus for management after the brawl was to ensure the players returned to the hotel from the stadium safely.

"Player safety was paramount last night and after the incident, until the time that we actually departed the stadium," he told News Breakfast.

"Our group was in a position where they were fearful for their physical safety.

He said the priority was ensuring the safety of players once "we got to the locker room".

The International Basketball Federation also responded quickly, saying further punishments will be handed down in due course.

The fight erupted late in the third quarter, and saw 13 players in total ejected from the game. ( Supplied: Fox Sports )

"Following the incident that occurred in the third quarter of the Philippines-Australia game on Monday in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Asian Qualifiers, FIBA will now open disciplinary proceedings against both teams," the statement read.

"The decision(s) will be communicated in the coming days."

The reaction in Australia and around the world was one of complete shock and disgust, with harsh penalties expected after some of the most disgraceful scenes world sport has witnessed for some time.

'No prior signs' in lead-up to fight

Moore said there was "nothing prior to the game" that would suggest ill-will between the teams.

"It was a tough and physical encounter and our games against the Philippines typically are," Moore said.

"We played them in February as part of the qualifying window.

"And we know that they're always competitive and physical games, but there was nothing prior to this incident that you could say that it was a niggle here and a niggle there.

"There was an incident as you rightly pointed out and it exploded from there."

Filipino coach Chot Reyes defended his players for their involvement in the brawl, saying while it was unacceptable, Kickert had been provoking his opponents before the game even started.

"[The brawl] is absolutely unacceptable but the reality is Kickert was hitting our players during the warm-ups," Reyes said.

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"He hit Carl Bryan Cruz, he hit Matthew Wright, he hit Pogoy and he hit Calvin Abueva during the warm ups.

"The foul of Pogoy on Goulding was called an offensive foul, it was a basketball play, but he was the one that came in and decked Pogoy for the fifth time.

"You cannot expect to do that to a team five times and not expect [there] to be retaliation. That's what happened and unfortunately that's what has triggered the entire brawl."

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Reyes said it was up to FIBA to decide what would happen to his players, but they would accept those consequences.

"It is what it is, but the one thing you have to know about this team is we're not going to back down," he said.

"We already restrained the players before the game … when Kickert did all of those things at the start, during the warm up we told them 'we're not going to punch him, focus on the game'.

"When he did that in the third quarter, it's hard to restrain them anymore."

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ABC/AAP