It was billed as a friendly match. It ended up with a fist fight, flying chairs and coaches hauling their players off the court.
The brawl between a US college team and the army-affiliated Bayi Military Rockets was all the more embarrassing because it took place during US vice-president Joe Biden's visit to Beijing.
The game was not arranged to coincide with his trip, but he had earlier watched the Georgetown Hoyas play another team from the Chinese Basketball Association.
"Fists were landing on faces. It was very nasty, unfortunate and embarrassing," said Sarah Burton, who witnessed the chaos at Beijing's Olympic stadium.
She said the Chinese team appeared to be "playing rough" at the beginning, with Georgetown players becoming increasingly agitated as a result. Each team appeared to have one particularly hot-headed athlete, she added.
Five separate scuffles culminated in an all-out fight between the teams, with videos of the melee showing fists and even chairs flying. Spectators booed and hurled water bottles as Georgetown officials hurried athletes off the court, leaving the game tied at 64-64 with 10 minutes left on the clock.
"Tonight two great teams played a very competitive game that unfortunately ended after heated exchanges with both teams. We sincerely regret that this situation occurred," said head coach John Thompson III in a statement on the Hoyas' website.
"We remain grateful for the opportunity our student-athletes are having to engage in a sport they love here in China, while strengthening their understanding of a nation we respect and admire at Georgetown University."
The Hoyas have now arrived in Shanghai to continue their 10-day tour.
An employee at the CBA said no one was available to speak to journalists as senior officials were travelling, adding: "Without an investigation, we cannot comment."
The fracas was shown on state broadcaster CCTV's sports channel, but has otherwise received little coverage in the Chinese media.
But sports fans quickly picked up on the violence.
"Chinese basketball has another fighting incident … who on earth will come to China for friendship games any more?" wrote one user on Sina's Weibo microblog.
Last year the CBA apologised after another friendly match – between the men's national team and Brazil's – ended in a brawl, with players trading kicks and punches.
The previous year the CBA had handed out a record fine of 330,000 yuan (£30,000) to two clubs following a fight.
"China unfortunately does seem to have a history of these things, although of course they are not the only ones," said Maggie Rauch, editor of the China Sports Today blog.
She said one theory is that Chinese players are used to a different style of play.
"When they find themselves in international competitions it's a more physical style – but this was an American college team, not an NBA team," she said. She added that refereeing and security also seemed to be poor on Thursday.
Prior to the trip Georgetown's president, John DeGioia, said the university's outreach programme was "designed to promote dialogue and understanding across cultures".
The State Department even briefed athletes on "what to expect" in Shanghai and Beijing. Whether they anticipated the fisticuffs is unknown.
