Oxford Braves basketball team have been thrown out of the National League Shield for fielding two ineligible players in their win over Bristol in an earlier round.

The English Basketball Association's league management committee said Braves fielded Americans Antar Crawley and Chanta Weathers in their 88-83 victory on October 28, which was against the rules.

Sides in Division 2 Regional League South, which Braves joined this season, are only allowed to field a maximum of one foreigner and nine British players in each team of ten.

However, Braves' president Franky Marulanda said they would never have broken the regulations had they known them at the start of the season.

He said: "The league have not provided all the information for a new team entering the league."

"We did everything according to the rules as we knew them. We are very upset about it," said Marulanda, who added that the club had instigated legal proceedings against the EBBA.

The secretary of the National League, Maxine Barlow, said Braves should have been aware of the rules as a copy of them had been e-mailed to Mr Marulanda before the game.

Pete Jacques, another league official, added: "They will have had a handbook at the start of the season. This rule is clearly in there."