Suspect Held in Romania Over American Basketball Player's Death

Published November 20, 2014

Romanian prosecutors say a suspect has been detained over the killing of American basketball player Chauncey Hardy.

Ionut Adrian Tanasoaia surrendered to police early Monday. He is accused of beating up Hardy in a bar in the southern Romanian city of Giurgiu on Saturday night.

Mediafax news agency reported that Tanasoaia attacked Hardy because he wanted to dance with his girlfriend.

Hardy died shortly after undergoing surgery in a Bucharest hospital on Sunday. The 23-year-old player had sustained severe head injuries and was in a coma when he was admitted to the hospital.

Hardy played guard for Sacred Heart University and was in Romania to play professional basketball for CSS Giurgiu.

"This is a terrible tragedy and we are saddened as a university and as a basketball program," Dave Bike, men's basketball coach for the university, said in a press release. "This is not just about a basketball player, but the person as well. We feel tremendous sadness and loss for Chauncey's family and those who were close to him."

"We are deeply saddened by the loss of a fine young man who had his life cut short at such a young age while he was overseas doing something he loved," added Sacred Heart's director of athletics, C. Donald Cook.

Hardy was a member of the Sacred Heart men's basketball program from 2006 through 2010, CTnow.com reports. He appeared in 114 games over his four-year career and helped lead the Pioneers to back-to-back appearances in the Northeast Conference Championship game in 2007 and 2008.

Click here for more on this story from CTnow.com

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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