"The league's judicial commissioner imposed this penalty following the player's admission of guilt and as he considered the offence to be serious enough to be considered a crime if committed on the streets," the official statement said.
The Basketball New Zealand judicial procedures recommended penalty for "striking with clenched fist" is 5-24 weeks. O'Riley's suspension is for five games, which equates to 2.5 weeks.
The commissioner took the following mitigating factors into consideration:
* He accepted responsibility and the Airs acted "proactively" to deal with the issue
* He has an excellent disciplinary record
O'Riley can play again from May 6.
Captain Aaron Bailey-Nowell, unaware of the NBL verdict, said post-match O'Riley was "very remorseful".
"He just wants to be there for the boys and he knows it was just a brain explosion and totally out of character for him," said Bailey-Nowell, acknowledging it was an endorsement of Stinnett's in-your-face marking that got under O'Riley's skin.
However, he felt it was always the retaliation that often came under scrutiny.
"You know, I'm a prime example of that. Whenever I'm out there I'm the one retaliating and I'm always getting caught but, hey, it's part of the game," he said with a laugh.
Bailey-Nowell said the PG Arena was always a tough place to come to for a win and last night wasn't any different.
He earned the praised of Daly-Taylor for calling his troops to heel when the tempo increased in the first quarter.
"We got out of hand running up and down a little," he said, mindful sometimes it's equally imperative to take a serene path to attainment.
"It's about running our offense and that has been our bread and butter so far this season," he said of their fifth win.
Four decent quarters against the Hawks were vital "to even have a shot".
"We're a far better team because we've worked hard preseason and Ross has got us running our offenses and defences strong so that has really helped us," he said of coach Ross McMains.
Last night Bailey-Nowell said with the O'Riley saga it was about getting a feel for how referee Yalla Edwards and her umpires, Apai Apai and Keiran Udy, were going to call the game.
"It was still physical and the referees didn't change much of it but obviously there was no punching or anything like that."
Bailey-Nowell said he knew what it was like to go lose continuously in a season as the Airs wore the tag of perennial NBL cellar dwellers.
"I know what it's like to lose every game of the season. I'm not saying they [Hawks] won't win one but they are working their butts off during the game so, I guess, of they continue to do that they will get one this year.
"It's tough and it's not nice and I've been there so you have to focus throughout the season," said the forward after two seasons with the Airs when they failed to win a single match.
Bailey-Nowell said it was about turning up week by week and not looking too far ahead.
"It's also really about doing the work outside of the game, you know, studying videos and making sure you're doing the one per cent of the screening, getting on the loose balls and playing what the coach wants offensively and defensively."
The Hawks play their penultimate home game today against the James Blond Supercity Rangers in another 3pm tip off before their final PG Arena effort against the same side this Friday from 7pm.
The remaining six games are on the road with the playoffs now just a pipe dream.
