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GREENSBORO -- The chancellors of N.C. A&T and North Carolina Central apologized for a fight that took place after Saturday night's game but did not address the future of the series during a press conference Wednesday.

"We'll make that assessment and we will announce that in a timely and appropriate manner," Charlie Nelms, chancellor at North Carolina Central, told reporters on N.C. A&T's campus. "That's not what we're about today. We are here to say the behavior was wrong."

The news conference comes a day after Erskine Bowles, who leads the University of North Carolina system, said he is leaving the discipline up to the schools.

Their latest football meeting ended with a brawl that police broke up with pepper spray after N.C. Central's 27-22 win.

At Wednesday's 15-minute press conference, A&T Chancellor Stanley Battle also apologized for what happened. But he stressed the two colleges have a long, cooperative history.

"We have been engaging in these activities — basketball, football and other — since 1924," Battle said. "It is extremely spirited. Aggies marry Eagles. They have children. And they come back to our institutions. We know how to live with each other. Don't take it out of context."

The fight broke out shortly after N.C. Central intercepted a pass to seal the victory and the Eagles stormed the field and jumped on the A&T logo, prompting the Aggies to confront them.

Coaches were unable to stop the melee, and after several minutes at least one police officer from Central used pepper spray to break it up.

The schools said nobody was hurt, but N.C. Central suspended an unidentified player for this week's game against Presbyterian.

It was the teams' first meeting since N.C. Central beat A&T 23-22 in the 2005 Aggie-Eagle Classic, and was the first time the two historically black colleges met as opponents in the Football Championship Subdivision, formerly known as Division I-AA.

Contact Rob Daniels at 373-7028 or rdaniels@news-record.com