Sports Briefs

Golf

Tway's son advances in first round of U.S. Amateur

Kevin Tway took another step toward establishing himself, while a former NCAA champion made an earlier-than-expected exit from the U.S. Amateur.

The son of former PGA champion Bob Tway defeated Philip Francis 2-up Wednesday in the first round of match play, winning a matchup of former U.S. junior amateur champions on the No. 2 course at Pinehurst.

”My dad's making me play real smart,“ Tway said.

Meanwhile, 2007 NCAA medalist Jamie Lovemark is headed home early after being eliminated 1-up by Matt Hill of North Carolina State.

Louisville player Derek Fathauer defeated Venezuelan Jhonattan Vegas 1-up in a matchup of 2007 U.S. Amateur quarterfinalists. U of L senior Adam Hadwin lost to Mike McCoy in 19 holes and former UK golfer Dan Woltman lost in 19 holes to Patrick Reed.

College Football

Pruett denies allegations

Former Marshall football coach Bob Pruett has denied allegations he was involved in an academic scandal or made athletes lie about a jobs program that drew NCAA sanctions in 2001. One of the former players who accused Pruett in a sworn affidavit has since recanted his statements. Pruett gave a sworn deposition in May in a federal lawsuit filed by David Ridpath, Marshall's former NCAA compliance officer. Former strength coach Mike Jenkins said in an earlier deposition that Pruett assured the football staff at a spring 1999 meeting that several players would be eligible for the 2000 season because they were assured of perfect grades in a physical education class. Pruett indicated he never said that.

”I don't know why he would give this statement ... unless he just misunderstood or misremembered,“ Pruett said.

New Mexico put on probation

The NCAA put New Mexico's football program on three years of probation Wednesday and cut five scholarships as punishment for academic violations involving two former assistant coaches. The sanctions imposed by the NCAA's infractions committee went beyond the university's self-imposed penalties, which included two years of probation and fewer scholarship reductions. New Mexico's head coach Rocky Long was not accused of any wrongdoing in the case.

College Basketball

American's Jones gets extension

American University basketball coach Jeff Jones, who last season led the Eagles to the first NCAA Division I men's tournament berth in school history, has been rewarded with a contract extension, The Associated Press has learned. The extension will be announced at a news conference Thursday, according to a university official. Jones, a graduate of Owensboro Apollo is 125-113 over eight seasons with the Eagles. The Eagles went 21-12 last season, winning the Patriot League regular season title and the conference tournament before losing to Tennessee in the first round of the NCAAs.

Nba

Oklahoma City waives Marshall

Forward Donyell Marshall won't be making the move to Oklahoma City with the Seattle SuperSonics. The 14-year NBA veteran was waived Wednesday by the Oklahoma City franchise. Marshall was acquired by the franchise from Cleveland in a three-team trade in February. He averaged 3.8 points off the bench in 15 games with Seattle and was sidelined by a sore right knee late last season.

■ Theo Ratliff returned to the 76ers on Wednesday, seven years after he was traded from the team during its run to the NBA Finals. The 35-year-old Ratliff played 26 games for Minnesota and Detroit and appeared in 12 of the Pistons' 17 playoff games.

Little League World Series

Hawaii moves on to U.S. finals

Iolana Akau homered in his first action since getting hit by a pitch, and Pikai Winchester went deep twice as Waipahu, Hawaii moved on at the Little League World Series with a 9-4 win Wednesday night over Mill Creek, Wash. Next stop for the hitting Hawaiians: the U.S. finals on Saturday. Tokyo clinched a berth in the international finals after beating Willemstad, Curacao, 11-4. The matchups in both brackets won't be set until after Thursday night's games.

The last word

Ryohji Kimura hit a three-run home run to give Japan a 4-3 lead in an eventual 11-4 win over Curacao Wednesday to clinch a berth in the international finals of the Little League World Series:

”I followed the manager's and coaches' advice and then hit the home run. I was happy.“