U.S. Team Wins, but Can’t Draw

The United States got back to winning Friday in the basketball World Championships at Athens, Greece. The U.S. advanced to the second round with an 88-62 victory over South Korea before only 250 fans.

With no Dream Team competing because of the NBA lockout, attendance so far has been poor, with only Greece drawing near-sellout crowds. Only a few hundred saw tournament-favorite Yugoslavia’s 99-54 victory over Japan.

“I think that will change as this thing goes on,” U.S. Coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. “I scouted the worlds in Toronto in ’94 and some of the games were like this.”

The U.S., led by Jason Sasser with 17 points, scored its easy victory a day after losing by two points to Lithuania. The Americans (2-1) will play Argentina when the second round begins Sunday.

In another development, Nigerian center Julius Nwosu was suspended from the tournament by FIBA, basketball’s international federation, after he tested positive for ephedrine, a banned stimulant.

Tennis

The top four seeded players advanced to today’s semifinal matchups of the Bank of the West Classic at Palo Alto, as No. 1 Lindsay Davenport, No. 3 Venus Williams and No. 4 Steffi Graf of Germany won in straight sets. They joined Monica Seles, who won her quarterfinal Thursday. . . . Anna Kournikova of Russia will not play in the Toshiba Classic beginning Monday at Carlsbad because of an injured thumb. . . . Bohdan Ulihrach of the Czech Republic ousted second-seeded and defending champion Felix Mantilla of Spain, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7-2), in the quarterfinals of the $400,000 Croatia Open at Umag. . . . Alberto Costa led the advance into the semifinals of the Generali Open at Kitzbuehel, Austria, with a rain-interrupted 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over defending champion Filip DeWulf.

College Basketball

Rhode Island hired Jim Harrick Jr. as an assistant to his father after the state Ethics Commission said the hiring wouldn’t violate rules against nepotism. Harrick Jr., 33, was an assistant at Valparaiso when the Crusaders played Rhode Island in the NCAA tournament in March. . . . A decision on the future of Weber State Coach Ron Abegglen, accused of abusing his wife, could be made in the next few days after a meeting with university President Paul H. Thompson. Abegglen’s wife, Nedra, suffered a broken wrist during a fall while arguing with the coach in his office July 3. Abegglen said the injury was the result of an accident.

Track and Field

The International Amateur Athletic Federation said in New York that the B sample of shotputter Randy Barnes’ drug test April 1 was positive, showing the use of a banned nutritional supplement.

The 1996 Olympic gold medalist and world indoor and outdoor record-holder was suspended by the federation earlier this week after his A sample had tested positive. Barnes can appeal the decision before a three-member board of U.S. Track & Field.

He faces a permanent ban from the sport because this would be his second offense. Barnes served a two-year suspension after testing positive for steroids in August 1990.

College Football

Two Clemson defensive backs arrested on marijuana-possession charges were back on the team after taking urine tests. Coach Tommy West said he reinstated Darrel Crutchfield and Alex Ardley after reviewing the case. . . . With the Western Athletic Conference losing half its teams next year, the Las Vegas Bowl wants to eliminate the league’s guaranteed spot in the football game, the Las Vegas Sun reported. Eight of the league’s members have announced plans to form their own conference in 1999.

Hockey

The Kings acquired goaltender Manny Legace, 25, from the Carolina Hurricanes for a conditional choice in the 1999 draft. Legace, a member of the silver medal Canadian Olympic team in 1994, started 41 games with an 18-16-4 record and a 3.16 goals-against average for Las Vegas of the International Hockey League.

The Buffalo Sabres re-signed left wing Geoff Sanderson to a one-year, $1.5-million contract.

Miscellany

Series points leader Dale Earnhardt Jr. won for the fifth time in his rookie season on the NASCAR Busch Grand National circuit by driving to an easy victory in the Kroger 200 at Clermont, Ind. . . . Mika Hakkinen, who has an eight-point lead over Michael Schumacher in Formula One auto racing, had the fastest time in practice for Sunday’s German Grand Prix at Hockenheim, covering the 4.2-mile course in 1 minute 43.946 seconds in a McLaren-Mercedes.

A woman filed a $3-million lawsuit against NBA star Charles Barkley at Houston, accusing him of throwing her against a restaurant wall last year after she complained that he was smoking in a nonsmoking area and taking chairs from her table.

Cuba defeated the Netherlands, 12-1, and advanced to the semifinals of the World Baseball Championships at Rome, joining South Korea, Nicaragua and Italy.