Coleman Arrested After Police Dispute

Derrick Coleman of the New Jersey Nets was arrested Saturday after a dispute with police who asked him to move his pickup truck, which was blocking traffic outside a Detroit nightclub, authorities said.

Coleman, 28, was arrested at 2:25 a.m. on a disorderly conduct charge. Coleman described the incident as a “misunderstanding” with a police officer.

“We exchanged words. Maybe I lost control. Maybe he lost control. But as him being the arresting officer, he felt he had to arrest me,” Coleman said.

Coleman was scheduled for arraignment on July 14. If convicted of the misdemeanor, he could face a maximum of 90 days in jail or a $100 fine.

Tennis

Defending champion Michael Stich and Marc Rosset won to move into the final of the $725,000 ATP tournament in Halle, Germany. The third-seeded Stich of Germany beat Paul Haarhuis of the Netherlands and fourth-seeded Rosset of Switzerland beat Jacco Eltingh of the Netherlands.

French Open champion Thomas Muster defeated Italian Stefano Pescosolido, 6-0, 3-6, 6-4, in a semifinal of a $375,000 tournament in Austria for his 39th consecutive clay-court victory.

Nathalie Tauziat ended Chanda Rubin’s tournament shutout streak by battling back for a 3-6, 6-0, 7-5 victory to win the Eastbourne grass-court title. Rubin, 19, went into the final having won her previous three sets 6-0. Despite winning the first set, she said she was bothered by an abdominal injury.

Top-seeded Steffi Graf ended any lingering doubts about her fitness for Wimbledon by taking part in full practice sessions Saturday. Five-time champion Graf, who faces Martina Hingis of Switzerland on Tuesday in the first round, flew home to Germany during the week for treatment on an injured right wrist.

Track

World and Olympic champion Linford Christie won the 100 meters and helped his British team to a relay victory after being a questionable starter at the European Cup track meet in Villeneuve D’As, France.

Germany, which won both team titles last year, was ahead in the men’s standings with 62 points. Russia led in the women’s division with 63 points. Britain was second in each with the final day today.

Christie, who had been a questionable starter throughout the week after the death of his mother, won the 100 in 10.05 seconds and anchored England’s winning 400-meter relay team.

Liza de Villiers, 14, the world’s youngest track and field athlete to test positive for steroid use, has been banned by Athletics South Africa from competing for four years.

Soccer

Mexico earned its first victory of the U.S. Cup ’95 tournament when Ignacio Ambriz scored in the 77th minute for a 2-1 victory over Nigeria in Dallas.

The United States, with a 2-0 record, faces Colombia (1-0-1) today in Piscataway, N.J., in the final game of the round-robin tournament.

French soccer star Eric Cantona was sentenced to 120 hours of community service by a British court and suspended by soccer authorities for going into the stands during a game in Britain and attacking a taunting fan.

Motor Sports

Jacques Villeneuve turned back challenges from Al Unser Jr. and Jimmy Vasser to win the pole position for today’s Budweiser G.I. Joe’s 200 in Portland.

Phil Parsons led final qualifying for today’s Lysol 200 at Watkins Glen International, the only road course event on the NASCAR Busch Grand National Series.

Defending world champion Michael Doohan of Australia rode a Honda to victory in the 500cc Assen TT motorcycle race at Assen, Netherlands, taking the lead from Spain’s Alberto Puig with three laps to go.

Miscellany

Predrag Danilovic, who is joining the Miami Heat, scored 18 points and Vlade Divac of the Lakers added 11 to lead Yugoslavia to an 87-74 victory over Italy at the European Championships in Athens, Greece. Toni Kukoc of the Chicago Bulls led Croatia to an 80-70 victory over Spain.

Louisiana State’s Warren Morris was two for three with two runs scored and one run batted in to lead Team USA to an 8-3 baseball victory over Japan at Millington, Tenn. Team USA is 6-1 on its 35-game summer tour.

Names in the News

Mighty Duck forward Paul Kariya has been named to the NHL’s all-rookie team, along with Washington goaltender Jim Carey, forwards Peter Forsberg of Quebec and Jeff Friesen of San Jose, and defensemen Kenny Jonsson of Toronto and Chris Therien of Philadelphia. . . . Veteran announcer Gary Bender and former Ram wide receiver Jack Snow will do the radio broadcasts for the St. Louis Rams. . . . Robert W. Newland, 73, a member of the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame and research and development director for Nike Inc., died of cancer.