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, 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.

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’s 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. . . . Sherri Murrell, a top assistant at Portland State for the last two seasons, has been named women’s basketball coach at Pacific.

Tennis

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.

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.

Allen Johnson, world and Olympic 110-meter hurdles champion, will race world record-holder Colin Jackson and Goodwill Games winner Mark Crear in the highlight of the British Grand Prix at Sheffield, England on Sunday.

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 of Jacksonville, Fla., and Alex Ardley of Tallahassee, Fla., 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.

Pro Hockey

The Buffalo Sabres re-signed left wing Geoff Sanderson to a one-year, $1.5-million contract. Sanderson, 26, finished last season with seven goals and six assists in 40 games with the Sabres after playing with Carolina and Vancouver.

Miscellany

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.

Anna Adams claims that Barkley grabbed her and threw her against a wall when she tried to leave Regine’s restaurant in April, 1997, causing severe bruising of her neck and shoulders.

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.

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