NEWSWIRE

NASCAR Winston Cup driver Jimmy Spencer was released from Methodist Hospital, two days after sustaining a concussion during a crash late in the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis.

Tennis

MaliVai Washington defeated 13th-seeded Jan Siemerink of the Netherlands, 7-6 (7-2), 6-3, and advanced to the second round of the $2.4-million du Maurier Open at Toronto.

Washington next plays Canada’s Bobby Kokavec, who defeated Steve Campbell, 6-1, 6-2, for his first victory on the ATP Tour.

In other matches, Scott Draper of Australia defeated Jim Courier, 7-5, 5-7, 6-4; Wayne Black of Zimbabwe beat older brother Byron, 6-4, 6-0, and 10th-seeded Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia defeated Sebastien Lareau of Canada, 7-6 (14-12), 7-6 (7-4).

Sweden’s Thomas Johansson was the first seeded casualty in the Grolsch Open at Amsterdam, losing, 0-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), to Galo Blanco of Spain.

No. 6 Richard Fromberg of Australia defeated Andrei Pavel of Romania, 6-3, 6-4, and No. 7 Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia beat Filip Dewulf of Belgium, 6-3, 7-5.

Basketball

Jimmy Oliver scored 17 points and the United States edged Spain, 75-73, as the last undefeated teams fell by the wayside in the World Championships at Athens.

The United States handed Spain its first loss, Russia did the same to the host Greeks, 60-48, and Italy tripped up favorite Yugoslavia, 61-60.

However, Yugoslavia, along with Lithuania, Greece, Spain, Russia and the United States, was assured of reaching Friday’s quarterfinals.

The Americans (4-1) rallied from an 11-point halftime deficit.

“It’s wide open right now. The teams are really evenly matched. A lot of games are going to come down to the last couple of minutes,” said U.S. Coach Rudy Tomjanovich, who has an unheralded team because of the NBA lockout.

Brad Miller, who went undrafted from Purdue this spring, had 12 points and six rebounds in his strongest game of the tournament. Kiwane Garris, who played at Illinois and is now in the CBA, had 11 points and Wendell Alexis, who played at Syracuse in the 1980s and now plays in Germany, added 10.

A fire that caused about $100,000 in damage to the Carmel, Ind., home of Indiana Pacer co-owner Melvin Simon might have been sparked by a candle that ignited a wall covering, a fire investigator said.

No one was injured in the fire, which started early Sunday in a second-floor bedroom occupied by an employee of one of Simon’s companies.

Simon and his brother, Herb, own the Pacers.

The Dallas Mavericks recently completed an investigation into accusations of sexual misconduct against Terdema L. Ussery, the team’s president and chief executive officer, the Dallas Morning News reported. Team attorney Tom Luce said the NBA club could not comment on personnel matters.

A domestic assault charge against Tennessee guard Tony Harris was dismissed after the alleged victim failed to show up in court for the second time.

Miscellany

General Manager Brian Burke of the Vancouver Canucks said he expects teams to line up with offers for all-star winger Pavel Bure, who told a newspaper Sunday he would never again play for the Canucks.

Burke, who has been on the job for just more than a month, said he will entertain those offers reluctantly and will trade Bure only if the deal helps the Canucks.

Sprinter Marion Jones was .16 of a second off her world best at 100 meters at a meet at Malmo, Sweden, but her winning time of 10.87 seconds eclipsed Merlene Ottey’s meet record of 11.04.

On Wednesday in Stockholm’s Olympic Stadium, the top-ranked American will race Ottey, the semi-retired veteran from Jamaica.

The NCAA will announce today whether Texas Tech, which imposed sanctions on itself for rampant rules violations, should face additional punishment.

The school imposed three years of probation on its athletic program, including substantial scholarship cuts in six sports. Investigations by the school and the NCAA found many rules violations and errors in academic certification and financial aid distribution.