Greene and Jones Take Care of Business at Oregon Meet

Maurice Greene ran one of the fastest, and perhaps the most impressive, 100 meters ever Sunday, a wind-aided 9.79-second clocking in the Prefontaine Classic at Eugene, Ore.

Then he capped an exceptional afternoon by beating world record-holder Michael Johnson in the 200 in a barely wind-aided 19.88. Johnson, in far from top form, was third behind Obadele Thompson.

“It shows that American sprinters are not playing anymore,” Greene said. “We’re out for business, and when I step on the track, I mean business.”

Greene, just 23 years old, wasn’t the only young American sprint sensation to have a big afternoon. Marion Jones, 22, won the 100 in a wind-aided 10.77, then took the long jump with a leap of 23 feet 11 1/4 inches.

The world can expect to hear a lot from Maurice and Marion, Greene said.

“I’m sure I can speak for her when I say this is only the beginning,” he said. “We’re here to stay. We’re not going anywhere. We’re going to be here for a long time.”

Kenya’s Daniel Komen narrowly missed in his bid to become the first to break 3:50 in a mile race held in the United States. His time of 3:50.86 was the second-fastest mile ever in the country and the top 11 finishers broke 3:58.

*

Estonia’s Erki Nool put together a personal best to edge world champion Thomas Dvorak and capture a decathlon meet at Goetzis, Austria.

Nool, who also led after the first day, scored 8,672 points in the 10 events to take home the $12,000 first prize. The Czech recorded 8,592 after being sidelined with an injury.

Russia’s Irina Belova, the 1992 Olympic silver medalist, captured the heptathlon with a low score of 6,466 points while Poland’s Urszula Vlodarczyk finished second in 6,323.

Basketball

Predrag Danilovic completed a dramatic four-point play to force overtime and then scored five points in the extra period as Kinder Bologna fought back to beat cross-city rival TeamSystem, 86-77, at Bologna for the Italian League championship.

Danilovic, a Yugoslav who had stints in the NBA with Miami and Dallas, finished with 20 points to pace Kinder, the reigning European champs.

He helped the home team rally after trailing for most of the game. Kinder was down by 11, 66-55 with 6:35 left.

TeamSystem, which has lost in the finals the past three seasons, held a 2-1 lead in the best-of-5 series, but let it slip away, losing Game 4 Thursday and the decider Sunday.

Poor play by former Atlanta Hawks star Dominique Wilkins contributed to the collapse.

Lisa Leslie scored 21 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and blocked four shots as the United States remained undefeated in the Women’s World Championships with a 79-68 victory over Spain at Bremen, Germany.

Rowing

Washington won its second consecutive NCAA women’s rowing championship, edging Brown for the team title at Gainesville, Ga.

The Huskies took the early lead, opened up a three-seat lead by the 750-meter mark and won by one boat length over Massachusetts.

A Romanian quartet led by Cornel Nemtoc defeated the British entry that included Olympic champions Steven Redgrave and Matthew Pinsent, handing the pair their first loss in six years after the British coxless four finished fourth in the Rowing World Cup at Munich, Germany.

Miscellany

An autopsy of defensive tackle Leon Bender failed to explain why the second-round draft choice of the Oakland Raiders died suddenly, police said at Marietta, Ga.

Bender, 22, who helped Washington State to the Rose Bowl last season, was found dead Saturday in the bathroom of his agent’s home in this north Atlanta suburb.

The 6-foot-5, 300-pound Bender, the 31st choice overall in the NFL draft in April, had been in Atlanta for about two weeks and had been working out with his agent, Terry Bolar, and a few other players. Bender was staying at Bolar’s house.

Bender’s mother, Antoinette Bender, said her son suffered from epilepsy. It was not known whether that condition might have contributed to his death.

*

Georgia Tech freshman Bryce Molder, who had nine top 10 finishes in 13 tournaments this season, won the 1998 Jack Nicklaus college player of the year award.

Molder, the No. 1 player in the country in the latest MasterCard Collegiate rankings, finished sixth at the NCAA championships that ended Saturday at The Championship Course at the University of New Mexico.

*

Brazil was held to a 1-1 tie at the Spanish club Athletic de Bilbao at Bilbao, Spain in the defending champions’ next-to-last exhibition game before the start of this year’s World Cup tournament.

*

Australian Chris McCormack captured the Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon at San Francisco with the closest finish in the event’s 10-year history.

McCormack finished in 1:59:56, six seconds ahead of fellow Australian and 1997 champion Greg Welch.

*

Kent Steffes and new partner, Brazilian Emanuel Rego defeated Kevin Wong and Albert Hannemann, 15-7, to win the Miller Lite Pro Beach Volleyball Tournament at Corpus Christi, Texas.