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MLB CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9 the one called for in baseball’s la bor contract. The plan has drawn some criti cism. Players with major league contracts are tested only twice in a one-week period each year, and penalties — no suspension until the second offense — are far weak er than those called for in Olympic sports. “I’m hoping that our current drug testing policy does deter guys from steroids,” the Yankees’ Tony Clark said. Players with minor league con tracts, who aren’t covered by the labor contract, are tested more of ten, and positive tests are dealt with more harshly. The day before the hearing, Selig sent a letter to the union ask ing to discuss the drug agreement. The players’ association has not yet responded. “There are modifications you think about as circumstances change and as the law changes,” union head Donald Fehr said af-. ter meeting with the New York Yankees in Tampa, Fla. “We’ll have to see how it goes. Obviously, nobody is interested in condoning any illegal substance. “You have an agreement and you make agreements because you expect to hold to those agree ments. You start opening up agreements, I suppose you can open them on anything. Having said that, you never bar having discussions or considering things or looking at it in a different light if circumstances change.”. Selig is powerless to act unilat erally because drug testing is cov ered by collective bargaining. While the major league baseball constitution gives Selig broad power to act in the “best interests of baseball,” in the labor contract he agreed the commissioner will take no action to “negate rights of players.” Boston pitcher Curt Schilling said the current system “is not working” and is angry that a fed eral grand jury has subpoenaed results from last year’s survey tests for several players. “We were told last spring that the tests that we were taking were completely anonymous,” Schilling said. “We were told that no one would be able to be identified through this testing.” 1111 i III il —— PHOTO COURTESY OF KRT CAMPUS Barry Bonds’ personal trainer was indicted for Illegally supplying performance-enhancing drugs. Bonds has denied taking steroids. -■ _ The following units are now accepting Master Card and Visa! _ \ r • \ Riricteriis | Offering Increased Flexibility in Purchasing Meals! Use your Meal Plan, Dining Dollars, Bonus Bucks, Cash, and now Master Card & Visa! §5.00 Minimum Charge Required on Credit Card Purchases advancestoNCAAllcondrouUnd’' BY AARON BEARD THE ASSOCIATED PRESS RALEIGH, N.C. — Chris Paul was in complete control in his first NCAA tournament game. The Wake Forest freshman star had 22 points and made several key plays to lead the fourth-seeded Demon Deacons past Virginia Commonwealth 79-78 on Thursday. Justin Gray scored 15 points to help the Demon Deacons (20-9) ad vance to the second round for the third straight year. Jamaal Levy overcame a sprained left knee to add 10 points and 10 rebounds, in cluding the go-ahead basket. Wake Forest will face 12th-seed ed Manhattan, a 75-60 winner over fifth-seeded Florida, in the second round of the East Rutherford Regional. Paul assisted on Levy’s go- , ahead basket with a minute left and hit four free throws in the fi nal seconds to help the Demon Deacons survive their second first round scare in as many years. Last year, second-seeded Wake Forest held offETSU 76-73 in the East Regional. Paul — the Atlantic Coast Conference’s rookie of the year— went 12-for-15 from the line Thursday, and had seven assists against two turnovers in 37 min utes. “Coach (Skip) Prosser and my teammates have the ultimate con fidence in me,” Paul said. “A lot of times I say they have more confi dence in me than I have in myself. At the end of the game, Coach kept giving me the ball, so I thought it was my responsibility to come through.” Domonic Jones had 22 points and seven assists for the Rams (23 8), who were making their first NCAA appearance in eight years. Virginia Commonwealth showed signs of nervousness ear ly, falling behind by 11 points in the first 6 1/2 minutes. But the Rams rallied behind Jones, and even led by six points midway through the second half. The teams were tied going into the final 90 seconds, thanks to VCU’s second-half three-point shooting and Wake Forest’s in ability to hit free throws. Wake Forest shot just 17-for-27 at the line, including a 13-for-21 effort af tar ViolfHmo The Rams, meanwhile, hit 8 of 13 three-pointers in the second half and shot 51 percent for the game. In the end, though, Paul made the difference. He made all the plays, whether it was getting to the free-throw line, scoring, pulling up for a jumpshot or making a correct pass,” VCU coach Jeff Capel said. “That’s what makes him such a good player. He just has an in credible feel for the game.” The Demon Deacons went ahead to stay when Paul passed in side to Levy, who sidestepped Nick George and dunked for a 75 73 lead with a minute left. The Rams had a chance to tie it, but Jones missed a runner. George got the offensive rebound to keep the possession alive, but Gray re bounded B. A. Walker’s miss in the lane with 25 seconds left, Paul then hit four free throws in the final 11.9 seconds left to seal it, showing more composure from the line than the Demon Deacons did for most of the game. Walker hit a running three-pointer as time expired to put the Rams just short of their first tournament win since 1985. Paul also assisted on two of three consecutive 3-pointers by the Demon Deacons, erasing a 63- A 57 deficit midway through the sec- ^ ond half. “I wouldn’t trade him for any point guard in the country,” Prosser said. “He possesses a war rinr’c Vioarf ” The game marked a homecom ing of sorts for the 29-year-old Capel, who played at nearby Duke from 1994-97. During his career, Capel went 1-8 against the Tim Duncan-led Demon Deacons. Capel also had ties to Wake Forest, spending two years as a ballboy while his father, Jeff Sr., was an assistant coach for the Demon Deacons from 1986-89. As an 11-year-old, Capel appeared on the cover of Wake Forest’s 1986-87 media guide alongside Muggsy A Bogues. “ “We came in, we weren’t afraid and we fought for 40 minutes,” Capel said. “We don’t take any moral victory from this. We came down here to win a game.” Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu SEC CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9 game, going 5-of-6 from the three-point line and led the team with 20 points. LSU completed the trifecta hy losing to Oklahoma, 70-61. The Tigers (18-11) fell behind by eight points in the first half and couldn’t overcome the Oklahoma offense for the rest of the game. Poor shooting hampered LSU in its loss, hitting only 7-of-21 shots for 33 percent from the field. The loss by LSU shouldn’t have been a big surprise, though, since the Tigers only won one of their final eight games, including a 20-point loss to USC in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals. Each SEC team was eliminated from the NIT, but four SEC teams are still viable in the NCAA Tournament and will play their games today. No. 1 seed Kentucky will play No. 16 seed Florida A&M; No. 2 seed Mississippi State plays No. 15 seed ^k Monmouth; No. 6 seed Vanderbilt takes on No. 11 * seed Western Michigan; and No. 10 seed USC tangles with No. 7 seed Memphis. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu Briefly Carolina women’s soccer announces 13 newcomers New faces, 13 of them to be specific, will grace the USC women’s soccer team in 2004. The Gamecocks announced that the program has received 13 com mitments from across the nation. The class is diverse, featuring five players from Georgia, four players from South Carolina and one player from the each of the states Connecticut, Florida, Idaho and Texas. The class’s in-state talent consists of Greenwood High School’s Laura Armstrong, Dorman High School’s Annie Galloway and her teammate Sara Jane Harris and Mauldin High School’s Kimmy Gillespie. Neighboring state Georgia will provide a bulk of talent to the team, with signees Whitney Briggs of Centennial High School, Ashley Kirk of Stratford Academy, Stacy Maxwell of Holy Innocents’ Episcopal, Kali Neumann of Pope High School and Erin Sullivan of Aquinas High School. • Joining the team from other parts of the coun try are additions Courtney Cobbs from Houston, Texas, Katie Derden from Boise, Idaho, Lexi Randazzo from Avon, Conn., and Monica Sanchez from Tampa, Fla. Ssi' illt