The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, March 19, 2004, Page 10, Image 10
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.
-■
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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.
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