Drexler up to old tricks in Houston loss
i’HOKNIX {API rht> Phoenix
Sum claimed they weren't after
revenge in the wake of last y ear's
playoff elimination by the Hous
ton Rockets
Then they went out and exa< t
ed some anyway
"It was a perfect game as far -is
the way it went." Charles Barkley
said.
The Suns, tensing the kill
when Houston's Clyde Drexler
was ejected in the second quar
ter. raced to a 130-108 vit lory
Tuesday night.
They shot fit) peri out in rout
ing the defending champions in
the opener of the Western Con
ference semifinals. Game l of the
tmxt-of-7 series is Thursday night
in Phoenix.
A.C. Green had a career [day
off high of 'lb points, on H of-12
shooting, and 15 rebounds. Rock
ets coach Rudy Tornjanovich had
been wary of a big game from
Green, and that's precisely what
happened
"1 think we are very hungry
right now," Green said "We're
desperately trying to do what it
takes to yvin."
Barkley, who has the flu and
was on intravenous fluids during
th«> afternoon. had 2f> points and
11 rebounds for the Sons and
Kevin Johnson had 21 (Kiinisand
1 1 assists The Sons outre
bounded tiie Rockets 4M 2'i
"it was a situation where we
wanted to establish play." Green
said.
Sam Cassell scored It points
for the Rockets and Hakeem Ola
juwon had tw. hot only four
rebounds, while sitting out the
fourth quarter
"We look at this as a game to
throw away." Cassell said "That
wasn't us out there "
The Suns bolted to 20-point
leads over the dispirited Rim kets
in the second quarter and led 75
57 at halftime They were up too
fit after the thin) quarter
The ejection overshadowed a
strong defensive game by centers
Joe kleine and Waymon Tisdale,
who each had 12 points and took
Olajuwon. who was averaging 15
points in the playoffs, out of his
game.
Kleine hit 6-of-7 shots, five
from the top of the key while try
mg to draw Olajuwon outside
"When ho makes that shot, it
makes my game easier, and it
makes his game easier." Barkley
Sjtid.
Drexler. who teamed with Ola
in won to give tho Rockets a rare
pair of 41) point s< orers when hi*
got 41 in Game 4 of Houston's 3
11 r it round victor) oi n lha
Utah |azz, pit ked up two Its hni
i al fouls and was elected with
10; 12 loft m tho s«s ond quarter
Tho Suns went loading 4it 30
whon Drexler foulod Dan Miigtr
!« Drexler protoslod. and reforest
lake O’Donnell hit him with a
t<« hnital
O’Donnoll walked away, hut
Drexlor kept talking, and O’Don -
null signaled a second technii al.
an automatic ejtx lion
Drexlor. who finished the first
quarter as Houston’l ImdM tl)
{aunts (nine), relaninds (two) and
assists (two), yelled and charged
O'Donnell Me was restrained by
Totnjanovit li and Mario Filin. hut
it took several sei omls before
Drexler stopped Irving to fight his
way through
"It was a tough situation, and
I know exactly how he felt," said
Olojuwon, who picked up three
fouls in the first 13:23 of (day
"From the beginning of the game.
I could s»-e what the referees were
doing."
//
We look at this iis a
game to throw
assay. That wasn't us
out there
- SAM CASSELL
Houston Rockets
//
Johnson made both technical
free throws, and Majerle made 1
of 2 free throws, increasing
Phoenix’ lead In 43 III
The three points were part of a
22-5 run by the Suns, who did
something tho !<>//. weren't able
to do by loading after the first
quarter. 32-30.
When the spurt ended with a
i pointer by Danny Ainge with
eight minutes remaimug, Phoenix
was up 5t-.Pi The lead reached
22 (Mimts. 70-48. on Klliot Perry ’s
free throw vsilh 2 13 left
In the third period, Johnson
scored on a layup with 2 4 t left
for a tt)() 77 lead, and Green
made two free throws and a base
line jumper in the final 32 sin -
onds. eai h time sending the Suns
to 25 point leads
Erickson denies covering up drug-testing
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) Former Miami
Hurricanes conch Dennis Erickson denied
trying to cover up drug testing results, say
ing he had no obligation to inform athletic:
director Paul Dee when a player tested pos
itive.
Erickson said changes in the school's
drug-testing policy before the 100 ! season
virtually dec reed that no disc iplinary ac lion
was required, even for a player who had
multiple' positive ttests
If anybody tested positive, they were to
go to c ounseling and that was the extent of
it," said Erickson, who left Miami in January
to become coach of the Seattle Suahawks
"There was never anything about suspen
sion,"
Ac cording to the school's 1003 student
athlete manual, a second positive drug test
resulted in a mandatory one-game suspen
sion.
Th>• Sun-Sentinei in Fort Lauderdale
reported Sunday that Dee acknowledged one
case in whic h he wasn't notified of positive
drug-test results that Erickson was responsi
ble for sending to him The case occurred
prior to the 1905 Orange Bowl, the* news pa
lter said
Changes in Miami's drug-testing policy
helped All-American defensive tackle War
ren Sapp avoid at least two suspensions that
could have ended his i amor, the paper said
Dee said the university was investigating
Erickson's drug-policy actions and had
requested that independent testing laborato
ries provide every player’s testing records
from the past five years
Dee doesn't plan to comment until the
investigation is complete, and he declined to
respond to Erickson's latest remarks, a
school spokesman said.
Failure by Miami to follow its own drug
policy could lie an NCAA violation The uni
versity plans to have a new drug testing pol
icy in place by the time football practn e
begins in August
Oil kson. speaking Monday in Seattle,
at know lodged he didn't always notify Dee of
positive drug-testing results
"I had no reason to report to anyone.”
Erickson said "I never hid anything. ! had
no obligation to turn anything over ”
Erickson said the head coach, and not the
athletic director, was responsible for taking
action on players' positive drug tests.
"Our stance was when someone tested
positive we got them help got them treat
ment and counseling," Krn k-.un said. VV'hv
would I cover up anything' How would it
lienufit me?
"They're sitting there saving we covered
up for a howl game 1 mean, that's ridiculous
hei uuse there was never anything there to
cover up because there was no punishment
as far us suspensions (were) com erned
Erickson also wondered about the confi
dentiality of drug test results, given recent
news reports t oncoming possible violations
of the policy.
How do all these things get out'" he said
"You’ve got all these sourt es within the uni
versity (»ee/.. to me 1 don't know what kind
of a confidentiality thing there is at the Uni
versitv of Miami right now
A committee that includes Hr Clyde
McCoy, director of the university's Compre
hensive Drug Research Center, Inis worked
on a new drug-testing policy since Kebruarv
at the behest of Dee
Details haven't been disclosed, and offi
cials haven't said whether the new policy
will bo tougher than the old one A draft of
the new policy was given to Doe in March
and awaits approval.
■ TUESDAY’S TRANSACTIONS
BASEBALL
TEXAS LEAGUE
B WICHITA WRANGLERS—Opto**! Ra.
GoR/aMM. ouT<e*»( and Hern Bre*** Ke< ■
fta**tter. and Ken Ray. pffchws, to
•VsmiJigton Of the CarOitoA League
a WILMINGTON BLUE ROCXS-Optejned
Ray Rotwtj ana Ken A-«e peehws. to
Sphngheto o’ toe Mk»*es» league
LLUmest league
a BELOiT SNAPPERS- Reused R»"
Ranu. prtchef Called up TJ Schen&ec*
p«teh«r. Earn Stoottoo at toe CaMwrua
league
NORTHERN LEAGUE
a SKXJX FALLS CANARIES-S;, t.'>.
Stoneopher e®**'
PRAIRIE LEAGUE
a ABERDEEN PHEASANTS.S*r ed Steve
Hayward. pacher
BASKETBALL
NBA
■ VANCOUVER GRtfZUES- Na-^ed M;
Tnano frtaar of community '**3Sons
FOOTBALL
NFL
■ CINCINNATI Bf NGAlS~Rau»s«J l >. i
0f>»« safety
■ GREEN BAY PACKERS 8w
| w«!iams MatMcft«Y
■ HOUSTON OtLERS-S-y-J Renan)
I Sasoi. c*«W. andGeafgt tgwend
■ M1AMH tXXPHNS Sg-eC Omgnt R'Vaa*
sneoacfc#'. to a Np>t*a cortracf and
Onlwaun Cade*, naming 6a»
■ AN FRANCISCO AyERS A.»«*)8*ty
I Hawfuns. 3ef«ns*v« sacni*
■ taikpa bay buccaneers a^««jio
tarn* *•”' ja»r> Mason, eowfcadt, on a
| tfwjw cowraa
I CANADIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE
■ SHRf vf PORT PIRATE S~Signed G4
Car «o. running sac* Winred Kettt Browser
detervve tadde. arxJ Ocn Caparoft. d»ten
in* bac*
HOCKEY
NHL
■ BOSTON BRUINS- «e*vrad Guy L*< at
• rs}. to P- ;•<<>••:* jt “■« AHl
■ MONTREAL CANAOlENS- Returned
Mar*) RoOerg*. <•" «sng. to Fredericton Oi •»
AHl
■ QUEBEC W3RDtGUES-Reto«n*} Garth
SrtOW go##. 10 Co<rt*«il of the AHl
Recced landon Wison. ngnt mng, tram
Comm ail
■ SAN JOSE SHARKS Recaflad Shean
Donown. fight wmg. and VtaHsmal Krcupa
datonseman, iroff! Kansas Cay o* the ihl
COLLEGE
■ CAL POLY-SAN l UiSOBtSPO-Namad
K*vo Bfontagy assistant men's basKetbaS
coach
■ DARTMOUTH—Named Stefan, Bender
50*143 CMCTl
■ GUHfORD- Announced 0« r**gnaion ol
Kjie women's soccer and saocsse
coach
■ EASTERN HUM AS- Named Decora?
Botea ihooM dtreciw o» athteftcs
■ VHLANOVA Named Karer, f rasoora
assistant athletic (fceetor tor media ’Piatons
■ VIRGINIA-Anr- ...ncad Cory Aeunae*
jurat* oasAeSas guard. * i t»ego tus seme*
yea* and make turns**! r gem tor the NBA
fta»
■ WESTERN CARO NA A-,r , ed the
resignation o< Benny Dees. men's oasAettsaS
coach
■ WILKES—Named A: Z# at wresrmg
coach
\1a> It). I'W
Volume 'X\ Iwue ! 50
Baseball America
Top 25
DURHAM NC {Af*) IN)
toy 25 college baseball
So uth, as determined by the
stall ot Baseball America
magazine with records
through May 7. and previous
rankings
WeeeN Pw
I Cat State function *59?_
? Auburn45./3_
31 yx oa Suv .. 4? u 1
4Cnm«in...45 t 4_
5 Qtjremj_ 36 II5
6 iV.-.M Slain_ 45 12 T
! Southern CaMcrina 36 18
8 Tc»as tack_ 4111
J M.,ym_ _ »1?
IQ louaana State 41 i?
II Rice 3/14
17 Central borea _45jj[
11 41 U
14 f<yxt> if4S 4*4/
I (Vj?*y?vt fc> 14
16 U»M_41 1$
II f fgSPQ Sidle 3B 16
IB 3i 1/
19 Samyg_IB 3)
.V ; «• Mub !“*.*'• 3/ ?3
c 1 A/‘/of\# SiA'e 34 IB
2? lorgBftKft&aat 30 19
. ! -AM ,iS !/
,M South Atapama 38 13
.*> MrtfltimpP_2l1L
6
JL
JLL
9
jo
j?
13
16
H
15
JLL
18
J9
20
24
23
Virginia guard opts
for NBA
chari ortt sviLifc. va
{Af3) Corey Alexander,
whose career .1! Virginia was
marked fast by promise and
then by season ending
injuries, has applied !or early
entry to the NBA draft
Rio 6 foot-1 junior point
guard played only 11 minutes
in the 1993-94 season open
er before he broke his ankle
t to returned as a redshirt last
season and broke the same
ankle f eb 8 agamst North
Carolina State
Mike Colley. Virginia's
assistant sports information
director, said Alexander filed
the ori'aiy-eutry papers Mon
day
Coney said Alexander's
decision was no surprise
ON THE TUBE
May iu
■ 4 30
p m
ESPN —
Maior
League
Baseball
NY Yankees at loronto
or Montreal at
Philadelphia
■ 5 p m TNT —NBA
Basketball Playoffs,
Chicago at Orlando
■ 7 30 p.m ESPN
Major League Baseball,
Seattle at Oakland or
Texas at Calilorma
l___1
♦ MfRAJUO