Scoreboard
Junior debut
kind of dreary
CINCINNATI (AP) — Junior
came home to Cincinnati, and
it was as if he never left ...
Seattle.
A steady rain spoiled Ken
Griffey Jr.’s eagerly awaited
homecoming Monday, letting
up just long enough for the
slugging center fielder to get a
pregame ovation and two
empty at-bats.
Then, it returned to wash
away one of the most closely
watched games of Griffey’s life.
The Cincinnati Reds blew a
three-run lead and wound up
tied with the Milwaukee Brew
ers 3-3 in the sixth inning.
After a three-hour delay, the
game was called because of
rain and a foreboding forecast.
It will be replayed Tuesday
night, starting over from the
first inning.
Childs, Bryant
suspended, fined
NEW YORK (AP) — Chris
Childs of the New York Knicks
and Kobe Bryant of the Los An
geles Lakers were fined and
suspended by the NBA on Mon
day for fighting.
Childs was suspended with
out pay for two games and
fined $15,000. Bryant was sus
pended without pay for one
game and fined $5,000.
NBA vice president Rod
Thorn said Childs instigated the
fight and threw punches dur
ing Sunday’s nationally tele
vised game. Bryant was disci
plined for responding with a
punch.
“Everyone knows Kobe is a
clean-cut kid,” Shaquille
O’Neal said. “He was protect
ing himself.”
Second malpractice
trial begins
BOSTON (AP) — The second
malpractice trial against Reg
gie Lewis’ doctor began Mon
day with accusations of co
caine use threatening to
dominate just as they did in
the deadlocked trial last year.
The attorney for Dr. Gilbert
Mudge said the doctor was un
able to diagnose Lewis at first
because the former Boston
Celtics star hid his history of co
caine use. According to Wflliam
Dailey, Mudge said Lewis ad
mitted on July 12,1993, to us
ing cocaine two months after
he first sought Mudge’s care
and two weeks before he
dropped dead while shooting
baskets.
Attorneys for Lewis’ widow,
Donna Harris-Lewis, denied
that Lewis used drugs.
Best Bet
MLB: Boston vs. Seattle
5 p.m., ESPN
Sport!
Tuesday
April 4,2000
Volume 101, Issue 123
Emerald
Oregon knows it can’t overlook PSU
A
Emerald
Sophomore catcher Missy Coe reaches base nearly 40 percent of the time.
■ After losing the last time it met
Portland State, the Ducks know they
can’t expect the Vikings to come with
anything less than their best game
By Mirjam Swanson
Oregon Daily Emerald
Their coach* said he be
lieves they’ve learned that
they need to get up for every
game — including those
with opponents who seem
way overmatched. And es
pecially for Portland State.
The No. 23 Oregon soft
ball team faces the Vikings
(15-15 overall, 2-2 Western
Athletic Conference) today
in Portland.
And if the Ducks (24-13,
1-2 Pacific-10 Conference )
don’t go into the affair fo
cused and fired up, they
could be in for another
scare — or worse, a loss.
It happened last season,
when a 17th-ranked Oregon
team lost the second game
of a double header in Port
land, 5-4, in extra-innings.
“A valuable lesson,” head
coach Rick Gamez said a
year later. “It’s a reminder: If
you don’t go out and play,
these teams can come out
and beat you.”
And in their other meet
ing last season, Oregon had
to fight for a couple of close
wins 8-4, 5-3, for Gamez’s
400th and 401st career wins.
And then again a week
and a half ago in its home
opener against a scrappy
but-less-talented Simon
Fraser team that the Ducks
needed a late-inning rally to
beat.
Clearly, the not-so-great
teams have a tendency to
show up against the Ducks.
“Obviously [Portland
Turn to Softball, page 8
«,f’so
reminder:
If you
don’t go
out and
play, these
teams can
come out
and beat
you. yy
Rick Gamez
head coach
Spartans run past Florida for the title
CC He has
the heart of
a lion. He
has done it
for four
years, not
just one.
Tom Izzo
Michigan State
head coach
■ Michigan State wins the NCAA convincingly, 89-76,
behind the heroic play of its star seniors Mateen
Cleaves and Morris Peterson
By Jim O’Connell
The Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS — This
time there was no Magic, just
Mateen.
Michigan State, with Magic
Johnson cheering in the
stands, won its second nation
al championship as Mateen
Cleaves led the Spartans to an
89-76 victory over Florida on
Monday night.
It was 21 years ago that the
championship game between
Michigan State and Indiana
State — Magic vs. Bird —
changed the landscape of col
lege basketball.
This one may not have had
the magnitude, but it had the
drama thanks to Cleaves, the
Spartans’ limping leader, who
needed crutches for his in
jured ankle after celebrating
with his teammates.
“He has the heart of a lion,”
Michigan State coach Tom
Izzo said. “He has done it for
four years, not just one. That’s
why you love him. He’s what
our program embodies.”
Cleaves rolled his ankle ear
ly in the second half and had
to go to the locker room. Earli
er, he helped the Spartans
build a 43-32 halftime lead by
scoring 13 points, including
going 3-for-3 from 3-point
range, and negated Florida’s
vaunted full-court pressure
with his ballhandling and
passing.
“I told them he’ll be back.
Let’s-not get our heads down,”
Izzo said. “I just knew.”
When Cleaves left with
16:18 to play the Spartans led
50-44. His teammates got the
lead to 58-50 by the time he
returned 4:29 later. But the
senior guard who missed the
first 13 games of the season
while recovering from a stress
fracture in his right foot, was
again the team’s emotional
leader.
His long pass to Morris Pe
terson for a layup made it 60
50. He was leveled while set
ting a screen a few minutes
later, but it was enough to
spring A.J. Granger for a 3
pointer that started a 16-6 run
that made it 84-66 and put the
game away.
Michigan State had been on
a mission since losing to Duke
in the Final Four last season.
Turn to Championships, page 10
Leaders
Scoring
(MSU) Peterson
21
(UF) Haslem
27
Assists
(MSU) Peter
son, Bell 5 *
(UF) Wright
4
Rebounds
(MSU) Granger
9
(UF) Wright
10