National sports briefs: Jordan to tackle Bethpage prior to Open

Published 12:00 am Friday, November 14, 2008

Associated Press
Michael Jordan has played with Tiger Woods in a pro-am at the Wachovia Championship and competed in the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic.
His toughest test might come next June at Bethpage Black in the days before the U.S. Open.
Jordan has agreed to take part in the “Golf Digest U.S. Open Challenge,” according to an official involved in the event. He will join Justin Timberlake, another celebrity and one amateur who best explains in a six-word essay why he or she can break 100.
n BRISTOL, Conn. ó All four rounds of the British Open will air live on ESPN starting in 2010.
COLLEGE HOOPSLOS ANGELES ó Darren Collison made two free throws with 21 seconds remaining and No. 4 UCLA survived to beat Miami (Ohio) 64-59 in the 2K Sports Classic.
The Bruins (2-0) advanced to next week’s semifinals against Michigan at Madison Square Garden. Duke meets Southern Illinois in the other game.n LAWRENCE, Kan. ó A Douglas County District Court judge has dismissed a civil lawsuit against Kansas point guard Sherron Collins. He had been accused of sexually assaulting a 35-year-old woman in an elevator in May 2007.
The dismissal with prejudice means that neither party can bring further legal action against the other in this matter. Collins said in an e-mailed statement that he had “always known I was innocent.”
Jessica J. Brown accused Collins of exposing himself and rubbing against her in an elevator on May 18, 2007.
n BLACKSBURG, Va. ó Virginia Tech forward J.T. Thompson is expected to miss four to six weeks after suffering a hernia.
Surgery is scheduled for today, the same day Virginia Tech plays host to Gardner-Webb in a season opener.
n LEXINGTON, Ky. ó A whopping 20 players are listed on Kentucky’s roster for tonight’s opener against VMI. Second-year coach Billy Gillispie said about 17 will be active for the game.
n EUGENE, Ore. ó South Medford High School forward E.J. Singler has signed a letter of intent to play at Oregon.
The 6-foot-6 Singler is the younger brother of Kyle Singler, who now plays at Duke.
NBACLEVELAND ó LeBron James scored 22 points and the Cleveland Cavaliers pulled out their sixth straight victory with a 110-99 win against Denver.
Mo Williams scored a season-high 24 points for the Cavs. Chauncey Billups scored a season-high 26 points for Denver.
nCHICAGO ó Ben Gordon scored 35 points as the Chicago Bulls roared back from an early 19-point deficit to win 98-91 and send the Dallas Mavericks to their fourth straight loss.Josh Howard had 21 points and 11 rebounds for Dallas.
HOCKEY
PITTSBURGH ó Alex Goligoski scored on his first shootout attempt after Sidney Crosby tied it late in the third period with his second goal, and Pittsburgh rallied to beat Philadelphia 5-4 after blowing a three-goal lead.
n ST. PAUL, Minn. ó Niklas Backstrom stopped 24 shots, and Minnesota scored four power-play goals to beat Phoenix 4-0.
n TAMPA, Fla. ó Henrik Zetterberg, Mikael Samuelsson and Johan Franzen scored third-period goals as Detroit beat Tampa Bay 4-3.
n BOSTON ó Marco Sturm and Stephane Yelle each scored two goals and Boston snapped a 12-game skid to Montreal by winning 6-1.
n DALLAS ó Michal Handzus and Kyle Quincey scored power-play goals to help Los Angeles extend its winning streak to four with a 3-2 victory against Dallas.
n EDMONTON, Alberta ó Tomas Kaberle had a goal and two assists, Matt Stajan added three assists and Toronto won 5-2 over Edmonton.
n OTTAWA ó Kyle Okposo and Trent Hunter scored power-play goals to lead the New York Islanders past Ottawa 3-1.