National Sports Briefs

Published 12:00 am Friday, December 16, 2011

Associated Press
ATLANTA ó Shaquille OíNeal doesnít like the Chris Paul trade; Charles Barkley says Commissioner David Stern made a mistake.
OíNeal also says the trade talk swirling around Dwight Howard has damaged his relationship with the Magic though Barkley says the center is the first player he would choose to start a franchise.
Let the debates begin.
OíNeal, the Hall of Fame-bound center, is joining Barkley, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson on the set of TNTís ěInside the NBA.î
Barkley and OíNeal seemed to disagree on all the NBAís hot stories on Thursday. The two outspoken and entertaining former stars had differing views of the deal which sent Paul from the New Orleans Hornets to the Los Angeles Clippers.
But OíNeal looked very happy in his new surroundings. His 19-year NBA career ended last season with the Celtics. He won three straight NBA titles with the Lakers and a fourth title with Miami in 2006.
ěI think heís going to be a great entertainer,î Barkley said. ěHeís a born entertainer. Heís a real fun guy to be around, and weíve got the crew to make sure he has fun. The key is for him to just be yourself.î
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
DALLAS ó Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy was honored as the national coach of the year by the Football Writers Association of America, beating out Michigan’s Brady Hoke, LSU’s Les Miles, Kansas State’s Bill Snyder and Clemson’s Dabo Swinney for the Eddie Robinson award.
SALEM, Va. ó Levell Coppage scored on a 1-yard run and Wisconsin-Whitewater shut down Mount Union until the closing minutes to win its third consecutive Division III national championship, 13-10 on Friday night in the seventh consecutive title game meeting between the schools.
The victory was the 45th in a row for the Warhawks (15-0), who haven’t lost since Mount Union beat them in the 2008 Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl. The Purple Raiders finished 14-1.
FINE INVESTIGATION
DANNEMORA, N.Y. ó A 56-year-old New York prison inmate says former Syracuse University assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine began molesting him more than 40 years ago and continued to have sexual contact with him into adulthood.
Floyd VanHooser told The Associated Press during a prison interview that Fine began sexually abusing him when VanHooser was 14 years old.
VanHooser is the fourth man to accuse Fine of sexual abuse. He initially made his allegations to the Post-Standard of Syracuse.
NCAA
INDIANAPOLIS ó The NCAA is putting its $2,000 stipend on hold, saying that the number of schools seeking an override had reached 125 ó the necessary number to suspend the rule until it can be reconsidered by the Division I Board of Directors at January’s NCAA convention.
FIGURE SKATING
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. ó Michelle Kwan was elected to the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame and will be inducted during the national championships in San Jose, Calif., at the end of January.
GOLF
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates ó American teenager Lexi Thompson has a one-shot lead going into the final round of the Dubai Ladies Masters after making a birdie putt on the 18th for a 2-under 70 on Friday.
The 16-year-old Thompson, the youngest LPGA Tour winner, is 10 under for the tournament, one shot ahead of Sophie Gustafson (69) of Sweden.
NHL
OTTAWA ó The Ottawa Senators were in the right frame of mind as they headed to the dressing room after a big second period.
Jason Spezza had two goals and two assists, and Jared Cowen also had four points to lead Ottawa to a 6-4 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday night.
Daniel Alfredsson scored his 398th NHL goal and added two assists, and Erik Karlsson also had three points.
Sabres 5, Maple Leafs 4
BUFFALO, N.Y. ó Thomas Vanek had two goals and two assists, and Tyler Ennis added a goal and assist to help lift the Sabres to a 5-4 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Drew Stafford and Andrej Sekera also scored, and Ryan Miller made 29 saves for the Sabres (16-12-3), who won for the third time in six games to finish a season-high five-game homestand with a 2-1-2 mark.
Panthers 3, Flames 2, SO
SUNRISE, Fla. ó Sean Bergenheim’s scored Florida’s two goals in regulation, and Stephen Weiss connected for the shootout winner as the Panthers beat the Calgary Flames 3-2 on Friday night.
Jose Theodore stopped 24 shots for the Panthers, whose last 11 home games have been decided by one goal.