Friday Sports in Brief

NBA

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A California police agency will pursue a misdemeanor battery charge against Toronto Raptors President Masai Ujiri after the executive was accused of shoving and hitting a sheriff's deputy in the face and shouting obscenities as he tried to join his team on the court to celebrate their NBA championship.

After the game Thursday in Oakland against the Golden State Warriors, Ujiri tried to walk past the deputy who was checking court-access credentials, Alameda County sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Ray Kelly said.

When the deputy stopped him, Ujiri shoved him back several feet, Kelly said.

"That's when our deputy goes hands-on and moves Mr. Ujiri back from the court. Mr. Ujiri made a second, more significant shove and during that shove his arm struck our deputy in the side of the head," Kelly said.

Ujiri was also accused of shouting obscenities at the deputy.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The NBA Finals were a smashing success for Canada all the way around.

The NBA said Friday that 56% percent of the Canadian population watched at least some part of the NBA Finals, with an average viewership of about 8 million for the Toronto Raptors' title-winning victory over the Golden State Warriors in Game 6.

The league also said the total combined U.S. and Canadian audience for the finals was up 11 percent over the combined viewership of the 2018 title series between Golden State and Cleveland.

Thursday's game was the most-watched NBA game in Canadian television history, a record that was toppled several times during this postseason because of the Raptors' popularity. Viewership for each of the six finals games rank among the 10 most-watched television programs in Canada so far this year.

FOOTBALL

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Pat Bowlen, the Denver Broncos owner who transformed the team from also-rans into NFL champions and helped the league usher in billion-dollar TV deals, has died. He was 75.

In a statement on the team's website, Bowlen's family says he died late Thursday night at home surrounded by loved ones. The statement did not specify a cause of death. Bowlen had battled Alzheimer's for several years.

Bowlen, elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2019, was the first owner in pro football history to have his team win 300 games, including playoffs, in three decades; had as many Super Bowl appearances (seven) as losing seasons; and had a 333-2251 record (through 2018) since buying the team in 1984.

Under his stewardship, the Broncos won Super Bowls after the 1998, '99 and 2015 seasons.

FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Dallas Cowboys tight end Rico Gathers has been suspended for the first game in 2019 for violating the NFL'S substance abuse policy.

The decision Friday came about 10 months after the former Baylor basketball player was arrested on a marijuana possession charge. The arrest came just before the final cuts of the preseason last year, but he still made the roster.

Gathers' spot could be in jeopardy again after spending offseason practices as the fourth tight end behind Jason Witten, Blake Jarwin and Dalton Schultz.

The 25-year-old Gathers is going into his fourth season after choosing football over pursuing a career in the NBA.

HOCKEY

The Flyers acquired Matt Niskanen from the Capitals for Radko Gudas on Friday in a one-for-one swap of defensemen that upgrades Philadelphia's blue line offense and gives Washington much needed salary-cap space.

Niskanen provides the Flyers with an offensiveminded, right-handed shot who can also help on the power play. Philadelphia is retaining 30% of Gudas' $3.35 million cap hit, which means Washington saves $3.405 million going into an offseason with several players in need of new contracts.

Gudas, 29, is a big, bruising defenseman who could help the Capitals replace some of the muscle they'd lose if 38-year-old Brooks Orpik retires or signs elsewhere.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

MOSCOW, Idaho (AP) — Idaho has fired basketball coach Don Verlin after he was placed on administrative leave following a consultant's report that found potential NCAA violations.

Idaho announced the firing Friday. Verlin was placed on administrative leave May 28. The school said the decision was made after consultation with current university president Chuck Staben and incoming president C. Scott Green.

Interim Idaho athletic director Pete Isakson said Verlin was terminated for cause. "These are not easy conversations or decisions, but we have a direct responsibility to do what is best for the university," Isakson said.

Consulting firm Ice Miller investigated the program and found three possible NCAA violations, one including a staff member practicing with the team. Verlin was 177-176 in 11 seasons at Idaho. COLLEGE BASEBALL

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Texas A&M assistant Will Bolt is returning to Nebraska to become the Cornhuskers' head baseball coach.

Nebraska athletic director Bill Moos announced the hiring Friday. Bolt played on Nebraska teams that reached the College World Series in 2001 and 2002 and has been in coaching 16 years.

He's been at Texas A&M five seasons after serving as Nebraska's associate head coach under Darin Erstad from 2012-14. He was a volunteer assistant on the 2005 Nebraska team that went to the CWS. He also was head coach at the junior college level at Texarkana College in Texas from 2008-11.

COURTS

VISTA, Calif. (AP) — Former pro football player Kellen Winslow Jr. will be retried after a jury convicted him of raping a homeless woman but failed to agree on eight other criminal charges, including the rape of a 54-year-old hitchhiker and an unconscious teen in 2003, California prosecutors said Friday.

Assistant District Attorney Dan Owens said at a hearing in San Diego County Superior Court that five women who testified against Winslow at the first trial will be back on the witness stand at a second trial set for September.

Winslow, who played for Cleveland, Tampa Bay, New England and the New York Jets, was convicted Monday of raping a 58-year-old homeless woman and two counts of lewd conduct involving two other women.

A judge declared a mistrial on the remaining charges after the jury said it was hopelessly deadlocked. The remaining charges include six felonies, including the two counts of rape and a sodomy charge for the attack on the homeless woman. Winslow also will be retried on two misdemeanor charges of elderly battery and abuse.

AMES, Iowa (AP) — A homeless man charged in the killing of a former Iowa State University golfer has pleaded guilty to first-degree murder.

The Des Moines Register reports that 22-year-old Collin Richards entered the plea during a hearing Friday. He faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison when he's sentenced Aug. 23. Richards had previously pleaded not guilty to the charge and was set to stand trial in September.

Police say Richards fatally stabbed 22-year-old Celia Barquín Arozamena last September while she was playing a round at a public course in Ames, near the university campus, and leaving her body in a pond on the course. Investigators say Richards he had been staying in a small homeless encampment in the woods near the public course.

Barquín Arozamena was a top golfer in Spain as a teenager and came to Iowa State to pursue her career.