Cal coach says player Aimaq was called `a terrorist' by heckling fan
Cal basketball coach Mark Madsen says Fardaws Aimaq, whose parents are Afghan refugees, was called “a terrorist” by a heckling fan after a game against UTEP this week in the SoCal Challenge.
“Throughout and after Monday's game, Fardaws Aimaq was allegedly subjected to abhorrent and offensive comments from a fan, including being called a terrorist,” Madsen said Wednesday night after the Bears lost to Tulane in the tournament. “I have asked the SoCal Challenge tournament director that a formal investigation be conducted and that this fan be barred from the premises.”
Aimaq went into the bleachers to confront the heckling fan, hovering over him and pointing a finger at his face, in an exchange that lasted about 10 seconds after the loss to UTEP in San Juan Capistrano.
The 6-foot-11 Aimaq is averaging 17.2 points and 9.7 rebounds in his first season at Cal.
NO. 3 ARIZONA 74, NO. 21 MICHIGAN STATE 68 >>
Caleb Love scored 17 points and made a key steal in the closing seconds to help No. 3 Arizona beat No. 21 Michigan State 74-68 in the Acrisure Classic.
Johnson had 13 points, 10 rebounds, four steals and two blocks for Arizona (6-0). Kylan Boswell added 12 points, and Oumar Ballo and Pelle Larsson each scored 10.
Walker, who missed a game on Sunday due to an illness, led Michigan State (3-3) with 18 points.
VILLANOVA 83, NO. 14 UNC 81 (OT) >>
Justin Moore scored five of his 16 points in overtime and Eric Dixon had a career-high 34 points and 10 rebounds as Villanova beat No. 14 North Carolina in the semifinals of the Battle 4 Atlantis.
Villanova (5-1) will play in the championship game on Friday against the winner of the No. 20 Arkansas-Memphis game. North
Carolina (4-1) will play for third place.
NFL TWO-TIME SUPER BOWL CHAMPION HASSELBACH DIES AT AGE 56 >>
Harald Hasselbach, a defensive lineman for the Denver Broncos during the team's back-to-back Super Bowl championships in the late 1990s, has died at age 56.
The Broncos announced Hasselbach's death on Thursday. Hasselbach's family said he died at home in the Denver area after a sixmonth fight with cancer.
Hasselback began his career with the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League. He's one of 10 players to win a Grey Cup and a Super Bowl.
Hasselbach never missed a game during his seven seasons with the Broncos between 1994 and 2000, getting 154 tackles, 17 ½ sacks and four forced fumbles.
NHL BLACKHAWKS' HALL IS EXPECTED TO MISS THE REST OF THE SEASON >>
Blackhawks forward Taylor Hall will have right knee surgery, likely sidelining the 2018 NHL MVP for the rest of the season.
Last-place Chicago has dropped five in a row heading into Friday's matchup against visiting Toronto.
The 32-year-old Hall, who was selected by Edmonton with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 NHL draft, was acquired in a trade with Boston right
before Chicago took Connor Bedard with top pick in this year's draft.
Golf EDDIE MERRINS, THE `LITTLE PRO' WHO HAD AN ENORMOUS INFLUENCE ON GOLF IN LA, DIES AT 91 >>
Eddie Merrins was known as “The Little Pro” because of his 5-foot-7 stature, certainly not his influence on golf. The longtime pro at BelAir Country Club touched everyone from U.S. Open champion Corey Pavin to Fred Astaire and even Mikhail Baryshnikov.
Merrins died Wednesday in Los Angeles at age 91 after a long illness, according to UCLA, where he coached for 14 years.
Merrins certainly could play. He played 82 times on the PGA Tour, but never more than 10 tournaments in a year. He qualified for the U.S. Open eight times and the PGA Championship six times. He once held the course record at Medinah (66) at the Western Open.
MOSCATEL LEADS AUSTRALIAN PGA CHAMPIONSHIP BY 1 >>
Joel Moscatel got over the disappointment of missing out on a DP World Tour card by producing a course record 63 to the lead the Australian PGA Championship on a day when Cam Smith's title defense got off to a shaky start.
The 25-year-old Spanish player missed his full card by one shot in the qualifying tournament last week, but on the first day of the European tour season he finished the first round at Royal Queensland Golf Club at 8 under.
Moscatel is one shot ahead of Min Woo Lee. LAWRENCE SHOOTS 62 TO LEAD BY 3 STROKES AT JOBURG OPEN >> South African golfer Thriston Lawrence began his bid for a second title at the Joburg Open by shooting 8-under 62 to lead by three shots after the first round of the season-opening event on the European tour.
The 2024 season began just four days after the 2023 one finished in Dubai — and the No. 90-ranked Lawrence maintained his fine form from the World Tour Championship, where he finished in a tie for fifth place.
Lawrence, who won the Joburg Open by four strokes in Nov. 2021 and has captured three more titles since, birdied five of his first six holes to quickly tie for first place with clubhouse leader and compatriot Nikhol Rama (65), a player ranked No. 1,214.
Tennis DJOKOVIC SENDS SERBIA TO DAVIS CUP SEMIFINALS; SINNER'S ITALY BEATS NETHERLANDS >>
Novak Djokovic became the most successful Serbian player in the history of the Davis Cup as he took his nation to the semifinals for the second time in three years with his 21st straight singles victory.
The top-ranked Djokovic beat Cameron Norrie 6-4, 6-4 to give Serbia a 2-0 victory over Great Britain and set up a last-four encounter with Italy on Saturday in the top team event in men's tennis.
The Italians beat the Netherlands 2-1 in the other quarterfinal match on Thursday to reach the semifinals for the second straight season. Jannik Sinner kept Italy alive by winning his singles match and he then successfully teamed up with Lorenzo Sonego in the doubles.