IN BRIEF

BASKETBALL

Union denies report of more refs gambling

The referees union maintained Friday that Tim Donaghy is known to be the only referee involved in gambling activities, despite a report that said he was about to provide names of colleagues who also may have violated NBA rules.

The report on 1050 ESPN Radio in New York said Donaghy will provide prosecutors as many as 20 names of other NBA officials and will detail their involvement in some form of gambling, believed to include betting in casinos.

The offenses may not include criminal activity, according to the report, but could violate NBA policy and lead to firings that would decimate the officiating staff. Twenty referees would make up about a third of the league's roster.

"This incident is an isolated incident, and our folks are of the highest integrity and character," said Lamell McMorris, head of the referees union.

NBA spokesman Tim Frank said the league had no additional information and would not comment.

Donaghy pleaded guilty to two felony charges Wednesday and admitted betting on games he officiated.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

UNR's Ault agrees to three-year extension

UNR football coach Chris Ault, who has led the Wolf Pack to consecutive bowl appearances, has agreed to a contract extension through the 2011 season that will pay him $460,000 the final year.

Ault's current contract, which pays $360,000 annually plus incentives, was to expire after the 2008 season. Under the three-year extension approved by the Board of Regents on Thursday, he'll get annual raises of $25,000 beginning next year.

Ault, a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, is the winningest coach in school history with a record of 185-78-1 over 22 years.

Also: Brigham Young will honor all-time passing leader Ty Detmer by retiring his No. 14 during the season opener against Arizona.

Detmer, the 1990 Heisman Trophy winner, and former quarterback Gifford Nielsen, who wore the same number from 1975 to 1977, will have their jerseys retired during a halftime ceremony on Sept. 1.

TENNIS

Federer drops set but bounces back for win

Roger Federer, the world's top-ranked men's player, overcame a momentum-changing second set, recovering to beat Nicolas Almagro 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 in the quarterfinals of the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Mason, Ohio.

Federer will face Lleyton Hewitt in one of today's semifinals. Hewitt coasted to a 6-2, 6-4 win over Carlos Moya.

Ninth-seeded James Blake also advanced to today's semifinals by beating Sam Querrey 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. He'll face fifth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko, who beat David Ferrer, 6-2, 6-4.

Also: Justine Henin advanced to the semifinals of the Rogers Cup in Toronto with a 7-6 (4), 6-3 victory over Nadia Petrova.

She'll play qualifier Yan Zi in one of today's semifinals. Yan won when Marion Bartoli retired in the second set of their match, down 3-0.

Today's other semifinal pits Tatiana Golovin against second-seeded Jelena Jankovic.

GOLF

Overton, two others share Wyndham lead

Jeff Overton closed his 5-under-par 67 with consecutive birdies to move to 12-under 132 and share the lead with Steve Marino (67) and John Huston (66) after two rounds of the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, N.C.

Anders Hansen (64), Tim Petrovic (65), Craig Kanada (65), Carl Pettersson (67) and Greg Kraft (67) were one stroke back.

Meanwhile, Davis Love III was recovering after undergoing kidney stone surgery. Love, who won last year at the Forest Oaks Country Club, withdrew from the tournament earlier this week.

Also: LPGA Hall of Famer Juli Inkster shot a 5-under 66 for a share of the second-round lead in the Canadian Women's Open, and 17-year-old Michelle Wie had a 74 to miss the cut at Royal Mayfair.

The 47-year-old Inkster, a 31-time winner on the women's tour, matched South Korea's Shi Hyun Ahn (67) at 8-under 134. Ahn had a hole-in-one on the 157-yard 16th.

Top-ranked Lorena Ochoa (65), Kimberly Hall (67) and first-round leader Laura Diaz (70) were 7 under.

David Edwards shot a 7-under 65 to take a two-stroke lead after the second round of The Tradition in Sunriver, Ore.

Edwards had a 12-under 132 total on the 7,489-yard Crosswater Golf Club course, and Mark McNulty was 10 under after a 68 in the Champions Tour major.

LITTLE LEAGUE WORLD SERIES

Heroic effort saves Massachusetts team

John Cornett hit the ball so high and hard that center fielder Michael Rando briefly thought it was a sure home run.

But Rando turned and gave chase, allowing himself enough time to settle in front of the padded green fence. He jumped, raised his glove and came down with the ball with two outs in the bottom of the sixth and a runner on third base, preserving a 3-2 victory for Walpole, Mass., over Hamilton, Ohio, in the opening game of the Little League World Series in South Williamsport, Pa.

In other games, Tokyo rallied from a 3-0 first-inning deficit to beat Willemstad, Curacao, 10-3; Maricaibo, Venezuela, edged Taichung, Taiwan, 2-1; and Warner Robins, Ga., routed Lake Oswego, Ore., 9-4.

MISCELLANEOUS

Tickets on sale Monday for Mayweather-Hatton

Tickets for the Dec. 8 welterweight showdown between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Ricky Hatton at the MGM Grand Garden will go on sale at 10 a.m. Monday at the resort's arena box office and through all TicketMaster locations.

The two fighters, with a combined record of 81-0 with 55 knockouts, will battle for Mayweather's WBC title.

Also: Rags to Riches stablemate Octave will get her chance to shine today in the $600,000 Alabama Stakes at Saratoga Race Course, the final jewel in the Triple Crown for fillies.

The 3-year-old Octave will try to become the fifth filly to win the combination of Mother Goose Stakes, Coaching Club American Oaks and the Alabama, all Grade I races.

Minnesota Timberwolves forward Mark Madsen had surgery on his shoulder, four days after he was hurt on a personal watercraft.

Madsen was using the watercraft Monday and was hurt after he had to bail off the machine and dive into the water, a team spokesman said.

Forward Andray Blatche re-signed with the Wizards, as Washington opted to keep the restricted free agent despite his recent run-in with the law.

Blatche signed a multiyear deal. Its completion was delayed because of his arrest on Aug. 2 on sexual solicitation charges.

A man convicted of killing Southern California point guard Ryan Francis faces an automatic sentence of life in prison without parole.

D'Anthony Ford, 20, was found guilty by a state district court jury of second-degree murder and aggravated battery.

Francis, an 18-year-old from Baton Rouge, was shot to death on May 13, 2006, at an intersection in Baton Rouge.

A federal judge in San Francisco denied a motion to dismiss charges against Trevor Graham, the elite track coach indicted as part of a federal investigation into steroid use by athletes.

Graham was charged in November with three counts of making false statements to federal agents in 2004 when he denied distributing steroids or telling his athletes where they could get them.