In Brief

CYCLING

Hamilton's doping accusations
rebuked by UCI, rider Ekimov

In the wake of fresh doping allegations against Lance Armstrong, cycling's world governing body and one of his former teammates came to the defense of the seven-time Tour de France champion on Monday.

Tyler Hamilton, another ex-teammate of Armstrong, said he witnessed the American take performance-enhancing drugs before or during the 1999, 2000 and 2001 Tours while with the U.S. Postal team.

However, team rider Viatcheslav Ekimov said he never saw Armstrong do any of the things Hamilton described.

The International Cycling Union also denied claims from Hamilton that it helped cover up a positive sample submitted by Armstrong at the Tour de Suisse in 2001.

"The UCI is deeply shocked by the seriousness of the allegations made on the '60 Minutes' program aired by U.S. television network CBS," the organization said in a statement. "The allegations of Mr. Tyler Hamilton are completely unfounded."

Ekimov, who rode with Armstrong as he won the Tour from 2000 through 2005 and is now RadioShack's team manager, referred to Hamilton as a "liar" and suggested he has ulterior motives in making his revelations now.

Also: Giro d'Italia director Angelo Zomegnan said police carried out a search at the RadioShack team hotel in Falcade, Italy.

Zomegnan told The Associated Press the search was conducted by officers of Italy's elite NAS police unit during a rest day. He had no other details.

It was unclear if the search was related to the ongoing investigation into Michele Ferrari, a banned Italian physician who was once Lance Armstrong's training adviser.

BASKETBALL

Chemistry lacking, Trail Blazers
oust GM Cho after one year

The Portland Trail Blazers abruptly dismissed general manager Rich Cho after less than a year on the job.

"I think over the course of time that Rich has been here, there was the realization that the chemistry just wasn't there, and we didn't feel it was going to get any better moving forward," Blazers president Larry Miller said.

Miller said Cho was "shocked" when informed of the decision. Chad Buchanan, the team's director of college scouting, will serve as acting GM.

Also: Ed DeChellis, who led Penn State to the NCAA Tournament this year, resigned to take the vacant job at Navy.

The 15-year coaching veteran said he found "a calling" in announcing the surprise move two months after orchestrating his alma mater's first NCAA bid in a decade. The Nittany Lions lost to Temple in the second round.

Steve Prohm was promoted to head coach at Murray State, taking over for his mentor, Billy Kennedy.

Prohm spent the past five years at Murray State as an assistant to Kennedy, who left recently to take the coaching job at Texas A&M.

MISCELLANEOUS

Woods falls from golf's top 10
for first time since April 1997

Tiger Woods fell to 12th in golf's world rankings, dropping out of the top 10 for the first time in 14 years.

Woods is out with left knee and Achilles injuries. He has not won a tournament since the Australian Masters 18 months ago. He dropped four places in the new rankings.

Lee Westwood of England remains at No. 1, with Charl Schwartzel of South Africa taking Woods' place in the top 10.

The last time Woods was ranked outside the top 10 was April 1997, before he won the Masters for the first of his 14 major titles.

Also: Sergio Garcia withdrew from British Open qualifying because of an infected fingernail.

Garcia had played in every British Open since 1998. He had to qualify this year because he had fallen to No. 73 in the world.

The 31-year-old Spaniard joined other PGA Tour players in the International Final Qualifier at Gleneagles Country Club in Plano, Texas.

Paddy O'Prado, the winner of the Dixie Stakes, was retired with a right leg injury, owner Jerry Crawford of Donegal Racing said.

The sesamoid injury was discovered after the 4-year-old colt returned to the barn following his victory Saturday in the race just before the Preakness.

Freddy Adu made the U.S. squad for next month's Gold Cup and a June 4 friendly against World Cup champion Spain, the first time in two years he has been selected.

The midfielder, 21, has struggled to fulfill the potential he showed when he joined D.C. United at age 14.

U.S. coach Bob Bradley's 23-man squad is heavy on veterans, including Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Tim Howard, Jozy Altidore and captain Carlos Bocanegra. He also chose up-and-comers Juan Agudelo, Eric Lichaj and Tim Ream for the Gold Cup, involving teams from North and Central America and the Caribbean.