Overtime

College Basketball

Armstrong Atlantic rolls by USC Aiken

The USC Aiken men made just eight field goals in the first half and couldn't rally in the second half, falling 81-67 on Friday night to Armstrong Atlantic State in Peach Belt Conference action.

The Pacers (2-6, 0-2) went 8-for-31 from the field in the first half and fell behind 35-22 at halftime.

Chris Brown led the Pacers with 13 points, while Kingsley Oguchi added 12 points.

Baseball

Clemente's son will re-enact father's trip

The son of Hall of Fame baseball player Roberto Clemente will head to Nicaragua today to distribute humanitarian aid - mirroring a trip that claimed the life of his father 33 years ago.

Clemente, a 12-time All-Star who had 3,000 hits for the Pittsburgh Pirates, died in 1972 at age 38 in a plane crash on New Year's Eve. The Puerto Rican native was taking relief supplies to victims of a Nicaraguan earthquake.

Roberto Clemente Jr. will take the same amount of food, medicine and other items that his father carried during the original trip.

"It's been 18 months that I had a spiritual awakening in which I communicated with dad. It was the first time that I really cried for dad ... and it was then that I understood I had to make this trip to obtain spiritual peace," he told The Associated Press.

- Outfielder Eric Byrnes has agreed to a one-year, $2.25 million contract with Arizona and promises to bring energy and enthusiasm to the Diamondbacks.

Byrnes, 29, slumped to a .226 batting average in a nomadic 2005 season that had him playing for Oakland, Colorado and Baltimore. In 2004, Byrnes hit .283 for Oakland with 20 home runs and 73 RBI.

Olympics

Parra fights through to spot on U.S. team

Derek Parra put his personal problems aside - if only for a day - and earned another trip to the Olympics.

The winner of gold and silver medals at the Salt Lake City Games, Parra has been an emotional mess since his marriage fell apart this summer. His skating suffered as well, raising doubts about whether he could qualify for his third Olympics.

But Parra finished third in the 1,500 meters at the U.S. speedskating championships, even with a near-fall that forced him to scrape his left hand along the ice.

His teammate and training partner, Chad Hedrick, won the national championship with a time of 1 minute, 42.80 seconds - just two-hundredths off his own world record. Parra finished nearly 2 seconds behind at 1:45.25, also trailing Joey Cheek (1:45.13).

- Jeremy Bloom showed his mastery of his "other" sport yet again, maneuvering through the moguls to secure the spot on the U.S. freestyle skiing team that pretty much everyone knew he'd get.

"It's nice to check that box," said Bloom, a two-sport athlete whose trip to Italy will be followed by a showing at the NFL scouting combine. "I've been saying for too long, 'Well, if I make the Olympics, I'll go to the combine a week after.' Now, I know. After the Olympics, I'll be at the combine. No more ifs."

Horse Racing

N.Y. shells out $30 million to save NYRA

New York state leaders and racing officials agreed to a $30 million bailout of the New York Racing Association, keeping the operator of New York's three premier thoroughbred tracks from seeking bankruptcy protection.

The announcement comes as the NYRA, a private organization that operates the Saratoga, Belmont and Aqueduct tracks on a state franchise, was preparing to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The deal provides an immediate $1 million advance from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey as part of a $5 million agreement to buy NYRA-owned land near its Aqueduct track in New York City.

The NYRA also will be given a $5 million loan through the Empire State Development Corp. and another $20 million from the Lottery Division.