Sports Briefs: Seton Hall player charged with DWI

NEWARK, N.J. -- A Seton Hall University basketball player has been suspended indefinitely from the team after police said that he was under the influence when he drove the wrong way on the Garden State Parkway and collided with another car.

Keon Lawrence was treated for severe facial cuts, while the driver of the other car suffered non life-threatening injuries in the crash early Monday, police said.

Coach Bobby Gonzalez announced Lawrence's suspension yesterday in a news release, saying he was relieved that those involved in the crash weren't more seriously injured.

New Jersey State Police Sgt. Stephen Jones said that Lawrence, 22, hit another vehicle early Monday after driving the wrong way on the expressway near Sayreville, N.J.

Jones said that police received a call of a motorist driving erratically in a red Chevy Equinox shortly before the crash. Lawrence was alone in the Chevy, which was not registered to him. Police also charged him with driving with a suspended license.

More basketball

■ NCAA officials will begin calling fouls on secondary defenders under the basket this season in an attempt to curb injuries.

John Adams, the national coordinator for men's basketball officiating, said yesterday that referees will call fouls on secondary defenders who make contact with a shooter while standing directly under the rim.

Another new rule will allow the opposing coach to choose someone already on the floor to shoot a free throw in place of an injured player.

Officials will also pay closer attention to intentional and flagrant fouls, and to 3-second calls to clear up rough play underneath. The officials also have been told to call fouls if a player's balance or speed is impeded, not just if it provides an advantage.

■ Forward An'Juan Wilderness of UNC Charlotte will miss two to four weeks with a strained left calf, while freshman guard Gokhan Sirin will serve a one-game suspension in Friday's season opener.

The 49ers are also concerned about starting point guard DiJuan Harris, whose status against UNC Asheville is uncertain because of a sprained right ankle suffered in practice last week.

Sirin, a native of Turkey, was suspended by the NCAA yesterday for participating with a professional club team.

UNC Charlotte did get some good news. Redshirt freshman Shamarr Bowden is probable Friday after missing much of the preseason with a dislocated left shoulder.

Wilderness averaged 7.9 points and 3.7 rebounds last season.

■ The NCAA said that the oldest son of Michael Jordan will miss the first two games of the season for No. 23 Illinois after playing in an unsanctioned tournament last summer.

Illinois coach Bruce Weber said that Jeff Jordan, a reserve guard, played in a three-on-three tournament.

Jordan wasn't part of the Illinois team at the time. Jordan, a junior, left the team at the end of last season but changed his mind and returned in October.

Weber called Jordan's playing in the tournament an innocent thing.

Jordan will miss the Illini's season opener against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville on Friday and Tuesday's game with Northern Illinois.

Soccer

■ A goalkeeper expected to play for Germany at the World Cup died after being hit by a train in what police suspect is a suicide. He was 32.

Robert Enke played for the German team Hannover. Team president Martin Kind confirmed Enke's death, and police later released a statement saying that a man had been fatally struck by a train last night in Frankfurt. The statement said that the "first police indications are that it was a suicide."

The train crossing was not far from Enke's Hannover home. His car was found near the scene, unlocked, with his wallet on the seat. The two train drivers reported seeing a man on the tracks and applied the brakes while traveling at about 100 mph but could not stop in time, police said.

Enke debuted for the national team in a 1-0 loss to Denmark in 2007. His last international game was a 2-0 win over Azerbaijan on Aug. 12.

■ Charlie Davies, a U.S. national team forward, has been released from a Washington hospital nearly a month after a car accident.

Davis, 23, was released yesterday. He underwent several surgeries after the Oct. 13 car crash, which killed a 22-year-old passenger.

In a statement, Dr. James DeBritz said that Davies faces a long recovery. He said it will take extensive physical therapy for Davies to recover from several broken bones, including two in his right leg, and a lacerated bladder. Davies is expected to need six to 12 months to recover, essentially ruling him out for the World Cup.

■ The MLS-bound Vancouver Whitecaps and five other United Soccer Leagues First Division teams have formed a new professional league that is scheduled to begin playing in April.

The Whitecaps are scheduled to move up to Major League Soccer in 2011. They are joined by teams from Atlanta, Carolina, Miami, Minnesota and Montreal from USL-1. A new team, St. Louis Soccer United, will be part of the seven-team league that does not yet have a name.

The teams formed the new league because they were unhappy with how USL-1 is owned and structured.

Tennis

■ Pilot Pen Tennis at Yale is seeking a new title sponsor for the 2011 tournament and beyond.

Pilot Pen Corporation, entering its 15th year as the title sponsor, will end its partnership with the tournament after the 2010 tournament. Company officials called the move a difficult decision caused by the recession.

Tournament director Anne Worcester said that Pilot Pen's long-term support of the tournament helped grow tennis in the Northeast and put the company in a strong position to attract a new sponsor.

The 2009 Pilot Pen, won by Caroline Wozniacki and Fernando Verdasco, drew nearly 80,000 spectators and was televised nationally for 16 hours on ESPN2 and CBS Sports.

■ Ninth-ranked Vera Zvonareva's agent said she will have arthroscopic surgery on her right ankle.

The operation is to remove scar tissue and is scheduled for today in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

Zvonareva plans to stay in the Netherlands for two weeks of rehabilitation and is expected to be able to return to a tennis court in four to five weeks.

Zvonareva pulled out of the season-ending WTA tour championships after playing one match.

She was a semifinalist at the Australian Open in January and won two hard-court tournaments in 2009.