Mourning Has Knee Surgery, Could Miss Beginning of Season

Miami Heat center Alonzo Mourning underwent surgery on his left knee and is expected to miss part of the upcoming NBA season, the team said Sunday.

“He is expected to miss eight to 12 weeks,” the Heat said. “Mourning’s left knee will be immobilized for the next two weeks, and then he will begin physical therapy.”

The surgery Saturday repaired a partial tear of the patellar tendon. The injury was discovered last week during a routine preseason physical examination and then an MRI on Thursday revealed the tear, the Heat said.

The 6-foot-9 Mourning signed a seven-year, $112-million contract with the Heat last year.

Golf

Gabriel Hjertstedt recovered from bogeys on his first two holes and shot a two-under-par 70 to win the B.C. Open by one stroke over Andrew Magee, Lee Rinker and Chris Perry at Endicott, N.Y., to tally his first career victory.

Hjertstedt became the first Swede to win on the PGA Tour and his first-place check of $234,000 moved him from 226th on the money list to 90th. Hjertstedt’s birdie on the treacherous 312-yard No. 16 at En-Joie Golf Club broke a four-way tie for the lead.

Hjertstedt, 26, who finished at 275, made a five-foot putt for birdie on 16, which is surrounded by nine sand traps. That put him at 13-under and he parred out for his first win as a pro, which will give him his tour card for two more years and qualifies him for the Masters.

Wendy Ward finished off her first LPGA victory in grand fashion, recording the lowest total in relation to par in the 47-year history of the tour at the Fieldcrest Cannon Classic at Cornelius, N.C.

A 2-under-par 70 was all Ward needed to wrap up a two-shot victory over Rosie Jones and Jane Geddes in the Fieldcrest Cannon Classic. Ward completed four tours of the Peninsula Club course in 23-under 265, three shots better than the previous record.

Ward also matched Kelly Robbins’ LPGA record for the lowest 72-hole total. Robbins shot a 265 this year in the Jamie Farr Kroger Classic, played on a par-71 course.

Isao Aoki made an 18-foot birdie on the first hole of a playoff with Gil Morgan to win the Emerald Coast Classic at Milton, Fla..

Aoki, who set a Senior PGA Tour record with a 10-under-par 60 on Saturday, shot a 65 for a 54-hole score of 14-under 196 to register his first victory in a frustrating year, which has included five second-place finishes.

Jurisprudence

An attorney for sportscaster Marv Albert predicted that his client, who pleaded guilty to assault in a case involving biting a woman’s back and oral sex, would return to broadcasting.

“Marv will be back,” attorney Roy Black said on ABC’s “This Week” program. “I know he’ll be back on the air soon.”

Albert, 54, was accused of repeatedly biting a 42-year-old woman on the back and forcing her to perform oral sex. Thursday he pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor of assault and battery in return for the dropping of forcible sodomy charges.

Black criticized Albert’s main employer, NBC Inc., for firing the sportscaster after the plea. NBC said Albert assured the company in May there was nothing to the charges.

“He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor under very tortuous type of circumstances,” Black said. “You would think most employers would understand that. And I guarantee you that 99% of the people who plead guilty to a misdemeanor are not fired from their job.”

Meanwhile, NBC Sports president Dick Ebersol, while reiterating that the network had no choice but to fire Albert after the sportscaster entered his plea, told the New York Times he would consider rehiring Albert, though he would not put a time frame on the sportscaster’s comeback.

“I’d think he’d have to work very hard to get his life squared away to be able to seek employment,” Ebersol said. “But if all things happen to get his life back, and I’m still on this watch, I’d give him consideration.”

Robert Reid, who played 10 seasons with the Houston Rockets, was released on $2,000 bail after he was arrested and charged with cocaine possession, police said. Reid, 42, was arrested about 1 a.m. Friday after he was stopped for speeding in west Houston, a police spokesman said.

Track and Field

Kenya’s Elijah Lagat won the Berlin Marathon with the year’s fastest time--2 hours 7 minutes 41 seconds.

Running in cool, clear weather at Berlin, Lagat ran 10 seconds faster than the year’s previous best by Portugal’s Domingos Castro at the Rotterdam Marathon.

Three-time Grand Prix cross country champion Catherina McKiernan of Ireland set a women’s course record of 2:23:44.

Miscellany

The duel in the desert between Briton Richard Noble and American Craig Breedlove for the land speed record at Gerlach, Nev., is temporarily silent as both teams evaluate their cars--and their finances.

Noble’s Thrust SSC and Breedlove’s Spirit of America remain parked on the Black Rock Desert.

Royal Air Force fighter pilot Andy Green pushed Thrust SSC to a 714.144 mph record last Thursday, 81 mph faster than the old record set in 1983 by Noble, who now heads the effort.

Noble now is attempting to become the first driver to surpass the speed of sound, which would be 750-765 mph, depending on weather conditions.

Noble said Green probably would make a run Tuesday.

Seo Jung-won and Lee Min-sung scored in the final five minutes as South Korea rallied to beat Japan, 2-1, at Tokyo, in a key World Cup qualifier. . . . The Long Beach StingRays, behind Yolanda Griffith’s 20 points and 11 rebounds, beat the Colorado Xplosion, 58-57, in an American Basketball League exhibition at Austin, Texas. . . . Liz Masakayan and Elaine Youngs won a $50,000 WVPA women’s beach volleyball tournament at Lihue on the Hawiian Island of Kauai by overcoming a 7-0 deficit to beat Karrie Poppoinga and Angela Rock, 15-13, in the final.