BASKETBALL

JEFFERSON INSISTS HE WILL PLAY IN PLAYOFFS

Three months after having surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left wrist, forward Richard Jefferson said he will play if the Nets make the playoffs.

“There hasn’t been pain for a month or so,” Jefferson said yesterday after shooting with the team. “We’re just trying to make sure the ligament is strong enough to withstand a hit or a fall.”

Jefferson will meet with his hand surgeon tomorrow in an attempt to get clearance to play. However, he insisted he would play if the team makes the playoffs.

Jefferson was hurt against Detroit on December 27. He had surgery on January 20 and had a cast removed on March 14. He has yet to practice with the Nets, who have won 13 of 17 in their run for a fourth straight playoff berth. New Jersey and Cleveland are tied for the eighth and final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference with two games left in the regular season. The Nets own the tiebreaker.

SIXERS CLINCH PLAYOFF BERTH

Allen Iverson had 39 points and 12 assists to lead the Philadelphia 76ers back into the postseason for the first time in two years with a 122-106 win over the Milwaukee Bucks last night. The Sixers blew a chance to clinch a playoff spot a day earlier by losing in New Jersey, but they didn’t waste this opportunity. They raced to a 22-point lead and won for the seventh time in nine games and 10th in the last 15 – a fantastic finish for a team that seemed headed toward the lottery about six weeks ago. Philadelphia (42-39) can finish sixth, seventh, or eighth in the Eastern Conference depending on how fading Cleveland and the streaking Nets fare in their final two games. If Chicago beats Indiana tomorrow and the Sixers beat Atlanta, Philadelphia would earn the no. 6 seed.

BOSTON MARATHON

NDEREBA WINS RECORD FOURTH BOSTON MARATHON

Defending champion Catherine Ndereba of Kenya became the first woman to win a fourth Boston Marathon yesterday, and Ethiopia’s Hailu Negussie won the men’s race to break the Kenyan stranglehold in Boston. Kenyans had won 13 of the previous 14 men’s races.

Ndereba fell behind by 80 seconds before pulling away from Ethiopia’s Elfenesh Alemu in the last three miles to win in 2 hours, 25 minutes, 13 seconds. Negussie finished in 2:11:45 to earn the men’s $100,000 prize.

Alan Culpepper of Lafayette, Colo., was fourth – almost two minutes behind Negussie – the best finish for an American since Dave Gordon was fourth in 1987. Peter Gilmore of San Mateo, Calif., was 10th, and Ryan Shay of Central Lake, Mich., was 11th.A field of 20,453 lined up in Hopkinton for the start for the world’s oldest annual marathon. The 109th edition of the race was replete with tributes to two-time winner Johnny Kelley, who died in October at the age of 97. Kelley finished second a record seven times and lined up at the start 61 times.

FOOTBALL

‘MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL’ MOVING TO ESPN

The NFL’s “Monday Night Football,” a staple on ABC for the past 35 seasons, will move to ESPN starting with the 2006 season. Also, NBC is returning to the NFL after six years away by taking the Sunday night broadcast previously on ESPN.

The Monday night move from network TV to basic cable, hinted at continually by commissioner Paul Tagliabue, was confirmed yesterday by two sources familiar with the deals under condition of anonymity. The sources said the league is expected to get $1.1 billion over eight years from the network, while NBC will get the Sunday night package for $600 million over six years. The network will also get the Super Bowl in 2009 and 2012 as part of the deal, one of the sources said.

The moves leave ABC – which originated “Monday Night Football” in 1970 – as the only major network without NFL football. CBS and Fox already have agreed to pay a total of $8 billion over six years for the Sunday AFC and NFC rights.

BASEBALL

RED SOX REVOKE SEASON TICKETS OF INTERFERING FAN

The spectator who interfered with Yankees right fielder Gary Sheffield had his season tickets for 2005 revoked yesterday by the Boston Red Sox. Another fan, who spilled beer on Sheffield, was prohibited from buying tickets for the rest of the season.

Boston acted after a four-day investigation following the play last Thursday night at Fenway Park in which Sheffield was chasing a ball along the low right field wall. The season-ticket holder, Chris House, reached over the 3-foot high fence, and Sheffield said he was struck in the face. Sheffield picked up the ball, pushed House, then threw the ball to the infield. Sheffield turned toward House but did not make contact with him again as a security guard jumped over the wall and stood between House and Sheffield.

Boston said House would receive full reimbursement when he returns his 2005 tickets. The club said it will consider reinstating his tickets after this season.

Sheffield’s agent, Rufus Williams, and the player planned to meet today with Bob Watson, vice president in charge of discipline in the Commissioner’s office.

CYCLING

HAMILTON RECEIVES TWO-YEAR SUSPENSION FOR DOPING

Olympic gold medalist Tyler Hamilton was suspended yesterday from competitive cycling for two years for a blood-doping violation discovered at a race in September. The suspension was handed down by the independent American Arbitration Association-North American Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Hamilton can return to competition April 17, 2007, but he forfeits all competitive results since September 11, 2004, the day of the positive test at the Spanish Vuelta. The test occurred after Hamilton won the time trial at the Athens Olympics, and his finish there is not affected by the suspension. The arbitration panel ruled that Hamilton’s positive sample was from a transfusion of another person’s blood. That would increase Hamilton’s red-blood-cell count, increasing his endurance, U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said.

BOXING

MESI TOLD TO STAY OUT OF RING

Heavyweight boxer Joe Mesi suffered the biggest blow to his once-promising career yesterday when the state’s athletic Medical Advisory Board recommended that he stay out of the ring after he suffered bleeding on the brain during a brutal fight last year.

“You’re at significant risk of cranial injury and dying in the ring,” board member and neurosurgeon Dr. Albert Capanna said shortly before the four-person commission voted unanimously not to lift a medical suspension for the unbeaten Mesi.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission will consider the recommendation next month and decide whether the 31-year-old Mesi, who was the WBC’s top-ranked contender at 29-0, can fight again. If the commission issues a lifetime suspension, other states would have to honor the ban. The board members voiced serious concerns that there was a chance the Buffalo, N.Y., native could experience another subdural hematoma, and they wondered what would happen when he entered the ring again to face bigger and more powerful competition. Mesi might have had up to three subdural hematomas – two during the bruising 10-round unanimous decision victory over Vassiliy Jirov in March 2004, and one when he tried to lift a heavy dresser a few weeks later.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

DOHERTY HIRED AT FLORIDA ATLANTIC

Matt Doherty was hired as Florida Atlantic’s coach yesterday, starting over two years after he resigned as coach of North Carolina. Doherty, a former national coach of the year, replaces Sidney Green, who was fired last month after three consecutive losing seasons, including a 10-17 mark this year. In 12 seasons at Division I, the Owls are a combined 102-234.

– Associated Press