Man says he made up accusations against Syracuse’s Bernie Fine

A Maine man says he lied when he accused former Syracuse assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine of molesting him.

Zachary Tomaselli of Lewiston said Friday that he fabricated the allegations and took pride in his ability to convince people his claims were true. He told the Associated Press he’s a “habitual liar and sociopath” who lacks feelings for others.

Two other men made accusations against Fine but prosecutors say too much time had passed to consider charges related to their allegations. Federal prosecutors examining Tomaselli’s claim did not comment. A district attorney said in December that evidence undercut Tomaselli’s credibility.

Fine has not been charged and has denied the abuse claims. His attorney declined to comment Friday.

Tomaselli begins serving a prison sentence next week for molesting a boy in Maine.

ETC.

Petrino gave lover $20,000, school says

Arkansas put the former lover of Bobby Petrino on paid leave Friday and disclosed that she used a $20,000 “gift” from the disgraced former coach to buy a car in her first week on the job.

University spokesman Steve Voorhies said Jessica Dorrell, a 25-year-old football department employee, had been placed on leave but he declined further comment, calling it a private personnel issue.

Dorrell, a former Arkansas volleyball player, was a Razorback Foundation fundraiser before she was hired as a student-athlete development coordinator by Petrino on March 28 at an annual salary of $55,735. She has not returned repeated calls seeking comment.

The move came as Petrino said he would not appeal his firing and seek any of the $18- million buyout that was part of his contract. His agent, Russ Campbell, sent an email to Athletic Director Jeff Long late Thursday saying Petrino had accepted “responsibility for the events that led to the university’s decision to terminate his contract.”

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Tom Benson brought stability to the New Orleans Saints nearly three decades ago and now plans to do the same for the city’s NBA Hornets.

The Saints’ owner agreed Friday to purchase the Hornets from the NBA.

A person familiar with the deal says the purchase price is $338 million. The person spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the financial terms have not been announced.

The NBA has been trying to sell the Hornets since buying the club from founder George Shinn in December 2010. While preparing the team for sale the league negotiated a new lease for the Hornets to remain in the state-owned New Orleans Arena through 2024.

The sale of the team to Benson has to be approved by the NBA’s Board of Governors, which was meeting in New York on Friday.

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Toronto Raptors forward Andrea Bargnani will miss the rest of the season with a calf injury.

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Retired NBA star Jayson Williams was freed from jail Friday after serving eight months for drunk driving in New York and 18 months before that in New Jersey on charges stemming from a limo driver’s shooting death.

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If all goes as planned Saturday night, Juan Manuel Marquez and Brandon Rios will clear their final hurdles to a July 14 junior-welterweight showdown at Cowboys Stadium outside Dallas.

Saturday night at 6 p.m. on pay-per-view TV, Rios (29-0-1, 22 knockouts) will fight Richard Abril (17-2-1, 8 KOs) at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas and Marquez (53-6-1, 39 KOs) will fight Ukrainian Sergey Fedchenko (30-1, 13 KOs) in Mexico City.

Oxnard’s Rios, who lost his lightweight world title when he couldn’t make weight at Madison Square Garden before a December victory, again weighed in over the 135-pound limit Friday, meaning only Abril can win the vacant World Boxing Assn. lightweight belt.

— Lance Pugmire

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Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark breezed into the semifinals of the e-boks Open at Copenhagen, beating France’s Alize Cornet, 6-0, 6-3.

Wozniacki will next face Croatia’s Petra Martic who beat Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.

Third-seeded Jelena Jankovic of Serbia defeated Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi, 4-6, 6-1, 6-3, to set up a semifinal against Germany’s Angelique Kerber.

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Colt Knost shot a six-under 66 on Friday to take a two-stroke lead over Carl Pettersson after the second round of the RBC Heritage at Hilton Head, S.C.

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Bruce Fleisher shot a six-under 65 to take a one-stroke lead over Michael Allen and Chien Soon Lu after the first round of the Champions Tour’s Encompass Insurance Pro-Am at Lutz, Fla.

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Louis Oosthuizen shot a four-under 68 on Saturday to take a one-stroke lead in the Malaysian Open at Kuala Lumpur after the completion of the rain-delayed second round.

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Ricky Stenhouse Jr. regained the lead with 23 laps to go when he charged past Austin Dillon, then held on after Friday night’s final restart to give Roush Fenway its fourth consecutive NASCAR Nationwide victory at Fort Worth, Texas.