FOOTBALL

Former UMaine receiver signs contract with Bills

Former University of Maine standout Derek Sessions signed a free-agent contract with the Buffalo Bills on Wednesday.

Sessions, a wide receiver, participated in the Bills’ rookie minicamp on a tryout basis and was signed after being brought back for another workout Wednesday.

Sessions was a 2010 All-CAA selection and last season played multiple positions for the Black Bears, while making 38 catches for 398 yards and two touchdowns.

• Patriots draft pick Alfonzo Dennard pleaded not guilty to assaulting a police officer outside a bar in Lincoln, Neb., where he played cornerback for Nebraska.

Dennard, a defensive back, remains free on bond. He faces up to five years in prison if convicted.

The Patriots took Dennard in the seventh round and signed him to a contract Tuesday.

• The Seattle Seahawks confirmed they will hold a tryout for former high school football star Brian Banks, who was exonerated in a California rape case in which he was falsely accused.

• Former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kordell Stewart officially retired, saying he needed closure nearly seven years after playing his final NFL down.

• After a promise from players that the game will be more competitive, the NFL will hold the Pro Bowl in Honolulu next Jan. 27, a week before the Super Bowl.

Commissioner Roger Goodell had made it clear canceling the all-star game was a possibility after this year’s 59-41 AFC victory did not meet the standards the league wants.

• Asher Allen, a fourth-year cornerback for the Vikings, retired from football.

SOCCER

U.S. NATIONAL HALL OF FAME: Former U.S. national team goalkeeper Tony Meola, captain Claudio Reyna and defender Desmond Armstrong were inducted, along with former women’s national team coach Tony DiCicco.

U.S.-BRAZIL: Neymar converted a penalty kick, and assisted on goals by defenders Thiago Silva and Marcelo as Brazil took advantage of a sloppy American back line to beat the United States 4-1 in an exhibition game at Landover, Md.

Neymar put Brazil ahead in the 12th minute after a handball on Oguchi Onyewu, then took a corner kick that Thiago Silva headed in in the 26th.

Herculez Gomez, making his first start for the U.S. since the 2010 World Cup, scored in the 45th following a fine run by Michael Bradley and cross by Fabian Johnson.

COLLEGES

MEN’S BASKETBALL: Negotiations to keep the Kentucky-Indiana series going have broken down for the second time.

Indiana officials announced May 3 that they could not reach a deal to extend the contract, which expired after last season.

BASKETBALL

NBA: The New Orleans Hornets, recently sold by the NBA to Saints owner Tom Benson, won the NBA’s draft lottery and the No. 1 pick overall.

The Hornets, after a difficult season in which they traded All-Star Chris Paul, have a shot to add another superstar, with Kentucky freshman Anthony Davis considered the best player available.

The Charlotte Bobcats, after the worst season in NBA history, fell to the No. 2 pick. Washington will pick third and Cleveland fourth.

• Bobcats President of Basketball Operations Rod Higgins said the team will hire a new head coach within the next couple of weeks but it won’t be Patrick Ewing.

Higgins said owner Michael Jordan informed Ewing the team plans to hire someone other than him to replace Paul Silas.

WNBA: Lindsay Whalen put back her own miss with a second remaining to give Minnesota a 79-77 win over the host Washington Mystics after the Lynx blew a 24-point lead.

• Sylvia Fowles had 23 points and 12 rebounds, helping the visiting Chicago Sky dominate the smaller San Antonio Silver Stars for a 77-63 victory.

— From staff and news services

 

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