Sports briefs

Quarterback Mark Grieb threw nine touchdown passes and the San Jose SaberCats beat the Colorado Crush 76-67 to advance to the American Conference Championship game. Grieb completed 30 of 41 passes for 316 yards for San Jose, which was 13-3 in the regulars season. Matt Nagy threw four touchdown passes and ran for two scores to lead the Columbus Destroyers to a surprise 66-59 victory over the Dallas Desperados, advancing to the National Conference championship game for the first time.

Erin Buescher scored 11 of her career-high 27 points in the fourth quarter to help the San Antonio Silver Stars hold off the Seattle Storm, 80-73. Alana Beard had 25 points and seven rebounds and the Washington Mystics rallied from a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter to beat the Chicago Sky, 77-73. Houston Rockets first-round pick Aaron Brooks agreed to a contract with the team.

The 26th pick in the draft, out of Oregon, signed a multiyear contract. He will earn nearly $1.7 million over two years.

The Phoenix Suns signed first-round draft pick Alando Tucker to a two-year contract. Terms were not disclosed by the team, but the NBA rookie scale guarantees Tucker will make $776,000 this season and $834,900 in his second year. The Sacramento Kings hired Kenny Natt to be an assistant coach, reuniting him with former teammate Reggie Theus.

Natt and Theus were teammates on the Kings in 1984-85, when the club played in Kansas City. Theus was hired last month to be Sacramento's head coach. The Ducks will release a DVD of their run to the Stanley Cup championship on Tuesday.

The DVD, compiled by Warner Home Video and the NHL, costs $24.98 and includes the entire season, along with bonus material. The Ducks defeated Ottawa in five games to win their first championship last month.

Players will attend a screening Monday night at the Honda Center. Jose Jimenez, who threw a no-hitter as a rookie with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1999, was one of two Dominican athletes removed from the Pan American Games after testing positive for banned substances.

Jimenez, who had 41 saves for the Colorado Rockies in 2002, last pitched in the majors for the Cleveland Indians in 2004. Boxer Rafael Fernandez Sosa was also banned by the Dominican Republic Olympic committee. Former NFL player and Fox Sports broadcaster Bill Maas was charged with drug possession and weapons charges following a roadside safety check.

The 45-year-old and a passenger in his Hummer, Sarah J. Murphy, 27, were arrested late Friday by Illinois state police. Police indicated Maas seemed nervous, and he agreed to a search of his vehicle.

Police found a .22-caliber revolver, 5grams of suspected marijuana, 6grams of suspected cocaine and 28 pills of Ecstasy. Maas and Murphy were charged with possession of a controlled substance and possession of marijuana.

Maas also was booked on a charge of unlawful use of a weapon. Tito Ortiz fought Rashad Evans to a draw in a Ultimate Fighting Championship bout. Were it not for a penalty in the second round for holding the fence, Ortiz would have won the non-title light heavyweight division fight at Arco Arena in Sacramento.

Bleeding from a cut under his right eye, Ortiz, who is trying to get back to the top of the division after losses to Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell, got Evans in a tough lock in the second round and kept him against the chain-link cage fence for much of the third. But Evans ended the fight with a flourish, slamming Ortiz to the ground before landing several hard blows to his head. All three judges scored the three-round bout 28-28.

Sean Sherk successfully defended his UFC world lightweight title, using all 25minutes of a grueling five-round bout to beat challenger Hermes Franca. Sherk consistently took hard knees to the chest and face from Franca, but stayed dominant once the fight hit the mat, winning by the judges' decision. Gerhard Heiberg of Norway was re-elected to the IOC executive board, defeating three other candidates and validating his work as the Olympics' top marketing official.

Heiberg, who ran the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, won on the first round of a secret ballot of the International Olympic Committee. He received 49 votes, followed by Spanish member Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr., with 22 votes, Algeria's Mustapha Larfaoui, with 15 and senior U.

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