Sonics' Schedule Goes From Virginia To Saskatchewan

-- PRO BASKETBALL

The Seattle SuperSonics will play all over the map in an eight-game exhibition schedule during the last two weeks of October, the NBA team announced.

Only one preseason game will be played in Seattle, an Oct. 24 contest against the Philadelphia 76ers at the Kingdome. The only other "home" game will be Oct. 22 in Sioux Falls, S.D., against the Denver Nuggets.

Seattle's other exhibition-game opponents, dates and sites: Chicago Bulls, Oct. 16, in Chicago; 76ers, Oct. 17, Lynchburg, Va.; Milwaukee Bucks, Oct. 20, Omaha, Neb.; Sacramento Kings, Oct. 25, Sacramento; Denver, Oct. 28, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; and Golden State, Oct. 30, San Jose, Calif.

The Sonics earlier announced they will open their regular season with games Nov. 7 and 8 in Japan against the Houston Rockets.

The rest of the regular-season schedule is expected to be announced later this month or in early August.

-- The Indiana Pacers agreed to terms with guard Micheal Williams, who decided to pass up free agency. The Indianapolis Star reported Williams, whose salary last season was $500,000, agreed to a six-year deal worth $10.5 million.

-- PRO FOOTBALL

Cornerback Tim McDonald of the Phoenix Cardinals testified in the antitrust lawsuit brought by pro players against the NFL that its system prevents him from playing for a team near his family.

McDonaldand his family live near his mother in Fresno, Calif., during the off-season.

McDonald said he was homesick after he was drafted by the then-St. Louis Cardinals in 1987 but was unable to go home.

NFL attorney Herb Dym pointed out that McDonald said in his deposition he didn't want to play for the Cardinals because they were a low-paying team, not because they were far from home.

-- SOCCER

New Zealand routed Vanuatu 8-0 in a World Cup qualifying match today and needs only to draw in its next match against Fiji to advance to the second round of Oceania qualifying.

-- GOLF

Buzz Thomas, a pro from Gig Harbor, shot a 2-under-par 70 in steady rain to maintain his two-shot lead in the Oregon Open in Sunriver.

Mike Gove of Astoria, Ore., was second at 138, one stroke ahead of defending champion Doug Doxsie of Kent and Brian Davis of Shelton.

-- Bob Tway rolled in a 15-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole to defeat Curtis Strange and win an invitational tournament in Ligonier, Pa.

-- TRACK AND FIELD

Carl Lewis said a sinus infection may have hindered his showing during last week's U.S. trials for the Barcelona Games.

"I knew something was wrong all week, so I went to the doctor" upon returning to Houston, Lewis told a Houston television station. "Basically what I found is that I had a sinus infection."

Lewis, who has won six Olympic gold medals and is the world record-holder in the 100-meter dash, failed to qualify for any track event except the long jump in the 1992 Games.

-- BOXING

Mike Tyson has dropped out of school at the Indiana prison where he's serving a six-year sentence for rape and has begun full-time work in the facility's recreation department, prison officials said.

-- ROWING

Orange Coast College of Newport Beach, Calif., lost an early lead then came from behind to beat England's Reading University by 1 1/2 lengths in an opening-day race of the Henley Royal Regatta today.

Other U.S. winners were Phillips Academy of Andover, Mass., and the Cincinnati Rowing Club.