Morehead St.'s Faried nabs two OVC honors

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. -- Morehead State center Kenneth Faried has been picked up two Ohio Valley Conference honors as both the league's player of the year and defensive player of the year.

The OVC announced its awards Thursday night in Nashville, and the junior center won in voting by the league's coaches and sports information directors.

Billy Kennedy of Murray State has been named the OVC's coach of the year for leading the Racers to a 21st league title and a 28-4 record.

Isaiah Canaan is the OVC's freshman of the year.

Faried is the first player from Morehead State to receive the OVC's top honor since Ricky Minard in 2003. Faried also repeated as defensive player as he scored 17 points a game and led the league with 13.2 rebounds per game.

On the women's side, Chynna Bozeman of Morehead State was named the Ohio Valley Conference's player of the year, while Eastern Illinois' Ta'Kenya Nixon is the first in league history to nab both freshman and defensive player honors.

Browns give tenders to six of their free agents

CLEVELAND -- The Cleveland Browns gave second-round tenders to six restricted free agents, but safety Brodney Pool was not retained.

The Browns gave one-year salaries of $1.75 million for next season to running back Jerome Harrison, linebackers D'Qwell Jackson, Matt Roth and Jason Trusnik, safety Abram Elam and fullback Lawrence Vickers. Those players can sign offer sheets with other teams, but the Browns would have seven days to match the offer or they'll receive a second-round draft pick as compensation.

Pool, a second-round pick in 2005, missed Cleveland's final four games last season after sustaining at least his fourth known concussion.

Chargers keep Sproles, release DT Williams

SAN DIEGO -- Speedy little Darren Sproles is staying with the San Diego Chargers, after all.

The Chargers placed the maximum first- and third-round tender on Sproles on Thursday, one of two surprise moves in the hours before free agency began.

The Chargers also released tackle Jamal Williams, a 12-year veteran who has been the run-stuffing anchor of the defensive line. Williams sustained an arm injury in the 2009 season opener and missed the rest of the year. He'll turn 34 next month and also has a history of knee injuries.

Mayweather thinks he's gotten in Mosley's head

LOS ANGELES -- Floyd Mayweather Jr. could tell he was inside Sugar Shane Mosley's head from the moment Mayweather's last fight ended.

That's when Mosley jumped into the ring last September to challenge Mayweather to a bout which came together after Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao couldn't make a deal.

Mayweather and Mosley wrapped up a publicity tour in downtown Los Angeles on Thursday, returning home to the West Coast before several hundred fans mostly cheering for Mosley, a native of nearby Pomona.

Yet Mayweather believes he already has a mental edge in the fight, saying Mosley's braggadocio and trash-talking are out of character, suggesting insecurity in the veteran champion.

Mayweather and Mosley will meet May 1 at the MGM Grand Garden.

Baylor's Griner to sit out one game for punch

DALLAS -- Brittney Griner, the dunking freshman sensation for No. 14 Baylor, has been suspended for at least one game after throwing a punch that broke an opposing player's nose in a Big 12 game.

League spokeswoman Joni Lehmann said Thursday that NCAA rules require Griner to sit out Baylor's regular-season finale against 18th-ranked Texas on Sunday because of a "fighting act" that led to her ejection. She said the league is deciding whether further disciplinary action is warranted.

The 19-year-old Griner is one the most talked-about women's college players in years. The Houston native was an Internet sensation in high school with her incredible dunks and earlier this season she became only the second player (Candace Parker, Tennessee) to dunk more than once in a women's college game during a 99-18 rout of Texas State.

28 arrested celebrating Maryland win vs. Duke

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Police say they arrested 28 people when a rowdy celebration got out of hand after No. 22 Maryland beat No. 4 Duke in college basketball.

Prince George's County police Cpl. Larry Johnson says about 1,500 people poured onto a main road near Maryland's campus after the Terrapins won 79-72 Wednesday night.

TV footage showed officers on horseback dispersing the crowd and police in riot gear patting down young men. Johnson says some threw snowballs and ice at police.

Police say 23 of those arrested were students. One officer and four of those arrested had minor injuries.

Police say those arrested face charges ranging from civil disturbance to destruction of property.

Campus police say smaller groups there set a tree and trash cans ablaze.

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