Sports briefs for August 11, 2005

Thursday, Aug. 11, 2005 | 9:31 a.m.

Lakers wave Grant

Barely a year after acquiring Brian Grant as part of the Shaquille O'Neal trade, the Lakers waived the 33-year-old forward as expected Wednesday.

The Lakers stand to save as much as $30 million in luxury-tax penalties with the move.

Grant was coming off a career-worst season in which he averaged 3.8 points and 3.7 rebounds. He battled knee tendinitis and missed 13 games with the Lakers, only three fewer than he sat out in four combined seasons with the Miami Heat.

"The amnesty rule was not in place and thus not a factor when we made the trade which included Brian," Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak said in a statement. "However, this is a one-time opportunity to take advantage of this situation, and exercising this will give us greater roster flexibility and the ability to improve our team."

U.S. team sneaks past Slovenia

At Mar Del Plata, Argentina, Curtis Withers of Charlotte scored 15 points and Terrence Roberts of Syracuse added 14 as the United States rallied from a 13-point deficit to beat Slovenia 82-79 on Wednesday in the preliminary round of the men's Under 21 World Championships.

The U.S. team (5-0) advanced to Friday's quarterfinals.

Withers and Roberts were effective inside for the United States, which shot 40 percent overall (34-for-84) but was 3-for-22 from 3-point range.

Fan hit by bat, hospitalized

A woman sitting behind the first-base dugout was hospitalized after she was hit by Shawn Green's flying bat during a Marlins-Diamondbacks game.

Karen Wellmeyer of Boca Raton ruptured her spleen Wednesday night and was in serious but stable condition in the trauma intensive care unit at Jackson Memorial Hospital, according to her husband, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported today.

John Wellmeyer told the Sun-Sentinel his 37-year-old wife was struck in the side when Green's bat sailed into the crowd in the top of the fifth inning at Dolphins Stadium.

"I saw the bat crack and saw it was coming toward us," Wellmeyer said. "When I looked toward my wife, I saw it going toward her. I was frozen. It was incredible how fast it got to her."

Start of Italian season in limbo

The start of Italy's soccer season may be delayed for the fourth straight year because of financial problems and fallout from a game-fixing scandal.

A judge has ordered that the season schedule not be completed until all appeals have been heard concerning Genoa's demotion from the top division to the third division. Thursday's meeting to set the schedule was delayed indefinitely, threatening the Aug. 28 season start.

-- Sun wire services