Friend Says He Used Cocaine With Reggie Lewis

A friend of the late Reggie Lewis said he had used cocaine with the former Boston star in a Maryland hotel before a Celtic game, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday. The paper had earlier reported that Lewis’ sudden death in 1993 might have been drug related.

Derrick Lewis, who played high school and college ball with Reggie Lewis and is no relation, said the Celtic star was “with me, an experimental user of cocaine like a lot of people. . . . Reggie was addicted to basketball, not drugs.”

Derrick Lewis said he and Reggie Lewis had used marijuana as players at Northeastern University and cocaine five days before Reggie collapsed in a playoff game against the Charlotte Hornets on April 29, 1993. Reggie died in August of 1993 after collapsing while shooting baskets.

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James Cason scored 27 points and Birmingham-Southern (35-2) won the NAIA championship game, 92-76, over Pfeiffer (25-8) of North Carolina in Tulsa.

Soccer

A 17-year-old soccer fan, Osman Gun, was beaten to death by club-wielding fans of a rival team in Istanbul, Turkey, after a game Sunday.

A court ordered the arrest of four students on murder charges, one TV station reported.

Football

Maxwell Blecher, the Los Angeles attorney retained by the Rams to represent them in possible litigation against the NFL over their proposed move to St. Louis, said it is too late to force such a move through the courts this year.

Unless the NFL and Rams resolve their dispute and the NFL approves the Rams’ move, a court order would be necessary to consummate the move, and such an order would undoubtedly be appealed, Blecher said. This, he suggested, would push the final decision beyond the beginning of next season, which Ram President John Shaw had indicated was likely.

Also, linebacker Roman Phifer, who has been in demand as a free agent, is close to reaching an agreement that will keep him with the Rams, said Jay Zygmunt, the team’s senior vice president.

Wade Wilson, the backup quarterback with the New Orleans Saints last season, was released. . . . West Virginia defensive lineman John Browning will give up his final season of eligibility and declare himself available for the NFL supplemental draft. . . . The Dallas Cowboys signed center Ray Donaldson of the Seattle Seahawks to a two-year, $1.6 million contract.

Auto Racing

Mark Smith, who had raced in Indy cars, was the driver in a highway crash in suburban Washington, D.C., that killed his brother and another man last weekend.

A car driven by Smith, 27, of McMinnville, Ore., ran off the road, slid down an embankment and struck a utility pole Saturday afternoon, police said.

Police said Smith was allegedly speeding and charges are pending.

Miscellany

Ironworker Jack L. Falls of McDonough, Ga., fell to his death when a 150-foot light tower at the unfinished Atlanta Olympic Stadium buckled. . . . Former Raider quarterback Kenny Stabler was free on $250 bond after having been charged with drunken driving near Pensacola, Fla. . . . Del Miller, offensive coordinator at Kansas State, was named Southwest Missouri State football coach. . . . Art Mollner, a member of the U.S. Olympic gold-medal basketball team at Berlin in 1936, died of cancer in San Fernando at 82. . . . Former world champion James Toney (45-2-2) stopped Karl Willis (20-3-1) in the eighth round of their light heavyweight bout in Auburn Hills, Mich.