gary had a chance to tie the game with two power-play

A wild postgame brawl following a contentious game between Utah Valley and New Mexico State highlighted the risks when fans and players collide. The Western Athletic Conference suspended New Mexico State junior guard K.C. Ross-Miller for two games and senior forward Renaldo Dixon for one for violating the leagues sportsmanship policy following its review of the melee Thursday night in Orem, Utah. Ross-Miller hurled the ball at Utah Valleys Holton Hunsaker seconds after the Wolverines 66-61 victory over the Aggies. The ball hit Hunsaker -- the son of Utah Valley coach Dick Hunsaker -- in the leg. Some of the fans who stormed the court following the victory got caught up in the chaos and punches were thrown. New Mexico State guard DK Eldridge was in the middle of the scrum before he was dragged away by Aggies coaches as order was restored. With the victory, the Wolverines claimed the top spot in the conference standings -- their first year in the WAC. While the brawl was touched off by Ross-Millers actions, it sparked renewed debate about player and fan interactions, and the dangers posed when fans rush the court. It was one of several incidents involving fans and players or coaches in recent months. Oklahoma State All-America guard Marcus Smart charged into the stands at Texas Tech on Feb. 8 and shoved a fan who called him a "piece of crap." Smart was suspended for three games and the fan later apologized. Also in February, Oregon coach Dana Altman expressed concerns about safety after two of his staffers said an Arizona State student spit at them at halftime of a game in Tempe, Ariz. Ducks guard Jason Calliste had a verbal confrontation with at least one student late in the first half. The NCAA does not have national rules regarding fans rushing the court because conference offices oversee regular season rules in basketball, including discipline. The SEC does ban the practice, imposing a $5,000 fine on the school for the first offence, and as much as $50,000 for subsequent infractions. Reggie Minton, deputy executive director of the National Association of Basketball Coaches, said his organization has discussed the issue in the past and it will be taken up again at meetings in April. "The main concern is for the safety of the visiting players and coaching staff. Rushing the court almost always comes after a key victory or upset by the home team and there are people rushing the court who may or may not understand what sportsmanship is about," Minton said. "We need to explore ways to eliminate the risk to the players, coaches and staff on the court," he added. "Every school should have a plan in place for end of game situations and make sure there is sufficient security and staff available to take control." The WAC issued its suspensions Friday after reviewing the brawl. "There obviously is no place in the Western Athletic Conference or intercollegiate athletics as a whole for the unfortunate events that took place at the conclusion of Thursday nights game," WAC Commissioner Jeff Hurd said. Hurd also said in a statement that there would be further review of the safety issues involved, and he has additional games management information from Utah Valley. Hurd praised the coaches for both teams. "The situation could have been much worse if it had not been for outstanding effort of both the New Mexico State and Utah Valley coaching staffs," Hurd said. "They were instrumental in separating their student-athletes from what could have been an even uglier situation." Before the WAC weighed in on additional penalties, New Mexico State coach Marvin Menzies suspended Ross-Miller indefinitely pending the WACs decision. The junior starter averages 8.3 points, 2.2 rebounds and 3.5 assists. "No matter what provoked K.C. what he did was inexcusable and hence the suspension. It is an honour and a privilege to wear an Aggie uniform and a responsibility comes with that privilege," Menzies said in a statement Friday. The game between the WAC co-leaders at the UCCU centre was attended by a season-high 4,954 fans. Ross-Miller issued a statement apologizing for his actions. "I have way more respect for the university, my teammates and coaches to retaliate in such a terrible way," he said. "I know better to let my opponents and emotions get the best of me and I regret doing what I did, not only because it was stupid and selfish, but because of the situation that I have created for my team, coaches and the university. The Wolverines issued a brief statement via Twitter: "The incident following Thursdays game was an unfortunate and sour endnote to an otherwise brilliant performance by both teams." The team referred all further inquiries to the WAC. Utah Valley (17-10, 11-3) is atop the WAC standings going into Saturdays home game against Texas Pan-American. New Mexico State (21-9, 10-4) visits Bakersfield on Saturday. Dan Hampton Youth Jersey . -- Omar Infante walked past the visiting clubhouse at Kauffman Stadium, where he dressed so many times as a member of the Detroit Tigers, and slipped on a crisp, new Kansas City Royals jersey. Mitchell Trubisky Womens Jersey .500 were once common achievements for the Dallas Mavericks. Now, both are season highs as Dallas slowly works its way back into playoff contention in the Western Conference. http://www.bearsfootballpro.com/Authentic_Richard-Dent_Bears_Jersey/ . People familiar with the case told The Associated Press on Friday that arbitrator Fredric Horowitz could issue his decision this weekend. Mike Singletary Jersey . Paire broke Giraldo twice and lost his serve once in both sets to wrap up the win in 1 hour, 10 minutes. He will next face Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain, who advanced when Jurgen Zopp of Estonia retired with an injury at 5-5 in the first set. Tarik Cohen Youth Jersey . During halftime, Love told The Associated Press he would receive treatment Saturday night and hoped to play Monday night against Houston. "I knew that my quad was bothering me pretty bad so I went out there and tried to move around a little bit and it just wasnt quite right," Love said.VANCOUVER -- If the Calgary Flames were looking to provoke Vancouver head coach John Tortorella into losing his cool again, this time he wasnt taking the bait. Defenceman Yannick Weber scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period and the Canucks breathed a sigh of relief with a 2-1 win on Saturday night. It was the first meeting between the teams since a fierce line brawl broke out two seconds into a game on Jan. 18 that saw 150 penalty minutes assessed. Tortorella had a meltdown that night and went after Flames head coach Bob Hartley by storming Calgarys locker-room during intermission. Tortorella, furious at Hartley for icing his fourth line to start the game, served a 15-day suspension and the struggling Canucks have been in free fall ever since. Hartley started tough guy Brian McGrattan again on Saturday night, but this time the gloves stayed mostly on. "We didnt even talk about it in our locker room," Tortorella said of Hartleys starting line. "We needed to play. We have to scratch, claw and grind and find pints anyway possible." Darren Archibald also scored for the struggling Canucks, who snapped a four game slide and came into Saturday as losers of 11 of their last 12 games, including Thursdays dispiriting 6-1 drubbing in Texas that defenceman Kevin Bieksa called "rock bottom" for the team. McGrattan had the only goal for Calgary, which had won its last two and three of its last five games. The teams played nice until six minutes into the game when Vancouvers Bieksa got the better of Calgarys Mark Giordano with a mean right hand after the two dropped gloves. Giordano headed to the dressing room after, but returned later in the period. "I could tell that Gio was good," said Hartley. "It was just a gash that needed to be fixed." The Canucks had their chances early, including a 2-on-1 against Flames goalie Joni Ortio, but David Booth fired the puck wide to keep his goal drought in tact. Booth hasnt scored since Dec. 17. The absence of Canucks stalwart goalie Roberto Luongo -- traded on Tuesday to Florida -- was sharply felt at 2:13 of the second when a harmless looking slap shot by McGrattan near centre ice somehow eluded new No. 1 Eddie Lack. The crowd groaned and Tortorella shook his head in disbelief. "I just wanted to throw one on net. I was at the end of my shift and fortunately it went in," said McGrattan. "It was a muck and grind game. A lot of sloppy plays at both ends; the puck was bouncing everywhere. Those are good tests to see what youre made of." Lack says he didnt let the bad goal take him mentally out of the game. "I am just telling myself to get going agaain, and try to focus on the next save," he said.dddddddddddd "And the guys got a goal really quick and that took the pressure off." Vancouver evened the game three minutes later with a goal almost as ugly. With three Canucks crowding Ortio in the crease, Archibald whacked in the puck for his first career NHL goal. It breathed some life into the Rogers Arena, which didnt have much to cheer with only eight Vancouver shots compared to the Flames 14 through two periods. "Its never a bad play to stuff it and crash the net and get a greasy one," said Archibald. "Thats part of my game -- win battles down low -- and I kind of won a battle and stuffed it from behind the net and pitchforked it in." Action picked up in the third as Canuck Ryan Kesler was stopped by Ortio on a point-blank shot in the slot, while at the other end, Lance Bouma missed on a wide-open net with Lack way out of position. Bouma has seen increased playing time lately as Hartley grows more confident in young winger. "Im gaining confidence every game," said Bouma. "The coach is putting a lot of trust in me and playing me in key situations. Im just trying to learn as much as I can, and I feel like its been going pretty well." Weber scored the go-ahead goal five minutes into the third when he banged home a rebound off a shot from new teammate Shawn Matthias, who came to Vancouver from the Panthers in the Luongo trade. "Maybe it wasnt the prettiest goals, but thats how we have to get out of our slump," said Weber. "We played a gritty game, and got some ugly goals and thats the way we have to play." Calgary had a chance to tie the game with two power-play chances thanks to Vancouvers Chris Higgins in the final five minutes, but the Flames couldnt capitalize. Higgins had three straight penalties in the third period. Despite Vancouvers recent hard times, the team is still only four points out of a playoff spot after Dallass 4-3 win against Minnesota on Saturday. Calgary (25-32-7) remains second last in the Pacific Division. Lack finished with 22 saves, while Ortio stopped 12 at the other end for Calgary. The Canucks (29-27-10) eclipsed their season-low of 20 shots. Notes: Saturday night marked the 10-year anniversary of former-Canuck Todd Bertuzzis on-ice attack on Steve Moore. The former Avalanche forward, who never played again in the NHL, filed a $38-million dollar lawsuit against Bertuzzi and the Canucks. A trial date has been set for Sept. 8. ... Canucks forward Zack Kassian served the first game of his three-game suspension after boarding Stars defenceman Brenden Dillon on Thursday. ... Attendance was 18,910. ' ' '