Sports briefs 2/7/06

Basketball

• Former NBA star Ralph Sampson pleaded not guilty Monday to charges that he lied about his finances to obtain court-appointed counsel in a federal child support case.

The 7-foot-4 former Virginia All-American was indicted last month on one count each of perjury and making a false claim.

The charges stem from a child support case in which Sampson, 45, was charged with failure to pay more than $300,000 in child support to two daughters by different women. Under a plea agreement, he was to repay the child support and be spared prison time and fines.

At the time, his attorney said Sampson was working without salary for an online communications firm, but the indictment alleged Sampson had spent at least one month earning $5,000 as a consultant.

Attorney James Roberts insisted Monday that Sampson was truthful.

Sampson said he now works for a mortgage company in the Atlanta area. He wouldn't comment on the charges. U.S. District Judge James R. Spencer set a May 16 hearing.

The Houston Rockets made Sampson the No. 1 overall pick in the 1983 NBA draft. Over nine NBA seasons, he scored 7,039 points, averaging 15.4 per game.

Golf

• Raymond Floyd and Dana Quigley won the Champions Skins Game on Monday, teaming to win 10 skins and a record $510,000 to beat defending champion Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson in the alternate-shot event.

The 63-year-old Floyd holed an 8-foot birdie putt on No. 17 for nine skins and $410,000 to seal his record sixth Skins Game victory. He also made a 10-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole for another skin and $100,000.

Nicklaus and Watson won eight skins and $260,000, and the teams of Arnold Palmer-Peter Jacobsen and Gary Player-Hale Irwin were shut out in the event that switched to the two-man format this year after 18 seasons as a four-man individual event.

The eight players have combined to win 561 tournaments worldwide -- including 49 majors -- and more than $100 million.

Horse racing

• Stevie Wonderboy has a small fracture in his right front leg that will keep the Breeders' Cup Juvenile champion and Eclipse winner out of the Kentucky Derby.

Trainer Doug O'Neill said the colt came out of a workout Monday with the injury.

"Stevie Wonderboy worked great today, then came out of it with a little filling in his ankle," O'Neill said. "We X-rayed it and he's got a hairline fracture of his right front ankle. They're supposed to do surgery in a couple of days.

"He will be out at Merv Griffin's farm in La Quinta (Calif.) for 90 days before coming back into training."

Owned by hotel and television magnate Griffin, Stevie Wonderboy finished second behind Brother Derek in his 3-year-old debut in the Jan. 14 San Rafael Stakes at Santa Anita.

Stevie Wonderboy was considered one of the early favorites for the Derby on May 6 at Churchill Downs.

-- From wire reports