BRIEFLY\UTEP coach suffers mild heart attack.

Byline: Daily News Staff and Wire Services

Texas-El Paso coach Don Haskins, a Basketball Hall of Fame nominee, was in the hospital Sunday after suffering a mild heart attack during a game Saturday.

Haskins, 65, complained during the halftime of UTEP's 64-60 loss to New Mexico that he had chest pains and felt "cold and clammy." He was transported to Providence Memorial Hospital in El Paso after being examined by emergency medical personnel, said athletic director John Thompson.

He is expected to spend the next few days undergoing tests in the hospital's cardiac care unit. But Thompson said the coach appeared to be doing well and had eaten, and even was asking for details about the game.

"He looked like he was ready to go after it again," Thompson said.

Sports information director Eddie Mullens said the coach had been on medication to control high blood pressure but had never complained of chest pains.

He had not been feeling well during the week leading up to the game, but blamed in on the flu, Mullens said.

GOLF

South Africa's John Bland birdied the final two holes to overtake defending champion Jim Colbert and win the Senior Tournament of Champions by one stroke in Dorado, Puerto Rico.

Bland shot a 2-under-par 70 over a still-saturated Hyatt Dorado Beach course to finish at 9-under-par 279 and win his second Senior PGA event in four starts. He beat an exclusive, winners-only field that included Jack Nicklaus, Raymond Floyd, Hale Irwin, Lee Trevino and Colbert.

Bland played on the PGA European Tour for 18 years before joining the Senior Tour when he turned 50 last September. He made $151,000 for the victory in the season-opening event.

It took five tries, but rookie Karrie Webb finally got the 18th hole right and won the LPGA HealthSouth Inaugural in a playoff at Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

Webb, who finished second in last week's LPGA Tournament of Champions, tapped in for par on the fourth extra hole and claimed the $67,500 winner's check when Jane Geddes rolled a 5-foot putt wide of the cup.

Geddes bogeyed the last hole of regulation to fall into a three-way tie with Webb and Martha Nause at 7-under-par 209 on the Lake Buena Vista Course at Walt Disney World.

American Steve Flesch beat Australian Craig Jones on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff and won the Malaysian Open Golf Championship in Kuala Lumpur.

Ernie Els birdied the final hole and won the South African Open at the Royal Cape Golf Course in Cape Town, South Africa. Els finished with a 13-under-par 275, one stroke ahead of Brendan Pappas. Both closed with 6-under 66s.

NHL 

The Montreal Canadiens acquired defenseman Robert Dirk from the Mighty Ducks for minor-leaguer Jim Campbell.

The Canadiens also sent rookie defenseman Marko Kiprusoff to their Fredericton farm club and placed defenseman Yves Racine and left wing Oleg Petrov on waivers.

WINTER SPORTS

France's Sebastien Amiez, one of the season's most consistent slalom skiers, rallied for his first World Cup victory, in 1 minute, 38.79 seconds at Veysonnaz, Switzerland.

Unheralded Rene Mlekuz of Slovenia was second at 1:39.16. Thomas Sykora of Austria, co-leader after the first heat, finished third at 1:39.48.

Olympian Randy Weber of Steamboat Springs, Colo., had the longest first jump and held on to win his second national ski jumping title in 24 hours, in Lake Placid, N.Y.

Austria's Andreas Goldberger and Finland's Ari-Pekka Nikkola tied for first plae in the ski jumping World Cup in Sapporo, Japan.

Germany's No. 1 bobsled, driven by veteran Wolfgang Hoppe, beat Germany's No. 2 and the United States' No. 1 in a World Cup four-man event in Cortina D'Ampezzo, Italy.

Austrian Anita Wachter overcame Katja Seizinger's big first-run lead and won the giant slalom race in Cortina D'Ampezzo, Italy, to vault to the top of the World Cup overall standings.

France's Sylvain Guillaume beat Japan's Kenji Ogiwara by 4.4 seconds in Liberec, Czech Republic, and won his first World Cup Nordic event.

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PHOTO

Karrie Webb hugs her fiancee after beating Jane Geddes to win the HealthSouth Inaugural. Associated Press