BRIEFLY : COLGATE BASKETBALL COACH DIES.

Jack Bruen stalked the Colgate sidelines bearlike for nine seasons, his feisty and animated style endearing him as one of the school's most admired and successful coaches.

Not even his life-and-death battle with pancreatic cancer could sideline him from doing what he loved to do: coach.

Friday, six days after coaching his Red Raiders to a final victory, Bruen died at home in Hamilton, N.Y., surrounded by his wife and children. He was 48.

``Knowing Jack, his idea of a happy death would be a solid lead in a basketball game,'' said Morgan Wootten, the eminent high school coach who first hired Bruen as an assistant in 1972 and opened the door to his professional career.

``That was the love and his life. There was none better than Jack Bruen,'' Wootten said. ``Just a magnificent human being. A giant of a man.''

Before Bruen's arrival, Colgate had endured 14 straight losing seasons. Bruen led the Red Raiders to a share of three Patriot League championships and their first NCAA tournaments in 1995 and 1996 while compiling a 109-124 record.

North Carolina State freshman Ron Anderson will sit out at least eight weeks after breaking a bone in his right foot, the fourth such injury for a Wolfpack player this season.

HOCKEY: All-Star defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky and the Phoenix Coyotes ended their contract squabble, agreeing to a $3.1 million, two-year deal.

Tverdovsky, who was a restricted free agent, will make $1.4 million this season and $1.7 million in 1998-99.

Tverdovsky was scheduled to play tonight when the Coyotes visit the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Three Maine hockey players accused of making telephone threats to an African-American student-athlete have been suspended from the team and face criminal charges, university officials said.

Bryan Masotta, Shawn Mansoff and Matthew Oliver were ordered to appear in Bangor District Court on Jan. 16 to answer charges of criminal threatening.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Georgia quarterback Mike Bobo was cleared of charges stemming from his arrest earlier this week, authorities said.

Bobo, 23, was charged with obstruction of a police officer early Thursday after he ran from police outside an Athens bar.

Athens-Clarke County Magistrate Judge Michael Coleman dismissed the charge after a hearing in which an officer said he did not see Bobo doing anything illegal outside Allen's Hamburgers, where police were responding to a fight.

Brandom Drum, a reserve Nebraska defensive tackle, was cited for assault after an alleged verbal and physical exchange at a Lincoln, Neb., bar, coach Tom Osborne confirmed.

ALSO: The Dallas Sidekicks have withdrawn from the Continental Indoor Soccer League to join a new professional indoor soccer league. . . . American skier Jonny Moseley dominated both runs to repeat his victory of a year ago, winning a World Cup moguls event at La Plagne, France, to move closer to his first Olympic berth. . . . Fog forced postponement of the first of two World Cup downhill races this weekend, after only 12 skiers made it to the finish line Friday at Val Gardena, Italy. . . . Ronaldo and Romario scored as Brazil beat the Czech Republic 2-0 Friday for a berth in the FIFA Confederations Cup final against Australia.