BRIEFLY : GORE LIFTS PEPPERDINE TO NCAA GOLF CROWN.

Pepperdine's Jason Gore, who had the individual title within his grasp at the final hole, nevertheless led the Waves to a three-stroke win and the NCAA Division I men's golf team championship over perennial power Wake Forest on Saturday in Lake Forest, Ill.

Gore, a senior from Valencia, double-bogeyed the par-5 18th to fall into a four-way tie for third at 4-under 280 behind champion Charles Warren of Clemson, who shot a 4-under-par 67 to finish at 5-under 279.

``There are no mixed emotions,'' Gore said. ``We got a ring. That's all that matters.''

Pepperdine, ranked 20th entering the finals, was without coach John Geiberger, who spent the week in his hotel battling chicken pox.

The Waves, who missed the cut in last year's finals, built on their two-stroke lead after 54 holes on the front nine. They led by as many as seven strokes down the stretch.

Gore's 280 was complemented by Mike Walton's 3-under 281 in leading Pepperdine to its first NCAA title since 1992, when the school captured the baseball and men's volleyball championships.

Clemson's Warren came from six shots off the pace to win the individual title, making a two-putt par on the first extra hole at Conway Farms Golf Club to beat Brad Elder of Texas.

LOCAL:Robert Barillas, a pitcher for Burbank South's American Legion baseball team, was released from St. Joseph's Hospital in Burbank Saturday night after suffering a fractured cheek bone in a game against Saugus. Barillas was struck in the face by a comebacker in the first inning of Burbank's 6-1 win.

WATER POLO: Gavin Arroyo scored with 44 seconds left in overtime to seal the United States' 2-1 victory over Russia and move his team to the finals against host Greece in the Water Polo World Cup in Athens, Greece.

SOCCER: Three goals by Mia Hamm fueled a second-half surge that carried the United States to a 4-0 victory over Canada in the opener of U.S. Women's Cup 1997 at Willow Brook Park in New Britain, Conn.

BOXING: Vincent Phillips captured the IBF junior welterweight title, shocking unbeaten Kostya Tszyu in the 10th round of a scheduled 12-rounder in Atlantic City, N.J.

Jesus Chong of Mexico won the vacant WBO light flyweight title with a second-round knockout of Eric Griffin in Las Vegas.