HOUSTON — If Jeff Van Gundy had decided sooner that he wanted to return to the Houston Rockets, he would still have a job. At least that's what the team was saying after firing him.

The Rockets' Game 7 loss to Utah meant a first-round exit for the third time in Van Gundy's four seasons, raising the possibility that the coach would step down or be dismissed by owner Les Alexander.

The 45-year-old Van Gundy had one season left on a nonguaranteed contract.

DULUTH, Ga. — Former Georgia Tech star Troy Matteson shot an 8-under 64 for a share of the second-round lead in the AT&T Classic with former University of Georgia player Ryuji Imada.Matteson and Imada (67) had 10-under 134 totals on the Greg Norman-designed TPC Sugarloaf.

Local golfers Rob McClellan of Butler and Nathan Smith of St. Jude Golf Club have earned alternate status for the U.S. Open.McClellan carded a 1-over-par 73 Thursday at the U.S. Open qualifier played at Quicksilver, losing out in a tiebreaker for one of the six qualifying spots.Smith carded a 70 recently at the Open qualifer at Indiana Country Club to become an alternate.Both golfers may advance to second-round qualifying tournaments in Rockville, Md., or Columbus, Ohio, June 4 if any qualifiers for those events decline to play.The U.S. Open in June 14-17 at Oakmont Country Club.

Jason Curry had three hits and drove home all four runs, but the Slippery Rock Sliders fell to the Washington Wild Things 6-4 in an exhibition game Friday at Consol Energy Park.Curry, a Slippery Rock High graduate, had a home run, double and single for the Sliders, who trailed 5-0 before plating one run in the sixth inning and three in the seventh to pull to within one run.Slippery Rock will kick off the Frontier League season on Wednesday at Washington.

The Union High School baseball team will host No. 11 seed Elk County Catholic (7-8) at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday in the first round of the District 9 Class A tournament.The sixth-seeded Golden Knights own a 9-4 record.The winner will travel to play No. 3 seed DuBois Catholic (12-4) at 4:30 p.m. Thursday.

The Lakevue Athletic Club in Valencia recently received the Organization of the Year Award from the United States Middle States Tennis Association.The facility is owned by Krishnan Anandan, who moved here from Florida and has brought USTA junior tournaments to Lakevue along woth expanding and updating the complex.Pittsburgh Passion set NWFA markThe Pittsburgh Passion, with Slippery Rock University as one of its corporate sponsors, lead the National Women's Football Association with an average paid attendance of 2,500 per home game.The Passion, in their fourth season, play at Cupples Stadium on the South Side. The team also owns the NWFL single-game attendance record of 4,987.