Tickets available for YSU’s game at Illinois

July 29, 2014 at 12:00a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

Tickets for the Youngstown State football team’s season opener at Illinois are available to season-ticket holders and Penguin Club members through the YSU Athletic Ticket Office. Tickets for the game on Aug. 30 at Champaign, Ill., are on sale for $45.

YSU fans who are members of the Penguin Club or are season-ticket holders can purchase tickets for the contest through Aug. 15. A one-day sale for Youngstown State students will be held Aug. 20, the first day classes start for the fall semester.

Ticket office hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays during August. Penguin Club memberships and season-ticket packages are still available.

For information on Penguin Club memberships contact Tom Morella at tmorella@ysu.edu and for details on season-ticket packages call the Athletic Ticket Office at 330-941-1978.

Three Phantoms make college commitments

YOUNGSTOWN

Three players on the Youngstown Phantoms’ affiliate list have made college commitments.

Forward Eric Esposito is headed to the University of New Hampshire. He was selected in the 16th round of Phase II in this year’s USHL Draft. The 15-year-old spent last season playing for The Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor, Conn., appearing in 25 games and scoring five goals and added six assist.

Defenseman Brendan Demler has committed to Dartmouth College. He was chosen in the 19th round of Phase II. The 16-year-old defender spent the last two seasons with the Ohio Junior Blue Jackets U16 program where he skated in 73 games and amassed three goals and 11 assists.

Luke McInnis has committed to Boston College. The Hingham, Mass., native was the Phantoms’ third-round selection (38 overall) in Phase I of this year’s USHL Draft. Last season, the 15-year-old split time between Hingham High School and the Cape Cod Whalers U16 program. He racked up seven goals and 12 assists between the two teams.

McInnis will play for Team USA’s Under-17 squad in the Five Nations Tournament in August in Crimmitschau, Germany.

Judge OKs record $2B sale of Clippers

LOS ANGELES

A judge has ruled against Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling and cleared the way for the $2 billion sale of the team to ex-Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

Judge Michael Levanas sided Monday with Sterling’s estranged wife in the case that arose after the 80-year-old billionaire was banned by the NBA for making offensive remarks about blacks.

Shelly Sterling sought the court’s approval for the deal she negotiated after taking control of a family trust and removing her husband as a trustee after two doctors found he had Alzheimer’s disease and couldn’t manage his affairs.

Sterling has vowed to fight the NBA until his death.

All tickets claimed for LeBron’s homecoming

AKRON

LeBron James’ Ohio hometown says fans quickly claimed the thousands of tickets available for the homecoming event expected to be his first public appearance in the state since announcing his return to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The free tickets for the Aug. 8 show at InfoCision Stadium in Akron were released Monday and gone within hours.

Former Georgia runner dies in accident

CORDELE, Ga.

Former University of Georgia 400-meter runner Torrin Lawrence has died in a car accident. He was 25.

Crisp County Sheriff Billy Hancock said Lawrence was traveling along Interstate 75 about 1:40 a.m. Monday when a tire blew on the car and became disabled in the center lane. Lawrence got out of the car to call 911 when a tractor-trailer came over the crest and struck the car, knocking the vehicle into Lawrence.

Staff/Wire reports