Jan 25, 2019 3 min read

In baseball

The Cleveland Indians have re-signed free-agent reliever Oliver Perez for next season.

Perez appeared in 51 games last season for the Indians, who signed the left-hander in June and added him to one of baseball’s best bullpens. Cleveland now needs Perez more than ever after losing closer Cody Allen and elite lefty Andrew Miller as free agents this winter.

The 37-year-old Perez went 1-1 with a 1.39 ERA for the three-time defending AL Central champions in 2018.

• Making another move to bolster their bullpen, the New York Mets agreed to a $10 million, two-year contract with left-hander Justin Wilson.

Wilson will get $5 million annually and also can earn performance bonuses.

A 31-year-old reliever, Wilson was 4-5 with a 3.46 ERA last season for the Chicago Cubs.

• Right-hander Marco Estrada agreed to a $4 million, one-year contract with the Oakland Athletics, giving the club a veteran presence in a rotation that was plagued by injuries last season.

A double-digit winner in 2015 and ’17 for Toronto, the 35-year-old Estrada went 7-14 with a 5.64 ERA in 28 starts and 1432/3 innings last year for the Blue Jays.

In the NBA

Jeff Green made the go-ahead layup with 42 seconds left and scored a season-high 24 points as the Washington Wizards defeated the Orlando Magic 95-91 on Friday night.

Bradley Beal had 27 points and seven assists for the Wizards, who won for the fifth time in seven games.

In college basketball

CJ Massinburg and Nick Perkins scored 20 points apiece as No. 14 Buffalo pulled away in the final minutes and avoided dropping its second Mid-American Conference game in four days with an 88-79 win over Kent State on Friday night.

The Bulls (18-2, 6-1 MAC) showed their experience and poise down the stretch to hold off the upset-minded Golden Flashes (15-5, 4-3), who hosted their first ranked opponent since 1989.

Clinging to a 78-75 lead, Buffalo, which was beaten at Northern Illinois on Tuesday, forced Kent State into three straight turnovers and converted each time to open some breathing room.

Ollie takes case

to court

Former UConn basketball coach Kevin Ollie has brought his $10 million dispute with the school over his firing to both state and federal court.

A federal judge in Bridgeport on Friday heard arguments by lawyers for Ollie and the university over a motion that would allow Ollie to move forward with a racial discrimination complaint against the school without jeopardizing his right to an arbitration hearing with UConn over his firing last year.

Judge Kari Dooley did not immediately issue a decision, and it’s not clear when she will rule.

“We remain confident that Coach Ollie will ultimately be able to assert unequal treatment claims at the appropriate time,” said Ollie’s lawyer, Jacques Parenteau.

Parenteau also filed a motion Thursday in state Superior Court seeking an order that would allow him to depose out-of-state witnesses in the arbitration case – something that could extend that process by months, barring any settlement.

The university fired Ollie last March after a 14-18 season, citing NCAA recruiting violations. The school said because the firing was “for cause” it did not have to pay the coach about $10 million left on his contract. Ollie filed an internal grievance seeking that money, which has led to the arbitration.