OKC's Durant needs more surgery, is done for season

SPORTS SHORTS

NBA

* Kevin Durant will have bone-graft surgery on his ailing right foot and miss the remainder of the season, Oklahoma City Thunder general manager Sam Presti announced yesterday.

Durant will have the procedure early next week and is expected to return to basketball activities in 4 to 6 months. The news comes a week after Presti announced that Durant been "removed from basketball activities" and insinuated he could be shut down.

Durant underwent surgery Feb. 23 to attempt to alleviate soreness and discomfort in his right foot that was being caused by a screw inserted in October during a procedure to repair a Jones fracture. After the second procedure, Durant was re-evaluated after a week, then re-evaluated again after another week, at which point coach Scott Brooks updated the player's timetable to a "week or two."

Colleges

* St. John's has split with basketball coach Steve Lavin after five seasons. He had 1 year left on his contract. The Red Storm lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, beaten by San Diego State, 76-64, to finish at 21-12. The school said it "mutually agreed to part ways" with Lavin.

* Tennessee fired men's basketball coach Donnie Tyndall after one season, though athletic director Dave Hart says the university never would have hired him if they knew the details of his unethical conduct at Southern Mississippi program during his tenure there. Hart fired Tyndall yesterday after details of his activities at Southern Miss were revealed in an NCAA investigation, though UT officials have said they did their due diligence of vetting Tyndall's background before hiring him. Tyndall was being investigated by the NCAA for potential rules violations related to improper financial aid to two Southern Miss players.

* Vanderbilt quarterback Patton Robinette decided to end his football career early to concentrate on medical school. Robinette was a sophomore last year who opened the season as Vanderbilt's starter before being injured. He sprained his knee in the season opener and later suffered a concussion that sidelined him for 6 weeks.

* Archie Manning is leaving the College Football Playoff selection committee and will be replaced by former Vanderbilt coach Bobby Johnson. Manning was one of the original 13 members of the committee picked by the FBS conference commissioners who run the playoff. He was expected to serve through the 2016 season.

* Freshman Judd Peterson scored at 8:11 of overtime to give St. Cloud State (20-18-1) a 3-2 victory over Michigan Tech in the West Regional semifinals in the NCAA hockey tournament in Fargo, N.D. In other games, Willie Raskob had a goal and an assist in a three-goal flurry in the first period and Minnesota-Duluth (21-15-3) beat Minnesota, 4-1, in the first round of the Northeast Regional in Manchester, N.H., and Danny O'Regan scored 7:27 into overtime to give Boston University (26-7-5) a 3-2 victory over Yale in the first round of Northeast.

* St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn., announced that it is canceling the rest of its baseball season because of hazing. The school gave no specifics on the actions involved but said an investigation found the misconduct "constitutes ridicule, harassment, and public displays of servitude under St. Olaf's hazing policy."

Golf

* Jimmy Walker shot a 5-under-par 67 in the PGA Tour Texas Open to take a one-stroke lead over Charley Hoffman and Aaron Baddeley in his hometown event in San Antonio. Nine players are within four strokes of Walker, including Phil Mickelson, continuing to cram for the Masters less than 2 weeks off, at 2-under after a second-round 72. He was tied for sixth.

* Colin Montgomerie and Joe Durant shared the lead at 5-under 67 after the first round of the Champions Tour's Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic in Saucier, Miss. Montgomerie finished with a birdie on the par-4 ninth hole at Fallen Oak. He won the Senior PGA Championship and U.S. Senior Open last year. Durant also closed with a birdie on No. 9. Gene Sauers, Kevin Sutherland, David Frost, Woody Austin and Brad Faxon shot 68.

* Welshman Oliver Farr missed the chance to take the outright lead at the European PGA Tour's Trophee Hassan II in Agadir, Morocco, after making a bogey on the last hole, and was in a four-way tie after a 4-under 68. He shares the lead with Scotsman Richie Ramsay, Spaniard Rafa Cabrera-Bello and Australian Richard Green at 6-under 138.

Skiing

* Tim Jitloff used a swift second run to capture his third straight giant slalom title at the U.S. Alpine Championships in Carrabassett Valley, Maine.

Philly File

* Saint Joseph's sophomore swingman DeAndre' Bembry was named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches All-District 4 first team, and La Salle sophomore guard Jordan Price was named to the second team. Bembry led the Atlantic 10 in scoring this season, both in overall games (17.7 points per game) and in conference games (19.1). Price led the Explorers in minutes per game (31.9), three-point field goals (69), assists (75) and free throw percentage (.799).

* Temple senior guard Will Cummings accepted an invitation to play at Portsmouth (Va.) Invitational from April 8-11. Scouts from every NBA team will scout 64 of the nation's top seniors during the 12-game tournament.

* Tony Morgan, 56, became the third harness driver in North America to reach 15,000 wins when he captured the first race yesterday at Harrah's Philadelphia Racetrack, driving Lightning Moon. Horses driven by Morgan have won $117 million in purses, 13th on the North American list.

- Daily News staff and wire services