Off the wire

LITTLE ROCK — BASKETBALL Ariza, Okafor dealt to Wizards

The New Orleans Hornets have traded forward Trevor Ariza and center Emeka Okafor to the Washington Wizards for forward Rashard Lewis and a secondround draft pick. The Wizards said Wednesday they are sending New Orleans the 46th pick in this year’s NBA Draft, which originally belonged to Dallas. Lewis is entering the last season of a six-year, $118 million contract and could be a candidate for the amnesty clause. Okafor has never lived up to being the second pick in the 2004 draft. He averaged a career-low 9.9 points and 7.9 rebounds per game this season, missing time with a sore left knee. Ariza averaged 10.8 points and 5.2 rebounds.

The NBA Finals’ Game 4 preliminary television rating is the highest since 2004. The Miami Heat’s 104-98 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night on ABC earned a 12.4 overnight rating. ESPN said Wednesday that was up 12 percent from last year’s Heat-Dallas Mavericks series.

Former NBA and ABA player Dennis Hamilton has died. He was 68. According to Arizona State University, where he played in college, Hamilton died Monday evening. Hamilton played for the Los Angeles Lakers in 1967-1968, playing in the NBA Finals his rookie season, and with the Atlanta Hawks in 1968-1969. He played a season for the ABA’s Pittsburgh Pipers and another for the Kentucky Colonels in 1970-1971.

TENNIS Roddick wins at Eastbourne

Andy Roddick reached the quarterfinals of the Eastbourne, England, tennis championships on Wednesday, needing eight match points to overpower Jeremy Chardy of France 6-2, 7-6 (6). The American has been seeded 30th at Wimbledon, where he has reached the final three times. Marion Bartoli of France reached the women’s quarterfinals after defeating Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada 6-2, 6-2. After anearly exchange of breaks, the fourth seeded Bartoli broke her opponent again to lead 3-2, but then had to recover from 0-40 as she served out the set. American Christina McHale failed to match the first-round performance that ousted former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki from the grass-court tournament, falling 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia.

Top-seeded David Ferrer beat Leonardo Mayer of Argentina6-3, 6-1 on Wednesday to reach the Unicef Open quarterfinals in Den Bosch, Netherlands. Ferrer is playing his first tournament since losing to Rafael Nadal in French Open semifinals earlier this month. The Spaniard cruised past Mayer in an hour and next plays Igor Sijsling, the only Dutch player left in the grass-court prep event for Wimbledon. Ferrer is seeded seventh for Wimbledon, which starts Monday.

GOLF Royal Troon to host 2016 Open

The British Open will be staged at Royal Troon in Scotland for the ninth time in 2016. The Ayrshire course last hosted the British Open in 2004, when American Todd Hamilton beat 2002 champion Ernie Els of South Africa in a playoff.

Qualifying medalist Lisa Mc-Closkey advanced to the second round of match play in the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links at Neshanic Station, N.J., beating 16-year-old Hana Ku 1-up on Wednesday. The 20-year-old McCloskey will face Alice Jeong of Gardena, Calif., in the second round. Jeong beat Julie Shutler of Manteca, Calif., 5 and 3. Past champion Emily Tubert (Arkansas Razorbacks) set up a second-round match with 2010 U.S. Girls’ Junior champion Doris Chen of Bradenton, Fla. Tubert, the 2010 winner beat Katie Rose Higgins of Charleston, S.C., 2 and 1. Chen routed Abbey Carlson of Lake Mary, Fla., 6 and 5.

FOOTBALL

Eagles sign O.J. Atogwe

Safety O.J. Atogwe has signed a one-year contract with the Philadelphia Eagles. Atogwe, who turns 31 on Saturday, spent last season with Washington after playing his first six seasons in St. Louis. Atogwe was a third-round pick in 2005 out of Stanford. He has 520 tackles, 25 interceptions, 5.5 sacks and 19 forced fumbles.

New Orleans Saints assistant head coach Joe Vitt said a piece of evidence made public in the NFL’s bounty investigation this week falsely portrays him pledging money to an incentive pool. Vitt said he has never pledged money for any type of performance incentives, let alone the bounty program that the NFL said the Saints ran from 2009 to 2011 under former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams. Vitt said he spoke Wednesday to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who confirmed to him that “there is no such allegation or suspicion” that he pledged money for bounties.

FOOTBALL Sandusky doesn’t testify; defense rests

BELLEFONTE, Pa. - Jerry Sandusky’s lawyers finished putting on their case Wednesday without calling the former Penn State assistant football coach to the stand to rebut child sex abuse allegations that could put him in prison for the rest of his life.

The sudden end to the defense’s presentation came on theseventh day of the trial, during which the jury heard from eight men - now aged 18 to 28 - who said the former coach sexually assaulted them after they met him through the charity he founded.

Sandusky is charged with 51 criminal counts for alleged abuse of 10 boys over 15 years. Hehas denied the allegations but acknowledged in interviews following his arrest that he had showered with boys.

The accusers described for jurors a range of sexual abuse at his hands. The identities of two other alleged victims are unknown to investigators.

The defense has suggested the accusers have financial motivations for their claims and were improperly influenced by investigators. They also put on character witnesses who spoke of Sandusky’s sound reputation. Sandusky’s wife, Dottie, tookthe stand Tuesday and said she never saw him act inappropriately with the accusers.

The defense rested after an approximately 40-minute closed-door meeting involving attorneys, Sandusky and the judge overseeing the case. Under Pennsylvania law, a defendant must waive his right to testify on his own behalf, but itdoesn’t have to happen in open court.

The next steps in the trial are jury instructions and then closing arguments, set for today.

Earlier Wednesday, the defense sought to undercut testimony from a former graduate assistant who told jurors he saw Sandusky sexually abusing a boy inside afootball facility shower more than a decade ago.

Dr. Jonathan Dranov, a family friend of Mike McQueary, said he spoke to McQueary the night McQueary claimed to have seen Sandusky engaging in a sex act with a boy of about 10.

Dranov testified that Mc-Queary described hearing “sexual sounds” and seeing a boy in the shower and an arm reach around him and pull him out of view. McQueary said he made eye contact with the boy and Sandusky later emerged from the showers, Dranov said.