Hawks' Williams carjacked at gunpoint

Atlanta forward Shelden Williams was carjacked at gunpoint yesterday before the Hawks' 93-84 win over Charlotte, and two suspects were arrested with his car hours later. Douglasville (Ga.) Police said two suspects were arrested at Arbor Place Mall in Douglas County, near Atlanta. The suspects were in Williams's car and attempting a robbery, according to a Douglasville officer. One suspect was taken to a hospital after suffering dog bites from the police canine unit during the arrest, the officer said. Fulton County Police spokesman Gary Syblis said Williams was approached by two men outside a barbershop. One man pulled out a gun and demanded Williams's keys to his 2008 Chrysler. "I'm just glad that he's safe," Hawks coach Mike Woodson said. "Cars and things like that, jewelry, money, all that can be replaced." Williams reported to Philips Arena before the game but missed the shootaround. He played only two minutes in the victory . . . Denver forward Kenyon Martin was suspended for one game without pay and sat out the Nuggets' 102-91 loss last night in San Antonio. Martin was assessed a flagrant foul against New Orleans's Melvin Ely, striking him in the head with an elbow in the Nuggets' 105-99 win Wednesday. Ely has a fractured left eye socket . . . Wizards guard Antonio Daniels, who was injured Thursday against Miami, is expected to miss 2-4 weeks with a sprained right knee.

The third quarterback was the charm for the San Francisco 49ers. Shaun Hill passed for 197 yards and a touchdown and ran for another score in his first NFL start, and the host San Francisco 49ers beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 20-13, last night for just their second victory in 12 games. Frank Gore rushed for a season-high 138 yards, and Darrell Jackson had a season-high eight catches for 86 yards in a surprisingly effective San Francisco (4-10) attack led by Hill, a six-year veteran backup who only threw his first NFL passes last week after Trent Dilfer got a concussion. With Alex Smith also sidelined, Hill was the only quarterback left for San Francisco . . . The Colts will sit five starters today at Oakland, with injuries to defensive end Robert Mathis leaving the team without any of the first-string defensive linemen it had to start training camp. The Colts decided Mathis and safety Antoine Bethea would not play against the Raiders, Indianapolis spokesman Craig Kelley said. The team already had listed receiver Marvin Harrison (bruised left knee), defensive tackle Raheem Brock (ribs), and right tackle Ryan Diem (knee) as out . . . The Bills signed receiver Roscoe Parrish to a contract extension, terms of which were not immediately known . . . Missouri coach Gary Pinkel, who led the Tigers to a No. 1 ranking before losing in the Big 12 championship game, said he's planning on staying put. "I'm very committed here," he said. "We've made a lot of gains this year and I'm just going to try to keep working hard and keep building the program."

Tiger Woods, who had a six-shot lead, struggled with his swing but still shot a 5-under-par 67 to maintain the gap heading into today's final round of the Target World Challenge in Thousand Oaks, Calif. Jim Furyk had a 69 and sits in second, and Masters champion Zach Johnson's bogey-free 69 left him seven shots behind . . . Oliver Wilson of England shot a 5-under 67 and led by one stroke after three rounds of the South African Open in Paarl. Wilson was at 4-under 212 heading into the final round, with halfway leader James Kingston in second place . . . Iben Tinning of Denmark shot a 5-under 67 to take a one-shot lead after three rounds of the Dubai Ladies Masters. She was at 9-under 207, with Annika Sorenstam, Laura Davies, and Veronica Zorzi at 208.

NASCAR has approved Penske Racing's request to transfer the owner points from Kurt Busch to Sam Hornish Jr., a move that locks the three-time IndyCar Series champion into the first five races of next season. Robin Pemberton, NASCAR's vice president of competition, said the sanctioning body had signed off on the transfer . . . Sean Curry, Matt Lashoff, Jeff Hoggan, David Krejci, T.J. Trevelyan, and Pascal Pelletier all scored to lift the host Providence Bruins over Lowell, 6-1, in AHL action . . . Sanja Jovanovic of Croatia set a world record in the women's 50-meter backstroke at the European Short Course Swimming Championships in Debrecen, Hungary, in 26.50 seconds. Hui Li of China held the previous mark of 26.83, set Dec. 2, 2001, in Shanghai . . . In line with recommendations by leading medical specialists on high altitude, FIFA, soccer's governing body, decided at an executive committee meeting in Tokyo that unless players are given time to acclimatize, no international competitions will be held at an altitude in excess of 9,000 feet above sea level. FIFA President Sepp Blatter also said FIFA was concerned with the noon starting times for soccer games at the Beijing Olympics, where temperatures could reach 104 degrees . . . Brian Sean Griffith, a former bodyguard to figure skater Tonya Harding who admitted a role in the attack on her rival, Nancy Kerrigan, during Olympics tryouts, has died. He was 40. Griffith, formerly Shawn Eckardt, died Wednesday in Portland, Ore., of what his doctor reported as natural causes.