Concordia

Derek Patterson's two-run single in the sixth helped Concordia to a 4-1 victory over Patten College in a nonconference baseball game Thursday at Concordia. Matt Johnson (1-0) made his first start on the mound for the Eagles and gave up one run on seven hits. Matt Marquart, Ken Wilka and James Maddock combined to keep the Lions (0-10) hitless over the final four innings. Patterson had three hits as Concordia improved to 5-6.

ROME -- The operator of the Costa Concordia cruise ship, which struck rocks and partially sank off Italy last year, killing 32 people, agreed  Wednesday to pay a $1.3-million fine to avoid a possible criminal trial. A judge in Tuscany accepted the plea agreement for Costa Crociere , a division of Miami-based Carnival Corp. , in connection with the shipwreck off the island of Giglio in January 2012. The company will not face trial, but a hearing is scheduled Monday in Tuscany to determine whether six of the firm's employees --  including the vessel's captain, Francesco Schettino , who is accused of steering the vessel ontothe   rocks --  must stand trial on charges that inclu de manslaughter.

Hanni Prahl scored two goals to lead Concordia to a 4-0 victory over The Master's in a nonconference women's soccer game Monday at Concordia. Molly Slane and Heather Hoffman also scored goals for the Eagles (5-5). The Master's is 6-8.

On the same Concordia University campus where they met and fell in love, friends and family of Monica Quan and her fiance, Keith Lawrence, remembered the young couple Sunday for their humility, selflessness and love of basketball. Helped to the podium by family, Lawrence's younger brother, Kris, whispered, "I can do this, I can do this" as he struggled against tears to pay tribute to the protective older brother who he said always did the right thing and comforted him as a child when he was scared of the dark.

Concordia settled down late in the second half to take the lead, then held on to beat Northwest Nazarene (Idaho) College, 87-71, in a nonconference men's basketball game Friday at Concordia. Nazarene went on an 8-2 run at the start of the second half to take a 45-40 lead, but Concordia (3-1) responded with a 21-7 run. Greg O'Hagan had 21 points to lead Concordia. O'Hagan scored 19 of his points on free throws. Kalim Scott had 17 points and led the Eagles with nine rebounds.

In the wake of UCLA's close call against Concordia -- a 62-61 victory at Pauley Pavilion Wednesday -- Coach Ben Howland and his team had some thoughts about backcourt play, perhaps the most troubling aspect of a bumpy night. The Bruins looked disorganized on offense for much of the game, unable to establish a rhythm against smaller, quicker defenders. Even after timeouts, they failed to execute several sets in the final minutes. Fans might have been reminded of the loss at Washington last season.

Defense was the key for Concordia as it held Whittier to 28% shooting from the floor and snapped the Poets' five-game winning streak with a 77-68 victory Saturday in a nonconference game at Concordia. Eagle center Joey Busch scored a career-high 20 points on eight of 11 shooting, with 13 rebounds and five blocks in the victory. Josh Giles added 15 points and Paul Bettencourt 12 for the Eagles (5-3).

Concordia won its first game in women's soccer, defeating Pacific Christian, 7-1, in a nonconference game Wednesday. The victory ended a six-game losing streak for Concordia, which started the program this season. Elizabeth Ortiz, Shawnna Johnson and Regina Harrison, a former Laguna Hills High player, had two goals each to lead Concordia (1-6). Crystal Rodriguez had five saves for the Eagles. Emily Harvey scored the only goal for Pacific Christian (0-4).

Concordia scored three runs in the second inning and four in the fourth to beat The Master's, 7-4, in a rain-shortened, five-inning game. The Eagles also scored three runs in the sixth, but that inning was washed out. Doug Senne had two hits, with a double and two runs batted in to lead Concordia (16-25-1). Jason Freeman, in his first start for The Master's, hit a home run.

The airplane may have landed at Orange County's John Wayne Airport early Wednesday afternoon but the Concordia basketball team remained above the clouds. That is what winning the first National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics championship will do. The Eagles became the first Southern California team to win the nation's oldest tournament with their 88-84 overtime victory over Mountain State (W.Va.) Tuesday night in Kansas City, Mo.

Four days before her death, Monica Quan had news for her team. Quan, an assistant coach at Cal State Fullerton, held up her hand to show off an engagement ring. The players screamed and huddled around her for a closer look, head coach Marcia Foster recalled. Quan was as happy as her basketball players, and later said she wished she had recorded the moment. She loved to have pictures taken with her friends. She wanted a big wedding, and her fiance, Keith Lawrence, a public safety officer at USC, was trying to work extra hours to make it possible.

More than a year after the Costa Concordia capsized off Italy, one big question still haunts survivor Michelle Barraclough: Why were no clear instructions given during the emergency? "The crew had no idea what to do," the Australian woman wrote on a blog posted soon after the wreck, "and the order to evacuate took [way] too long. " The ship trembled and lights went out some time after the vessel struck a rock about 9:45 p.m. on Jan. 13, 2012. Passengers said they were told the problem was electrical, according to news accounts.

ROME -- A year after the Costa Concordia cruise ship sank in Italy, drowning 32 passengers and crew, the ship's owner acknowledged Saturday that efforts to salvage the wreck were behind schedule, even as survivors of the disaster expressed anger at being told to keep away from anniversary ceremonies. Executives from Costa Crociere, the Italian firm that operated the Costa Concordia, said that its attempt to right the half-submerged ship onto an undersea platform and float it off for breaking up has been slowed by the difficulty of drilling into the soft sand and tough granite below the ship.

The captain of the ill-fated cruise ship that ran aground on the Tuscany coast in January, killing 32 people, faces charges of manslaughter and abandoning the ship during a preliminary hearing next week. Still, Francesco Schettino, former captain of the Costa Concordia, has sued, claiming wrongful termination from his job after the accident, according to his lawyer. "It is the right of every worker to appeal against his dismissal and Capt. Schettino has done no more than exercise that right," his lawyer Bruno Leporatti told Reuters News.

With a wrecked cruise ship still half submerged off the coast of Italy and Europe mired in economic troubles, the world's cruise line industry has been navigating turbulent waters. Industry leaders and analysts say the $37-billion industry is slowly rebounding from the crash of the Costa Concordia on rocks near the Tuscan island of Giglio in January and Europe's economic woes. With the peak cruise booking period set to begin in January, industry executives say cruise trip reservations seem to be on the rise.

GIGLIO ISLAND, Italy - My ferry was full of school groups, delivery trucks and tourists when we left the Tuscan port of Santo Stefano and headed toward the island of Giglio, 12 miles away. I sat on deck with the other foreigners, enjoying the spring sunshine: It was too cold for the Italians, who huddled downstairs drinking espressos. And then, Giglio's white cliffs appeared in the distance and gradually grew closer. Except that there are no white cliffs on this granite island.

Halfway through practice, it looked as if the UCLA basketball team had lost another player, forward Nikola Dragovic heading for the locker room with a trainer in tow. But this wasn't another sprained ankle or sore back. Instead, Dragovic was sick to his stomach, apparently from eating pasta that had been left out too long. That's how bad it has been for injury-riddled UCLA the last few weeks -- gastric distress starts to look pretty good. "Food poisoning, he'll get over," Coach Ben Howland said.

The rumble that filtered through a sparsely populated Pauley Pavilion on Wednesday night was the sound that worry makes. The sound of bewildered fans watching UCLA trail deep into the second half. A sound that turned to cheers -- part joy, part relief -- only in the final seconds as UCLA barely escaped against little-known Concordia, 62-61, in the first exhibition game of the season. That would be Concordia of Irvine. A team that normally plays in the NAIA. "Obviously, we have a lot of work to do to be able to compete at all in the Pac-10," Coach Ben Howland said.

Five more bodies were recovered Monday from the Costa Concordia, more than two months after the cruise ship struck a reef and became submerged off the Tuscan coast, the Italian Civil Protection agency reported. That brings the official death toll of the Jan. 13 disaster to 30, with two people still missing and presumed dead. The bodies were found by search crews Thursday, the statement says, but it took 34 divers and 15 vessels to retrieve them in a recovery effort that started Monday morning local time.

A sister ship of the cruise liner that ran aground in Italy last month was adrift in the Indian Ocean after a fire broke out in the engine room. No casualties or injuries were reported Monday on board the Costa Allegra, which is owned by Costa Cruises, the same Italian company that operates the Costa Concordia. The Costa Concordia ran aground on the Italian island of Giglio on the night of Jan 13., killing 25 people, with another seven still unaccounted for. Costa Cruises confirmed in a statement that a fire broke out in the electric generator room Monday afternoon but was promptly extinguished.