The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio • Page 1

IT 'If tlJJ ljirJjiiifb ill 1 ivim. Slim offerings Area churches slow to sellC-1 Zero-down home loansD-4 Zoo gets rare shhhhnakesD-1 Council minority to shiftD-1 Lakota wins, 71-63 T-birds fight for title today Gilmour Academy 59, CCD 53 Clones start Round 2 tonight Reds' Rijo says he's ready Section Grand Am GT The GT version of the Pontiac Grand Am is marked by 16-inch tires around alloy wheels and "aero" styling. Section LLfflkd Grand Am GT starts at $13,699. nn-rrTr 01 Cincinnati en IKER FINAL35C lip Cats daw into final. Cincinnati holds off UTEP, 69-67 sCk If A I A 1 Ml, Mother decries violence Son killed day before court date BY CHRIS GRAVES The Cincinnati Enquirer Just three months ago, Diane Davis learned her only son stood accused of killing a man.

Her heart ached for the dead man's mother. Friday, she felt that mother's pain herself. "I was upset because someone's child was dead," Davis said as, hours after her son was shot and killed, she recalled the earlier death. "And now I'm sitting in the chair of the mother of the dead child," she said from her Avondale home. "And he wasn't brought up in an improper environment.

It's senseless, just senseless." Floyd Davis, 23, was shot to death in his home in the 3400 block of Jay Street at 11:40 p.m. Thursday, Cincinnati police said. The gunman also shot and wounded Rodney Douglas, 23, of the Jay Street address, and a 17-year-old male who was at the house. Douglas was in serious condition and the teen in good condition at University Hospital on Friday. Davis and Douglas had been scheduled for a pretrial court appearance Friday on charges of voluntary manslaughter in the Dec.

26 shooting death of Carl Cordell, 18, of Walnut Hills, court records indicated. Both were free after they posted bonds. Cordell was shot during an argument near Hickory Street and Burnet Avenue in Avondale and died that day at Jewish Hospital. Police had not established a motive in the Davis slaying nor had they arrested a suspect Friday afternoon, Sgt. John Jay said.

Diane Davis said she was unsure why her son was killed. "I don't know if it was in retaliation or if it was something else," she said. But she did offer strong words for today's youth. "Regardless of the problem, be it drugs, competition, retaliation regardless of any of those things it isn't necessary. We are wiping each other out." Floyd Davis was raised in the non-Jewish Hebrew Israelite faith, earned a diploma from Hughes High School and spent a little more than a year in the Marine Corps, she said.

He was the father of two sons, ages 2 and 9 months. Diane Davis said she didn't think her son would end up the subject of a story about deadly violence. "He was a good individual, he was compassionate. But he happened to go in a direction I was opposed to." All the morals and values parents try to instill in their children can be "wiped out in the blink of an eye if they are vulnerable to fast money, nice clothes," she said. Parents never should think they are exempt from such tragedy, she said.

BY RORY GLYNN The Cincinnati Enquirer KANSAS CITY, Mo. The University of Cincinnati took one step sweeter than 16 here Friday night. The Final Four? That's now just a game away. UC (28-4) outgunned Texas-El Paso in the first half and outlasted them in the second of a 69-67 victory before 14,388 (at least 1,000 of them giddy UC fans) at the NCAA Midwest Regional game at Kemper Arena. UC, which had led by as many as 13 points in the first half and 14 in the second, saw UTEP creep back within two points in the last 10 seconds.

But the Bearcats, moving the ball smartly, didn't even let the Miners send them to the foul line in running out the clock. When it was over, UC's Herb Jones, who led all scorers with 24 points, high-fived a cheerleader. Other players, seemingly more relieved than exhilarated, hugged briefly and then congratulated UTEP. The UC band played the alma mater. In the first row of the UC section, Dr.

Joseph Steger, UC president, and Rick Taylor, UC athletic director, celebrated with their wives. "When you get to this point, there are only eight teams still playing," Taylor "Obviously, it's a tribute to Bob (Huggins) and the kids and all the work they've done." Standing between the Bearcats and a matchup in Minneapolis are some familiar faces: Memphis State's Tigers, Great Midwest Conference rivals whom UC has already beaten three times in as many meetings this season. "It'll be awfully tough," said Memphis State coach Larry Finch, whose team beat Georgia Tech, 83-79 in overtime, in the first game. "We're due for a win." Ironically, both schools and their fans hours before had participated in a Great Midwest pep rally at Kansas City's Town Pavilion. The UC and Memphis State bands had played.

The school presidents, UC's Steger and Memphis State's Dr. V. Lane Rawlins, had spoken; so had GMC Commissioner Mike Slive. Old rivalries were forgotten for an hour or so for the good of the conference. At the game, the Bearcats delighted their red-and-black clad minions by jumping out to leads of 10-0, 16-4 and 19-6 in the early going.

But it wouldn't be that easy. UTEP closed to within seven, 42-35, by halftime, cut UC's lead to three twice, and finally closed to two twice, the last time at 69-67 on two Marlon Maxey free throws with 9.4 seconds left. But the Miners would get no closer. The Final Four? That got a whole lot closer. I I The Cincinnati EnquirerGary Landers University of Cincinnati's Anthony Buford drives past a University of Texas-El Paso defender early in Friday night's Midwest Regional game in Kansas City.

UC beat UTEP, 69-67. I Complete NCAA coverage in SportsSection SWT" 3 MIDWEST REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP Memphis State vs. UC 1:42 p.m., Channels 9, 7 SOUTHEAST REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP OSU vs. Michigan 4 p.m., Channels 9, 7 WEST REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP Indiana vs. UCLA 4:42 p.m., Channels 9, 7 EAST REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP Kentucky vs.

Duke 7 p.m., Channels 9, 7 MIDWEST Cincinnati 69, UTEP 67 Memphis State 83, Georgia Tech 79 SOUTHEAST Ohio State 80, North Carolina 73 Michigan 75, Oklahoma State 72 Five sections. 151st year, No. 354 Copyright, 1992, The Cincinnati Enquirer Pi NationWorld Metro Healthscience A-3 Morning Report D-2 World A-4-5 Lotteries D-2 Nation Obituaries D-3 SDorts I HI Business Beam today Former President Gerald Ford talks with Turfway Park partners Jim Lattimore, center, and Jerry Carroll on Friday. Ford will attend today's $500,000 Jim Beam Stakes, at 5:12 p.m. in Florence.

See storyB-8. The Cincinnati Enquirer Tony Jones U.S. to buy space goods ENQUIRER NEWS SERVICES WASHINGTON The White House has approved the first U.S. purchases of space technology and nuclear material from Russia. The $14.3 million set of deals announced Friday was billed as the first piece of a new plan for aiding the former Soviet Union.

Presidential spokesman Mar-lin Fitzwater said the purchases would allow the United States to pick up bargains in "high-technology areas that have not be- nuclear, from Russia fore been readily available to us." "These transactions clearly signal our desire to normalize trade with the new states," Fitzwater said. In the first deals, the United States will pay Russia $8 million tor an unfueled space nuclear reactor, up to $300,000 for thrusters that use electric current to turn space stations and $6 million for plutonium-238 to (Please see DEAL, back page, this section) Scoreboard B-2 NBA. B-3 Tennis B-7 NYSE D-5 NASDAQ D-6 Amex stocks D-6 Mutual funds D-7 Classified D-8-14 fife IB )l Tempo 1 Wheels Advice C-2 TV C-6-7 Churches C-8 Comics C-11 Under the hood E-l Click Clack E-2 Weather: Sunny; high 53. Rain tonight; low 38. Rain Sunday; high 50-55.

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