College basketall games, racetracks cancel early as new storm hits East Coast

Winter storm forces sports to reschedule

A winter storm hitting the East Coast with snow, slush and swirling winds has forced postponement of several men’s and women’s college basketball games and the closing of racetracks in Maryland, New Jersey and New York.

The Towson (Md.) men’s home game against UNC-Wilmington was postponed Wednesday night and rescheduled for Thursday at 1 p.m. Virginia at Maryland was postponed a day before the blizzard and will be made up Feb. 15.

George Washington’s women’s home game against Richmond was put off indefinitely due to the inclement weather. St. John’s and Louisville played in New York, but the start was moved up five hours. Even with free admission, there was a sparse crowd of about 200 people, which included the Red Storm men’s basketball team.

The Connecticut at No. 2 Syracuse men’s basketball game is still scheduled. Pro games still set include Milwaukee at New Jersey in the NBA and Philadelphia at the New Jersey Devils in the NHL.

The College of New Jersey’s men’s and women’s basketball games were rescheduled for Thursday.

Thoroughbred racing was canceled at New York’s Aqueduct Racetrack, Maryland’s Laurel Park and West Virginia’s Charles Town. Aqueduct and Laurel also canceled live racing Thursday. In Ohio, Beulah Park called off racing for a second day in a row.

Five harness tracks canceled racing: The Meadows in Pennsylvania, Monticello Raceway in New York, Freehold Raceway and the Meadowlands in New Jersey and Dover Downs in Delaware. Freehold won’t resume racing until Saturday.

Also, Major League Soccer’s labor negotiations were postponed with league officials unable to travel to Washington for meetings with the union.

The America’s Cup in Valencia, Spain, also was postponed, but not by a snowstorm. Big waves in the Mediterranean Sea halted a second attempt at the opening race.