SACRAMENTO, CA - Testimony has concluded in the Stockton bankruptcy trial in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Sacramento.

The final witness, appearing for the objecting creditors, was city council member Kathy Miller.  Miller was asked why the council didn't consider tax increases instead of voting to take the city into bankruptcy.  Miller testified residents of Stockton made it clear to her they wouldn't support a tax increase.

Stockton is trying to prove to Judge Christopher Klein that it is insolvent, and that further cuts to city services would harm the safety of citizens.

Creditors argued that Stockton could have raised taxes or sold city assets to avoid the bankruptcy process. They also said Stockton should have negotiated lower pension payments into the CalPERS system, or left the system all together.

City officials claimed the penalty for leaving CalPERS would have cost the city nearly a billion dollars.

STOCKTON, CA - Pacific has promoted top assistant Ron Verlin to be its new basketball coach, replacing Bob Thomason after he spent 25 years coaching his alma mater.

Verlin served as associate head coach for the past 19 years under Thomason, who took the Tigers to the first round of the NCAA tournament before losing 78-49 to No. 2 seed Miami last Friday.

Verlin has been a part of five NCAA tournament runs alongside Thomason and seven Big West Conference crowns. The Tigers will transition back into the West Coast Conference next season, and athletic director Ted Leland went with a familiar face to lead the program forward.

Verlin has served as recruiting coordinator and focused on academic efforts, helping the team to its 96 percent graduation rate during Thomason's quarter-century tenure.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Durand Scott had 21 points and Miami had a triumphant return to the NCAA tournament with a 78-49 victory over Pacific on Friday.  

The Hurricanes (28-6), who may be even better than their No. 2 seed in the East Regional would indicate, put the game out of reach with a 14-0 run midway through the first half of their first NCAA tourney game in five years.  

Pacific (22-13), the California team that played its last game for retiring longtime coach Bob Thomason, was no match for the Atlantic Coast Conference's regular season and tournament champions.  

After Khalil Kelley's three-point play with 14:35 left in the first half got them within 8-7, the Tigers went more than 7 minutes without scoring. Shane Larkin, the ACC player of the year, started the Miami run with two free throws, an alley-oop pass and a three-point play.  

Miami plays Illinois or Colorado on Sunday.