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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

In brief: Stoudemire, Knicks win eighth straight

Louisville midfielder Nick DeLeon, left tries to head the ball with Akron midfielder Scott Caldwell, middle. Akron won 1-0.  (Associated Press)

NBA: Amare Stoudemire scored 24 of his 30 points in the second half, Wilson Chandler made the tiebreaking 3-pointer with 30 seconds left, and the New York Knicks beat the visiting Denver Nuggets 129-125 on Sunday for their first eight-game winning streak in 16 years.

Perhaps catching a break not to have been called for a second technical foul and ejected in the second quarter, Stoudemire set a franchise record with his eighth straight 30-point game. The more important streak for the Knicks is the winning one.

Winning for the 13th time in 14 games, the Knicks have won eight straight for the first time since Dec. 27, 1994-Jan. 13, 1995. At 16-9, they are off to their best start after 25 games since they were 18-7 in 1996-97.

• Spurs coast past Blazers for fifth straight win: George Hill scored 22 points and the San Antonio Spurs became the NBA’s first 20-game winner this season with a 95-78 victory over the visiting Portland Trail Blazers.

Manu Ginobili added 18 points to help the Spurs win their fifth in a row and stop Portland’s winning streak at four games.

Tim Duncan played in his 1,000th career regular-season game but with little fanfare. He had eight points and 13 rebounds in 27 minutes.

Brandon Roy had just nine points on 4-of-16 shooting, as Portland had just three scorers in double figures.

• Cavs drop eighth straight heading into LeBron rematch: Kevin Durant scored 25 points, Jeff Green and James Harden added 19 apiece and the Oklahoma City Thunder powered past visiting Cleveland 106-77 to hand the Cavaliers their eighth straight loss.

And there’s more bad news for Cleveland: LeBron James and the Miami Heat are waiting to pile on next.

Anderson Varejao had a season-high 16 rebounds, matching a career-high nine on the offensive end.

Martin successfully defends Dunhill title

Golf: Pablo Martin survived a disastrous triple bogey to successfully defended his Alfred Dunhill Championship title, shooting a 2-under 70 for a two-shot victory in Malelane, South Africa. The Spaniard had a 7 at the par-4 17th but recovered to birdie the last for an 11-under 277 at Leopard Creek Country Club.

• Senior wins Australian PGA in playoff: Australia’s Peter Senior won the rain-delayed Australian PGA, beating Geoff Ogilvy in Coolum, Australia, with a par on the second hole of a playoff to become the oldest player to win a major professional tournament in Australia.

The 51-year-old Senior, a regular on the Champions Tour, made a 10-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole in regulation for a 1-under 71 to match Ogilvy, the Australian Open winner last week in Sydney, at 12-under 276.

• Johnson-Poulter win Shark Shootout by 2 strokes: Dustin Johnson and Ian Poulter won the Shark Shootout in Naples, Fla., shooting a 13-under 59 in the scramble format to beat Darren Clarke and Graeme McDowell by two shots.

Johnson and Poulter took the lead with birdies on their first four holes and had no trouble the rest of the way in finishing at 30-under 186. Clarke and McDowell (59) never came closer than two strokes.

Rangers rout frustrated Capitals

NHL: Artem Anisimov scored the first of three Rangers goals during a 3 1/2-minute span early in the second period, and New York routed a frustrated Alex Ovechkin and the slumping Washington Capitals 7-0 in New York.

Mired in a scoring slump, Ovechkin got in a rare fight when he went toe-to-toe with New York’s Brandon Dubinsky in the second period.

Soccer title Akron’s first in any sport

Miscellany: Akron’s victory over Louisville in the NCAA Division I men’s soccer championship game in Santa Barbara, Calif., was a year in the making.

The Zips (22-1-2) won the title – their first in NCAA competition in any sport – a year after losing the College Cup final to Virginia in a shootout after a scoreless draw.

Scott Caldwell ended Akron’s frustration in the 78th minute, scoring on a 15-yard shot after Louisville defense blocked his attempt from the top of the penalty box. The midfielder has scored all five of his career goals in the last seven postseason games.

Louisville (20-1-3) was attempting to become the first undefeated team since Santa Clara in 1989.

• Hirscher edges Raich to win World Cup slalom: Marcel Hirscher tamed the daunting Face de Bellevarde course for a second consecutive year to claim a third World Cup win, edging fellow Austrian Benjamin Raich in Val d’Isere, France, in a challenging slalom that Bode Miller was unable to finish.

Hirscher, who trailed leader Manfred Moelgg of Italy by 0.20 seconds after the first run, clocked 53.06 seconds in the afternoon to win in a combined time of 1 minute, 44.70 seconds.

• France’s Worley wins World Cup GS; Vonn seventh: Tessa Worley of France won women’s World Cup giant slalom on the Corviglia course in St. Moritz, Switzerland, for her second straight victory, while Lindsey Vonn placed seventh to move up in the overall standings.

Worley had a two-run combined time of 2 minutes, 10.70 seconds to beat Tanja Poutiainen of Finland by 0.01 of a second.