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

In brief: Hawks end skid with win over Wizards

Washington guard Gilbert Arenas, left, passes around the Hawks’ Joe Johnson during the first quarter in Atlanta.  (Associated Press)

NBA: Joe Johnson scored 21 points, Josh Smith added 20 with 14 rebounds and the Atlanta Hawks beat the Washington Wizards 116-96 on Thursday night in Atlanta to snap a three-game losing streak.

Al Horford finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds for the Hawks, who won their 11th straight over Washington.

Gilbert Arenas scored 21 and Nick Young added 20 for the Wizards, who have yet to beat a team with a winning record this season and still seek their first road victory.

Washington rookie John Wall, the NBA’s No. 1 overall draft pick, finished with 10 points, missing his first seven shots from the field and failing to score until his runner made it 69-50 midway through the third quarter.

• Grizzlies’ Haddadi charged with assault : Hamed Haddadi of the Memphis Grizzlies and his girlfriend have been charged with assault following an altercation between the two.

Memphis police were called Thursday morning to a downtown Memphis, Tenn., apartment building and found Haddadi, a backup center from Iran, and his girlfriend with bruises and scratches.

Hall, Oilers hold off Avalanche’s rally

NHL: Taylor Hall scored with 29 seconds left to give the Edmonton Oilers a 3-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche in Edmonton, Alberta.

Gilbert Brule and Andrew Cogliano scored in the first 3:51 to stake the Oilers to a 2-0 lead, but Colorado rallied to tie it on goals by Kevin Shattenkirk in first and Matt Duchene in the second.

Martin Gerber made 35 saves for Edmonton.

• Rypien granted leave of absence: The Vancouver Canucks have granted forward Rick Rypien an indefinite leave of absence.

It’s the second time in three years the 26-year-old has left the team to deal with undisclosed personal matters. Earlier in the season, Rypien got a six-game suspension from the NHL after grabbing a fan on his way to the dressing room in Minnesota.

Rypien, the cousin of former NFL quarterback Mark Rypien, also took an extended unexplained personal leave after a rash of injuries two years ago, missing 70 games during the 2008-09 season.

Golden Bears knock off 21st-ranked Owls

Men’s basketball: Harper Kamp scored 13 points, Allen Crabbe had 12 and California beat No. 21 Temple 57-50 in the opening round of the Old Spice Classic at Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

The Golden Bears (3-0) were propelled by a 16-1 run late in the second half to help the defending Pac-10 champions hand the Owls (2-1) their first loss of the season.

• Murray State edges Stanford: B.J. Jenkins scored 15 points, including two free throws in the final 25 seconds, as Murray State held on for a 55-52 victory over Stanford in the first round of the 76 Classic in Anaheim, Calif.

The Racers (3-1) led 29-18 at halftime and scored 18 points off 18 Cardinal turnovers.

Dwight Powell led Stanford (3-1) with a career-high 16 points, including 12 of Stanford’s 18 first-half points.

Simmons, Lady Vols cruise past Tigers

Women’s basketball: Meighan Simmons scored 14 points to lead the No. 4 Tennessee Lady Volunteers’ 82-44 victory over Missouri in the Paradise Jam at St. Thomas, Virgin Islands.

Alicia Manning added a season-high 11 points and Angie Bjorklund (U-Hi) had five points and four rebounds for the Lady Vols (5-0). Tennessee scored 11 of the game’s first 13 points.

Raeshara Brown had 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead Missouri (1-2), which missed six of its first seven shots and had 15 turnovers in the first half.

Murray, Federer advance to semifinals

Tennis: Roger Federer and Andy Murray easily secured spots in the semifinals of the ATP World Tour Finals in London with straight-sets victories in their last round-robin matches.

Federer continued his dominance over Robin Soderling, beating the Swede 7-6 (5) 6-3 to earn the top spot in Group B of the season- ending tournament. Murray followed up by recovering from a shaky start to beat David Ferrer 6-2, 6-2 to hand the Spaniard his third straight loss in the group phase.

Their semifinal opponents will be decided today, when the last round-robin matches in Group A are played.

• S. Williams withdraws from Australian Open: Two- time defending champion Serena Williams has withdrawn from January’s Australian Open because of a foot injury.

Contador pleads innocence once more

Miscellany: Alberto Contador reiterated his innocence over his failed doping test at the Tour de France and slammed the Astana team for abandoning him once the news broke.

The 27-year-old Spanish cyclist is facing a two-year ban and risks losing his third Tour title after testing positive for the banned drug clenbuterol, which he claims came from contaminated meat.

“I don’t doubt (my innocence) for one second because I did not do anything irregular at any time,” Contador said in an interview broadcast by national broadcaster TVE. “Never.”

• Alinghi to sit out 2013 America’s Cup: Vanquished America’s Cup champion Alinghi of Switzerland won’t try to win back the oldest trophy in international sports in 2013.

Alinghi spokesman Paco Latorre said that the Swiss sailing syndicate will skip the 34th America’s Cup, which will be sailed in either San Francisco or Italy, while focusing on a series raced in 40-foot catamarans.