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

In brief: Pittsburgh wins top 10 showdown

Pittsburgh's Brad Wanamaker, top, passes the ball over Villanova's Isaiah Armwood in the first half on Saturday. (Associated Press)

College basketball: Brad Wanamaker scored 21 points, Nasir Robinson had 15 and No. 4 Pittsburgh (23-2, 11-1 Big East) escaped with a 57-54 win over No. 9 Villanova (19-6, 7-5) Saturday in Villanova, Pa.

It was a festive homecoming for Wanamaker and Robinson, two local players who shunned the Philadelphia schools.

The Panthers show no sign of relinquishing their conference lead with six games left. They stormed into town and did what no team had done since Jan. 6, 2007 – beat the Wildcats in their on-campus home.

Antonio Pena tried to win it for Villanova in the final minute. He hit a 3-pointer with 58 seconds left to make it a three-point game, then forced a turnover on Pitt’s possession.

Dominic Cheek missed a tying 3-point attempt and the offensive rebound was kicked out to Maalik Wayns. His shot swished through the net – a tick after the final buzzer.

• Louisville edges Syracuse: Kyle Kuric scored 23 points, Preston Knowles added 22 and Peyton Siva dropped in the clinching free throws in the final moments to lead No. 16 Louisville (19-6, 8-4 Big East) to a 73-69 win over slumping No. 12 Syracuse (20-6, 7-6) in Louisville, Ky.

• Vandy knocks off Kentucky: John Jenkins scored a career-high 32 points, hitting six 3-pointers, to lift No. 23 Vanderbilt (18-6, 6-4 SEC) to an 81-77 victory over No. 18 Kentucky (17-7, 5-5) in Nashville, Tenn.

Spurs bounce back, crush Wizards

NBA: Tony Parker scored 10 of his 18 points in less than 2 minutes during the first quarter to jump-start the San Antonio Spurs to a 118-94 rout of the host Washington Wizards.

A day after losing 77-71 at Philadelphia, San Antonio bettered that points total before halftime.

• Bobcats stun Hawks: Stephen Jackson hit a last-second jumper over two Atlanta defenders and the Charlotte Bobcats rallied after trailing by 22 points to beat the Hawks 88-86 in Atlanta.

Big third period keys Kings’ victory

NHL: Andrei Loktionov scored the tiebreaking goal at 3:36 of the third period, and the Los Angeles Kings beat the punchless Washington Capitals 4-1 in Washington to extend their point streak to a season-high eight games.

• Lightning win in overtime: Marc-Andre Bergeron scored 1:32 into overtime, helping the Tampa Bay Lightning rebound after blowing a two-goal lead during the final minute of regulation and beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 in Tampa, Fla.

Carolina had tied it 3-3 on late goals by Jeff Skinner and Erik Cole.

• Islanders punished: The NHL suspended New York Islanders forwards Trevor Gillies for nine games and Matt Martin for four and handed the club a $100,000 fine for their actions in a fight-filled win over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Only enforcer Eric Godard was punished on the Penguins side as he received an automatic 10-game suspension for leaving the bench to join the third-period brawl.

Woods one stroke off the lead in Dubai

Golf: Tiger Woods overcame a poor start in windy conditions to shoot a par-72, one shot behind leader Rory McIlroy and two others going into the final round of the Dubai Desert Classic in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Woods finished with a total of 7-under 209, behind second-round leader McIlroy (75), Anders Hansen (71) and Thomas Aiken (74).

• Marino hangs on to lead: Steve Marino shot a 1-over 71, but stayed in the lead at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in Pebble Beach, Calif.

Bryce Molder (68) and Jimmy Walker (63) were one stroke off the pace.

Spokane’s Alex Prugh is tied for 29th after a third-round 69 left him at 210.

• Senior out front: Peter Senior shot a 67 to take a one-stroke lead after two rounds of the Alianz Championship in Boca Raton, Fla.

• Tseng in line for top ranking: Taiwan’s Yani Tseng, who can take the No. 1 ranking in women’s golf with a victory at the Australian Masters, took a three-stroke lead over Stacey Lewis into the final round in Gold Coast, Australia, shooting a 9-under-par 63 for a 20-under 196 total.

Clijsters will face Kvitova in final

Miscellany: Kim Clijsters will face Petra Kvitova in the final of the Open Gaz de France in Paris.

Clijsters beat Kaia Kanepi 6-1, 7-5. Kvitova beat Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-2, 6-0.

• Verdasco reaches SAP Open final against Raonic: Fernando Verdasco made it to the SAP Open final after beating Juan Martin del Potro 6-4, 6-4 in the semifinals in San Jose, Calif.

Verdasco will play today against unseeded Milos Raonic, who advanced in a walkover after second-seeded Gael Monfils pulled out with an injured left wrist.

• Guay wins downhill: Canadian Erik Guay won the prestigious world champion- ships downhill title in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, speeding down the 3.3-kilometer Kandahar course in 1 minute, 58.41 seconds.

• Two horses die before race: Two horses collapsed and died under mysterious circum- stances before a race at Newbury Racecourse, with electrocution suspected.

The British Horseracing Authority is conducting an investigation into the deaths of Fenix Two and Marching Song.

• German women’s luge streak ends: Canada’s Alex Gough snapped Germany’s 105-race winning streak in World Cup women’s luge in Paramonovo, Russia, ending a run that lasted nearly 14 years.

Gough had a a two-run time of 1:33.536 to beat Germany’s Carina Schwab by 0.378 seconds. Austria’s Andrea Tagwerker was the last non-German winner on Nov. 29, 1997.