Kiwis continue to dominate America’s Cup
Sailing: Even with the most successful sailor in Olympic history on board, defending America’s Cup champion Oracle Team USA simply can’t catch Emirates Team New Zealand.
The plucky Kiwis beat Oracle Team USA twice more on Thursday in San Francisco, moving closer to taking the America’s Cup Down Under for the second time in 18 years.
The Kiwis turned a close Race 6 into a 47-second victory. They then put a whitewashing on Larry Ellison’s syndicate in the seventh race, leading the whole way for a victory of 1 minute, 6 seconds.
Team New Zealand leads 6 to minus-1 and needs three more victories to claim the oldest trophy in international sports for the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron.
The way the Kiwis are sailing, the clincher could come Sunday afternoon on San Francisco Bay. Today is a lay day, with Races 8 and 9 on Saturday. Two more races are scheduled for Sunday.
Oracle Team USA, owned by software billionaire Ellison of Oracle Corp., was docked two points in the biggest cheating scandal in the 162-year history of the America’s Cup. It still needs to win 10 races to keep the Auld Mug at the Golden Gate Yacht Club.
Greece stuns Spain at Euro championship
Basketball: Greece rallied with a big fourth quarter to beat defending champion Spain 79-75 in the second round of the European basketball championship in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Trailing by five at the end of three quarters, Greece outscored Spain 27-18 in the fourth to gain a win that could prevent Spain from winning a third consecutive title.
Rudy Fernandez and Marc Gasol both had 20 for Spain.
Earlier, Croatia used its size to rout Finland 88-63 for its first victory in the second round.
Croatia outscored Finland 44-10 in the paint.
Nibali clings to slim lead at Vuelta
Cycling: Vasil Kiryienka of Belarus broke away before a final grueling ascent to win the 18th stage of the Spanish Vuelta, while overall leader Vincenzo Nibali had his advantage over American Christopher Horner cut to three seconds with three days to go.
Kiryienka finished in a provisional time of 4 hours, 46 minutes, 48 seconds following a 116-mile route starting in Burgos, Spain, and passing over four major climbs before a final uphill push to the finishing line at Pena Cabarga.
The 41-year-old Horner used an impressive burst to pull away from Nibali over the final 200 meters where the slope reached 20 degrees, gaining 25 seconds on his rival.
Texas Tech upsets No. 24 TCU 20-10
College Football: Freshman backup quarterback Davis Webb threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Bradley Marquez with 3:48 left to lead Texas Tech (3-0, 1-0 Big 12) to a 20-10 win over No. 24 TCU (1-2, 0-1) in Lubbock, Texas.
TCU scored its only touchdown when B. J. Catalon ran in from 17 yards to make it 10-all with 6:28 remaining
Baker Mayfield, Texas Tech’s starting quarterback, left the game in the fourth quarter with what appeared to be a leg injury. He went 21 of 40 for one touchdown and 216 yards. He threw three interceptions.
• Vols rule Couch out against No. 2 Oregon: Tennessee coach Butch Jones says defensive lineman Maurice Couch has been ruled ineligible for Saturday’s game against No. 2 Oregon while the school investigates allegations he was one of five Southeastern Conference players to receive improper benefits.
Yahoo Sports reported Couch received $1,350 from former Alabama defensive end Luther Davis, who served as a go-between for NFL agents and financial advisers.
Cape Verde cut from World Cup qualifying
Soccer: Cape Verde was thrown out of the final round of African qualifying for next year’s World Cup when FIFA ruled the island nation used an ineligible player during last weekend’s win over Tunisia.
FIFA’s disciplinary committee said defender Fernando Varela should not have played in Saturday’s 2-0 win because he had not completed a four-game suspension for a red card assessed in March.
Burkino Faso, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Sudan and Togo also have forfeited games because of ineligible players during qualifying for the 2014 tournament.
Red Wings agree to deal with Cleary
Hockey: The Detroit Red Wings agreed to a $1.75 million, one-year contract with veteran forward Daniel Cleary.
Cleary, a 34-year-old unrestricted free agent, returns for a ninth season with the Red Wings and 15th in the NHL. He has 119 goals and 146 assists over 540 games with Detroit.
• Hurricanes add Hainsey: Carolina Hurricanes General manager Jim Rutherford said that free-agent defenseman Ron Hainsey has agreed to a one-year, $2 million contract.
Hainsey , a 10-year NHL veteran, had 13 assists in 47 games with Winnipeg last year.
Carolina is counting on Hainsey to help replace injured defenseman Joni Pitkanen.