Fast Break
TENNIS
Eagles rule the Sky
The Eastern Washington University men’s tennis team defeated Sacramento State 4-3 at Gold River, Calif., on Sunday to win the Big Sky Conference championship and qualify for the NCAA tournament for the first time.
The Eagles (18-6) rallied from a 3-1 deficit against Sacramento State a day after rallying from a 3-0 hole against Montana State in the semifinals.
“The guys played to their full potential this weekend,” interim head coach Darren Haworth said. “They really wanted to win for the school and for themselves.”
The 64-team NCAA field will be announced Tuesday morning.
Drag racing
Another first for Ashley
Ashley Force beat father John in the NHRA Southern Nationals at Commerce, Ga., to become the first female driver to win a national Funny Car event.
Ashley had a winning run of 4.837 seconds at 320.36 mph in her Castrol GTX Ford Mustang to take a 59-point lead over Tim Wilkerson in the season standings.
Antron Brown picked up his second win of the season in Top Fuel, beating points leader Tony Schumacher in the final round. Brown drove his Matco Tools dragster to a 4.537 run at 325.14, beating Schumacher on a holeshot.
In Pro Stock, Mike Edwards raced to his first win in over two years, driving his Young Life Pontiac GXP to a 6.680 run at 206.20. Edwards’ run was just enough to beat runner-up Jason Line, who appeared in his second consecutive final round.
Andrew Hines topped the two-wheelers with a run of 6.946 at 191.40.
BASKETBALL
UCLA’s Shipp to test NBA draft
UCLA’s Josh Shipp will enter the NBA draft, but the junior won’t hire an agent, leaving him the option of returning to play for the Bruins.
Shipp averaged 12.2 points and 3.2 rebounds during UCLA’s run to its third consecutive Final Four. The Bruins lost to Memphis in the national semifinals.
Shipp is the fourth UCLA starter to enter the June draft, along with freshman Kevin Love, sophomore Russell Westbrook and junior Luc Richard Mbah a Moute. On Saturday, point guard Darren Collison announced he will return for his senior season.
Also, Connecticut center Hasheem Thabeet announced that he plans to return to school for his junior season.
Sunday was the deadline for players to announce their intentions.