U.S. routs Canada in tune up
Brandon Knight struck out 10 and Matt LaPorta and Mike Hessman homered in the second inning to lead the United States to a 9-1 pre-Olympic exhibition victory over Canada on Sunday at Durham, N.C.
Nate Schierholtz homered for the second straight game – a grand slam to highlight a five-run eighth for the U.S.
Terry Tiffee also went deep for the Americans, who have outscored the Canadians 16-3 in winning two straight in the four-game tuneup for Beijing. The Canadians won the opener 4-3 in 10 innings.
Knight, who at 32 is the oldest player on the U.S. roster, allowed two hits in five scoreless innings and retired 15 of 18 hitters. He struck out six in a row before Emmanuel Garcia – the last batter he faced – managed to fly out to center field.
The Canadians’ only run came in the sixth, when shortstop Brian Barden couldn’t handle Emerson Frostad’s hard grounder off reliever Kevin Jepsen, allowing Stubby Clapp to score from second.
Men’s basketball
Russia contained the speedsters. Controlled the backboards. Everything a team needs to do to beat the United States.
Except stop Kobe Bryant.
Kobe Bryant provided the offense in the U.S. Olympic team’s first defensive struggle, scoring 11 of his 19 points in the third quarter of an 89-68 victory over Russia on Sunday in Shanghai, China.
Carmelo Anthony added 17 points in what was by far the Americans’ most competitive tuneup yet for the Beijing Games.
The United States had been scoring 118 points per game while winning its first three exhibitions by an average of 41 points.
Russia allowed far fewer fast-break baskets than the previous United States opponents, successfully keeping the game in the halfcourt by grabbing 12 offensive rebounds and forcing the Americans to run more offensive sets.
Women’s basketball
Sylvia Fowles scored eight of her 13 points during a late fourth-quarter run to lead the Americans to a 84-74 victory over pesky Latvia on Sunday night at Haining, China, in the FIBA Diamond Ball tournament — a tuneup for the Olympics.
Anete Jekabsone scored 24 points to lead Latvia.
The Americans struggled early defensively as Latvia went up 12-7 in the first few minutes. Then the U.S. got going with a 24-6 run to close the quarter. Diana Taurasi scored all seven of her points during the spurt.