Bowyer wraps up championship in Nationwide Series

Carl Edwards won the season-ending Ford 300 on Saturday night in Homestead, Fla., but came up 21 points short in his attempt to overtake Clint Bowyer for the NASCAR Nationwide Series championship.

All Bowyer had to do to keep Edwards from winning a second straight title in the second-tier series was finish in the top eight. He did that easily, taking fifth to stay on top of the standings, right where he has been most of the year despite winning only one of 35 races.

Edwards wrested the lead from Kyle Busch late in the race and stayed out front to the end of the 200-lap event at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He earned his seventh Nationwide victory and kept Busch from recording a record 11th series win.

Mixed martial arts

Lesnar stops Couture

Brock Lesnar stopped heavyweight champion Randy Couture in the second round of their fight at UFC 91 in Las Vegas, earning a technical knockout when the referee stepped in as he kept punching after Couture went to the ground.

Lesnar, a former NCAA wrestling champion and WWE star, overwhelmed the 45-year-old Couture in just his fourth pro fight. Lesnar sent him to the canvas in the second round with a glancing blow that landed behind the ear and wasted no time in landing numerous hammer fists. Couture was never able to recover and the fight was stopped moments later.

NBA

James sparks Cavs

LeBron James scored 38 points, leading a second-half rally that gave the Cleveland Cavaliers their seventh straight victory, 105-93 over the short-handed Utah Jazz in Cleveland.

•Sixers crush Thunder: Thaddeus Young scored 23 points and the Philadelphia 76ers cruised past the struggling Oklahoma City Thunder in Philadelphia.

Former Washington State star Kyle Weaver had six points, three assists and a blocked shot in 7 minutes of action for the Thunder, who fell to 1-9.

NHL

Penguins roll on

Jordan Staal had two goals, including the tiebreaker late in the third period, and the Pittsburgh Penguins scored four third-period goals to rally for their sixth straight victory, 5-2 over the Buffalo Sabres in Pittsburgh.

•Rangers rally: Nigel Dawes and Markus Naslund wiped out New York’s two-goal deficit in the closing minutes of the third period, and Chris Drury scored the lone goal in the shootout to give the Rangers a 3-2 victory in New York that snapped the Boston Bruins’ five-game winning streak.

College men’s basketball

Tar Heels cruise

Freshman Tyler Zeller scored 18 points to help top-ranked North Carolina beat Pennsylvania 86-71 in Chapel Hill, N.C., in the season opener for both teams. Deon Thompson added 17 points for the Tar Heels, who played without reigning national player of the year Tyler Hansbrough (shin injury).

•USC romps: Taj Gibson scored 17 points and No. 18 Southern California defeated UC Irvine 78-55 in Los Angeles to win its first season opener in four years.

Golf

Sorenstam one back

Annika Sorenstam made up five strokes on leader Angela Stanford in the Lorena Ochoa Invitational in Guadalajara, Mexico, shooting a 5-under-par 67 to cut her deficit to just a stroke with one round left.

Making her second-to-last start before retiring from the LPGA Tour, Sorenstam eagled the par-5 10th and added six birdies.

The 72-time tour champion will need to get past Stanford, who followed opening rounds of 68 and 66 with a 72.

Football

Grey Cup set

Henry Burris helped Calgary advance to the Grey Cup, throwing for 236 yards and a touchdown and running for another score in the Stampeders’ 22-18 victory over the British Columbia Lions in the Canadian Football League’s West final in Calgary, Alberta.

•Alouettes advance: Larry Taylor returned two punts for touchdowns – one for 97 yards – to help the Montreal Alouettes earn a spot in the Grey Cup game with a 36-26 victory over the Edmonton Eskimos in the CFL East Division final in Montreal. The Alouettes will host the CFL title game Nov. 23 against Calgary.

Miscellany

Marshall breaks record

American swimmer Peter Marshall broke his world record in the 100-meter backstroke on the first day of the short-course World Cup meet in Berlin.

Marshall clocked 49.64 seconds, 0.30 faster than the record he set earlier in the week in Stockholm.

•Davydenko faces Djokovic: Russian Nikolay Davydenko beat Andy Murray 7-5, 6-2 in Shanghai, China, to advance to the Masters Cup final. Davydenko will play Novak Djokovic, who rallied to oust France’s Gilles Simon 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.

•Vonn skis to victory: Picking up where she left off last season, defending overall champion Lindsey Vonn of the U.S. won the World Cup slalom opener with a total time of 1:47.98. Maria Pietilae-Holmner of Sweden was second and Maria Riesch of Germany was third.

•Canadians take titles: Teenager Patrick Chan won his second Grand Prix skating title and Joannie Rochette held off defending champion Mao Asada to give Canada a double victory at the Trophee Bompard in Paris. In pairs, world champions Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany won the free skate, while ice dance world champions Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder of France won the free program.