Spurs bounce back, handle Mavericks

NBA: Tony Parker scored 33 points, Manu Ginobili had 25 and Tim Duncan added 22, lifting the San Antonio Spurs to a 97-91 victory over the host Dallas Mavericks on Friday night.

Playing for the first time since losing to Miami by 30 on Monday night, the Spurs looked hungry and rested from the start, jumping ahead by 18 early in the second quarter.

Dallas tied it at 60 and was within a basket of tying it again midway through the fourth quarter. The Spurs followed with a 13-2 run that ended any drama and gave the them a 3-1 win in the season series between the in-state rivals.

Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas with 23 points.

• Nelson hits 3 at buzzer to give Magic dramatic win: Jameer Nelson swished a 3-pointer from the top of the key at the buzzer to give the Orlando Magic a dramatic 85-82 win over the Denver Nuggets in Orlando, Fla.

Dwight Howard had 16 points and 18 rebounds for the Magic. Wilson Chandler scored 20 points for the Nuggets, who lost for the 17th time in their last 18 trips to Orlando.

Vrbata, Doane lead Coyotes past Canucks

NHL: Radim Vrbata and Shane Doan scored 1:18 apart on the same power play late in the third period, backup Jason LaBarbera made 46 saves, and the Phoenix Coyotes beat the Vancouver Canucks 3-1 in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Late free throws lift Wooster past Williams

D-III men’s basketball: Bryan Wickliffe made two free throws with 50.3 seconds left to give Wooster the lead and the Fighting Scots (31-2) came back from 17 points behind in the second half to beat Williams 73-71 in the Division III men’s basketball semifinals in Salem, Va.

Williams (29-3 led 63-46 with 8:55 left before falling apart. Wooster will play St. Thomas today in the championship game.

In St. Thomas’ win, Tyler Nicolai scored 15 points and the Tommies (29-3) held Middlebury (28-2) scoreless for 4 minutes and rallied to beat the Panthers 59-57.

Edwards, Biffle sweep front row at Bristol

Miscellany: Carl Edwards (128.014 mph) won the pole at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, and teammate Greg Biffle qualified second to give Roush Fenway Racing the front row for Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race.

Regan Smith was third and Paul Menard qualified fourth, followed by David Ragan, defending race winner Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon.

• Riesch overtakes Vonn for World Cup overall lead: Lindsey Vonn lost the lead for the overall World Cup skiing title and trails Maria Riesch by three points after the German finished fourth in the slalom on a slushy course in Lenzerheide, Switzerland.

Vonn, the three-time defending champion, had led by 27 points but finished 13th in the final slalom of the season.

• Ligety wins World Cup giant slalom title: Ted Ligety of the United States clinched the World Cup giant slalom skiing title after a race in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, was canceled because of poor weather.

Ligety led the standings all season, and finished 77 points ahead of Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway.

• Penn State nears NCAA wrestling title: After a disheartening morning session in which Penn State lost a pair of matches because of injury default, the Nittany Lions came roaring back and forged a commanding team lead at the NCAA wrestling championships in Philadelphia.

Penn State’s Frank Molinaro (149), David Taylor (157) and Quentin Wright (184) all won semifinal matches and will wrestle in today’s final. Penn State (92.5 points) leads second- place Cornell by 17.5 points.

Top-seeded Adam Hall (Bonners Ferry) of Boise State was upset by eighth-seeded Jason Welch of Northwestern 3-1 in the championship quarterfinals. Hall came back with two victories – a decision and a pin – in the wrestlebacks and will wrestle in the third-place semifinals today.

Hall’s BSU teammate, Levi Jones (Lakeside-Nine Mile Falls) was eliminated in his second-round consolation match via a major decision.

Willis, Couch tied for lead in Tampa

Golf: Garrett Willis and Chris Couch are tied for the lead in the Transitions Championship in Palm Harbor, Fla.

Couch (64) and Willis (67) finished the second round with a total score of 133. In his first action in nearly seven months, Sergio Garcia shot a 66 and will go into the weekend only one shot out of the lead. Webb Simson shot a 67 to tie Garcia at 134.

Alex Prugh (Ferris, UW) shot a 75 and missed cut by five strokes with a two-round total of 146.

• Stanford leads LPGA Founders Cup: Angela Stanford holed out from a fairway bunker for eagle on the par-4 ninth hole and shot a 6-under 66 to take the first-round lead in the LPGA Founders Cup in Phoenix.

Wendy Ward (Edwall, Wash.) shot a 71.