In brief: Mayes helps No. 16 Arizona topple Dukes
Men’s basketball: Jordin Mayes scored 16 of his 19 points in the second half, Jesse Perry had his second straight double-double and No. 16 Arizona pulled away from Duquesne for a 67-59 victory Wednesday night.
Arizona (2-0) struggled against the Dukes’ pressure well into the second half before pulling away on a run triggered by Mayes and its defense.
Mayes scored nine points in a 3-minute span and the Wildcats hounded Duquesne into one tough shot after another to open the season with consecutive wins. Perry finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Duquesne (0-1) created havoc on defense, as usual, forcing Arizona into 21 turnovers. The Dukes went 4 of 26 from 3-point range while shooting 33 percent overall.
Rangers increase winning streak to five
NHL: Marian Gaborik scored twice, Derek Stepan had a goal and two assists, and the New York Rangers extended their winning streak to five with a 3-2 victory over the host Ottawa Senators.
Meanwhile, Rangers forward Mike Rupp is expected to miss four to six weeks after having surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee.
• Lightning win in overtime: Brett Connolly scored 2:30 into overtime to give the Tampa Bay Lightning a 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers at Tampa, Fla.
Sides will meet again after marathon talks
NBA: NBA owners and players are done talking – just for the night.
Both sides will be back bargaining at noon EST today, after meeting for nearly 12 hours Wednesday in an attempt to end the 132-day lockout.
Commissioner David Stern says the league has “stopped the clock” and will continue to negotiate.
Armed men kidnap Nats catcher Ramos
Baseball: Professional baseball player Wilson Ramos, a catcher seen as one of the young building blocks for the Washington Nationals, was abducted by gunmen from his home in his native Venezuela.
Ramos, a 24-year-old who just finished his rookie season, was taken away in an SUV by four armed men in Santa Ines in central Carabobo state, the spokeswoman for his Venezuelan League team, the Aragua Tigers, said on her official Twitter account.
“This is sad, worrisome and true that Wilson Ramos has been kidnapped,” Katherine Vilera wrote.
• Sandberg interviews for Cards’ managerial job: A person familiar with the process told The Associated Press that Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg and longtime Cardinals third-base coach Jose Oquendo interviewed for St. Louis’ managing opening.
In other managerial news, Mike Maddux interviewed for the Chicago Cubs’ opening and Sandy Alomar Jr. interviewed for Boston’s job.
• Posada claims he’s done with Yankees: Jorge Posada says there is no chance he will return to the New York Yankees next year and that his choice is move on to another team or retire.
• Arizona signs two former Mariners: The Arizona Diamondbacks signed infielder Willie Bloomquist, formerly with the Seattle Mariners, to a two-year, $3.8 million deal.
Arizona also signed another ex-Mariner, right-hander Chris Jakubauskas, to a minor league deal.
Former Anchorage runner found alive
Cross country: An All-American cross country runner from the University of Alaska Anchorage who disappeared over the weekend just as two snowstorms moved into the city was found alive with severe hypothermia.
Marko Cheseto, 28, disappeared a day after the university cross country team’s triumphant return to Anchorage after winning the NCAA Division II West Region championships in Spokane. Cheseto was the winner of the West Region the two previous seasons. He made last week’s trip to Spokane as team manager.
Coroner finds Gatti died ‘violent death’
Boxing: A Quebec coroner says there is no “hard evidence” that boxer Arturo Gatti was murdered, but criticized the way Brazilian authorities handled evidence in the case.
Jean Brochu said in a report that the Brazilians’ missteps make it difficult to conclude with absolute certainty what happened when Gatti died in 2009. Brochu concluded that Gatti died a “violent death” but not at someone else’s hands.