Sports 2000

Alabama clinched the Southeastern Conference’s West Division crown Saturday by scoring 14 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to rally past LSU, 24-15, in Tuscaloosa. Third-ranked Alabama improved to 9-0, 6-0 in conference play while #9 LSU dropped to 7-2, 4-2. Notre Dame lost at home to Navy for the second consecutive time as the #22 Fighting Irish (6-3) were stunned, 23-21, by the Midshipmen (7-3).

Iowa’s perfect record was shockingly ended when the #4 Hawkeyes (9-1, 5-1 in the Big Ten) were upset at home by Northwestern (6-4, 3-3), 17-10. Sixteenth-rated Ohio State (8-2, 5-1) is tied with Iowa atop the Big Ten after winning at Penn State (8-2, 4-2), 24-7. Eighth-ranked Oregon (7-2, 5-1) dropped its first Pac-10 game, 51-42, at Stanford (6-3, 4-2). Twentieth-rated California (6-3, 3-3) couldn’t keep pace in the conference, losing 31-14, at home against Oregon State (6-3, 4-2).

Phil Mickelson won the WGC Champions in Shanghai. Mickelson claimed his second Champions in three years by one shot over Ernie Els, who fired a 63 Sunday. Tiger Woods managed only an even-par 72 in the final round to finish five strokes behind Mickelson.

Bo Bae Song won the LPGA tournament in Japan. Lorena Ochoa, Brittany Lang and Hee Young Park tied for second, three strokes behind Song. Chicago defeated visiting New England, 2-0, in the second leg of its MLS Eastern Conference semifinal and won the aggregate, 3-2.

Kyle Busch won the Nationwide Series race in Fort Worth today, one day after he also won the truck series race. Fedor Emelianenko (31-1) knocked out Brett Rogers (10-1) in the second round of their Strikeforce heavyweight bout Saturday.

David Haye (23-1, 21 knockouts) won the WBA heavyweight championship by majority decision over champion Nikolai Valuev (50-2, 34 KOs) in Germany tonight. One judge scored the bout even, 114-114. The other two judges awarded the fight to Haye, 116-112, who was in his third heavyweight fight after a career as a cruiserweight.

Saskatchewan routed visiting Calgary, 30-14, in a CFL game. Both teams finished the regular season 10-7-1 and tied atop the Western Division. However, Saskatchewan’s 2-0-1 record against Calgary this year means the Rough Riders are the division’s number-one seed. Meanwhile, Montreal (15-3) hammered host Toronto (3-15).

Phil Mickelson leads the WGC Champions in Shanghai after the third round. He fired a 67 Saturday to post a 54-hole score of 14-under par. Tiger Woods and Nick Watney shared the lead after two rounds. Both men posted two-under 70s today to finish at 12-under, two strokes behind Mickelson.

Bo Bae Song leads Akane Iijima and In-Kyung Kim by a shot with one round to go at the LPGA tournament in Japan. Seventh-ranked Boise State (9-0, 4-0 Western Athletic Conference) held off Louisiana Tech (3-6, 2-4), 45-35, in Ruston Friday.

The last two undefeated NBA teams lost tonight as Boston (6-1) fell to visiting Phoenix (5-1), 110-103, and Denver (5-1) dropped a 96-88 decision at Miami (5-1). New Jersey (0-6) remains the league’s only winless squad as the Nets were edged, 97-94, at Philadelphia (3-2).

Edmonton (9-9) clinched a CFL Western Division playoff spot tonight by thrashing British Columbia (8-10), 45-13, in Vancouver. B.C. could still advance to the playoffs depending on the outcome of Saturday’s game between Hamilton and Winnipeg.

Nick Watney leads the WGC Champions as the second round draws to a close in Shanghai. Tiger Woods is among three players tied for second, one shot behind Watney. Brittany Lang leads after the first round of the LPGA event in Japan.

Real Salt Lake upset Columbus, 3-2, to win its two-leg MLS Western Conference semifinal, 4-2. Connecticut is atop the preseason women’s college basketball coaches poll.

Virginia Tech broke its two-game losing streak as the #23 Hokies (6-3) dispatched East Carolina (5-4), 16-3, in a non-conference game at Greenville, North Carolina. Northern Illinois (6-3, 4-1 Mid-American Conference) humbled visiting Eastern Michigan (0-9, 0-5), 50-6. Temple (7-2, 5-0 MAC) rallied past Miami University (1-9, 1-4), 34-32, in Oxford, Ohio.

In the NHL, Montreal edged Boston, 2-1. Columbus defeated Atlanta, 4-3. Ottawa beat Tampa Bay in overtime, 3-2. Detroit squeaked past San Jose in a shootout, 2-1. Vancouver handled Minnesota, 5-2. Calgary won at St. Louis in overtime, 2-1. Phoenix beat Chicago, 3-1. The New York Rangers defeated Edmonton, 4-2. Anaheim blanked Nashville, 4-0. Los Angeles thrashed Pittsburgh, 5-2.

The UEFA Champions League completed Matchday 4 of the group stage this week. In Group A, Bordeaux (10 points) won at Bayern Munich (four points), 2-0, and Juventus (eight points) won at Maccabi Haifa (zero points), 1-0. In Group B, Wolfsburg (seven points) won at Besiktas (one point), 3-0, and CSKA Moscow (four points) drew at Manchester United (10 points), 3-3.

In Group C, Real Madrid (seven points) tied host AC Milan (seven points), 1-1, and Marseille (six points) crushed visiting Zurich (three points), 6-1. In Group D, Chelsea (10 points) and Porto (nine points) clinched places in the knockout round while Atletico Madrid (two points) and APOEL (one point) have been eliminated from contention. Porto won at APOEL, 1-0, and Chelsea tied at Atletico, 2-2.

In Group E, Liverpool (four points) drew at Lyon (10 points), 1-1, and Fiorentina (nine points) hammered guest Debreceni (zero points), 5-2. In Group F, Barcelona (five points) tied at Rubin Kazan (five points), 0-0, and Inter Milan (six points) won at Dynamo Kiev (four points), 2-1.

In Group G, Rangers (two points) drew at Unirea Urziceni (five points), 1-1, and Stuttgart (three points) tied at Sevilla (10 points), 1-1. Sevilla earned a spot in the last 16 with the result. In Group H, Arsenal (10 points) smashed AZ Alkmaar (two points), 4-1, and Standard Liege (four points) blanked visiting Olympiakos (six points), 2-0.