11222018 SPORTS

SPORTS SECTION E

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2018

Battle 4 Atlantis: Sooners stop Gators 65-60

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net THE Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis offers its eight-team field an opportunity to evaluate their teams early in the season matched up against some of the top programmes in college basketball.

The Oklahoma Sooners advanced to the tournament title game in their last B4A appearance in 2014 and got their 2018 tournament bid off to a promising start with a win in this year’s opening game.

The Sooners outlasted the Florida Gators 65-60 as the tournament tipped off yesterday in

the Imperial Arena at the Atlantis resort.

Christian James led three Sooners with 18 points while Rashard Odomes and Jamuni McNeace each scored 11. Dontay Bassett led the Gators with 14 points. Keith

Stone and KeVaughn Allen each scored 10.

Sooners head coach Lon Kruger and his team previously competed at B4A during Buddy Hield’s junior season with the programme, but ultimately lost to Wisconsin in the title game.

He notes that the challenging schedule provides the foundation for conference play later on in the season. “For all of the teams it’s three games in three days so it’s not something you really get otherwise until conference tournament time. It’s an adjustment for all teams, short amount of prep for your opponents, which is good for your team to experience because you don’t always have three or

four days during conference play, so that short preparation time is good for that.”

The Gators’ final push occurred when they sank a pair of 3-pointers in less than a minute to close to within a single possession at 63-60 with still 2:25 to play. But Oklahoma clamped down on Florida the rest of the way, and Aaron Calixte secured the victory by making two foul shots with five seconds left.

“It’s more of a neutral site so we have to get up ourselves, as a team and collectively bring the energy on both ends of the floor,” James said.

SEE PAGE 3

Miller ties for bronze

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

T

he lone Bahamian competitor to represent the island nation at the 2018 Unified World Mixed Martial Arts Championships, Christian Miller made history.

Miller tied for bronze in the men’s Junior Light heavyweight (93kg/205 lbs) division at the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF) and the World Mixed Martial Arts Association (WMMAA) Unified World Championships in Manama, Bahrain.

In his MMA debut, Miller tied for bronze with Tipene Paranihi of New Zealand. Igor Glazkov of Russia won gold while Lukáš Piffko of the Czech Republic won silver.

Taking place as part of BRAVE International Combat Week, the 5-day, nation vs nation, amateur MMA tournament featured 362 competitors from more than 50 nations across 16 weight divisions.

The Junior tournament (for 18 to 20-year olds) ran concurrently with the Senior Championships (for 18s+) and both events took place under Unified Amateur MMA Rules.

All finals matches were live streamed at IMMAF. TV. Videos on demand will be available of all championships matches within the next seven days, with the delay caused by technical issues due to rare storms

and flooding in Manama last week.

The Championships was hosted by the Bahrain MMA Federation and endorsed by the Bahrain Olympic Committee and H.H. Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad al Khalifa.

Empire Mixed Martial Arts will continue its milestone efforts in the sport with an MMA Seminar hosted by iconic Bahamian UFC fighter Yves Edwards.

The seminar will be hosted on December 15 at Empire Fitness in the Seagrapes Plaza, 3pm to 5pm at a cost of $75 per seat.

Topics covered will include wrestling takedowns, ground fighting and submission finishes among other things.

Edwards is credited with inventing the “thugjitsu” fighting style and as a lightweight fighter in organisations such as the UFC, PRIDE, BodogFIGHT, and EliteXC. Based in Texas, Edwards was touted by MMA analysts as a well-rounded fighter with a strong boxing background. He has also trained with Lewis Wood, a former nationally ranked WBA featherweight boxer, in addition to his experience in Muay Thai and Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

Edwards retired with a 42-22-1 MMA record, 10-10 in the UFC. He previously hosted seminars in the Bahamas covering a myriad of topics, including the basics of MMA striking, wrestling, “ground and pound” and cage drills.

MAKING HISTORY: Christian Miller (third from left) ended up tied for the bronze medal at the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation and the World Mixed Martial Arts Association Unified World Championships in Manama, Bahrain.

NFL Picks

Week 12 , Page 5

GOOMBAY SPLASH BOWL: CLARKE, BAIN ADVANCE TO SEMI-FINALS

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

SYDNEY Clarke and Jacobi Bain continue their successful run through the ITF Goombay Splash Bowl to highlight play from Bahamian players on day three.

Both players advanced to today’s semi-final with wins yesterday at the National Tennis Centre.

Clarke, the top seed in the Girls’ Main Draw, won 7-5, 6-1 over sixth ranked Ashley Vielma of the United States. She will advance to face Madison Smith of the United States today.

The other semi-final will feature a pair of Americans, second ranked Nicole Kiefer against Leyden Games.

Bain won his second consecutive three set match when he defeated Dan Pergel of Canada 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3. Bain will face No.8 Riley Odell in the semi-final.

The other half of the bracket will feature No.4 Bruno Kuzuhara against Derek Raskopf, both of the United States.

Bain was also successful in doubles play, teamed with William Kesterson as the third ranked team in the tournament.

They defeated Pergel and Mattia Marco Mauriziano Abumohor of Chile 6-2, 6-4.

Anthony Burrows and Eduardo Sanchez-Carrion of Canada were eliminated by the top seeded Odell and JC Roddick of the United States 6-3, 6-2.

Also in double play, Kofi Bowe was eliminated alongside teammate Mihir Amte of the United States when they lost to Bruno Kuzuharra and Derek Raskopf of the United States 6-1, 6-0.

Bain and Kesterson will advance to the doubles semi-finals to face Odell and Roddick today.

Clarke and teammate Nicole Kiefer, the top team in the draw, were eliminated in an upset loss to Baylen Brown and Madison Smith 6-3, 2-6, 10-7.

SEE PAGE 3

GRANT DOMINATES WITH 30 POINTS, 24 REBOUNDS IN WIN

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net LEASHJA Grant powered her Lakehead Thunderwolves to an upset win against a nationally ranked U Sports team in Canada.

Grant finished with a dominant 30 points and 24 rebounds to lead the Thunderwolves to a 62-56 win over the No.4 ranked and perennially dominant conference powerhouse, Carleton Ravens.

With the win, the Thunderwolves improved to to 5-1, and snapped the

Ravens 53-game home win streak.

Grant put Lakehead ahead for good with eight of her 30 in the fourth quarter. Her pair of free throws gave her team a 54-52 lead with 27 seconds left to play.

Lakehead led 20-15 after the first quarter and 35-29 at the half. Carleton swung momentum in their favour in the third and the teams headed into the fourth quarter tied at 45.

“Leashja was obviously amazing tonight,” Thunderwolves head coach Jon Kreiner said.

“This was a huge win for our programme and

for our team after a tough second half against Ottawa.

It’s also huge for our team from a learning perspective regarding what it takes to win against the best teams in the country,” he added.

Lakehead now faces a back-to-back this weekend against Queens on November 23 and York on November 24.

On the season, Grant is averaging 20 points and is the conference’s leading rebounder at 12.8 rebounds per game.

Last season, she earned the Female Athlete of the Year and Women’s Basketball Most Valuable Player

awards when Lakehead Athletics celebrated the 2017-2018 season at their annual awards gala.

She averaged 22.3 points and 14.1 points per game over the course of the season and was named Ontario University Athletics Player of the Year and a U SPORTS 1st Team All-Canadian.

Grant not only led the conference but also ranked as the second-leading scorer and top rebounder in the country. Grant also holds the U SPORTS record for most rebounds in a single season with 338 in 24 games.

LEASHJA Grant in action for the Lakehead Thunderwolves.

PAGE 2, Thursday, November 22, 2018

THE TRIBUNE

Carl Oliver: ‘I don’t own the BAAA’

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net FORMER Secretary General Carl Oliver said it was never his intention to “own” the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations, nor did he at anytime apply to secure the Memorandum of Articles for the association to become a company.

Oliver, who is seeking to become the first vice

president on the slate of Rosamunde Carey during the BAAA elections of officers on Saturday, was refuting claims by former BAAA president Mike Sands on Tuesday that he, Oliver, “owned” the BAAA. In setting the record straight on a document of the Memorandum of Articles that was submitted to the Attorney General that has the BAAA listed as a company, Sands said “it was

Mr Carl Oliver who claimed that he owns the BAAA in light of the fact that he had reserved the name of the BAAA in his own rights, which obviously caused a stir among the members at the time.”

“I then activated a process to ensure that the federation would not be owned by anyone individual, but instead to establish a non-profit company. It was never the intention to establish a constitution.”

In response to the allegations, Oliver told The Tribune that from the inception of the matter at hand, it was only discovered that the BAAA was set up as a company when Carey went to the Registrar General to collect the document for the new constitution of the BAAA that was ratified by the members and filed in the Attorney General’s office.

“She found out that there was this document that had

the BAAA filed as a company under Mike Sands and Philippa Arnett-Willie and I suspect Drumeco Archer had some involvement in pushing the document forward,” Oliver said. “They said they did it because Carl Oliver owned the BAAA, which was absolutely incorrect. I don’t own the BAAA.” In clarifying his position on the matter, Oliver said around 2011-12, they were putting together a team to

run against Sands and in his research, he discovered that the BAAA was not registered in the Bahamas. He went to the general meeting and advised the administration and general body, indicating that it needed to be addressed.

“We had a heated meeting and some of them said ‘yes, the federation is registered and that the IAAF would have sanctioned the constitution,” Oliver said.

“So what I did and this was based on just watching those talk shows, I saw where some people register names or reserving company names.

“If a new company starting up wanted that name, they would have to buy it from the person who reserved it. With good intentions when I exposed that the BAAA wasn’t registered, I went to the Registrar General’s office after consulting with the late Dwayne Jennings, Shaun Miller and George Cleare about reserving the name so it is protected.

“Reserving the name was one thing, but you had to get it registered with the Attorney General’s office and to do that you had to provide the Memorandum of Association, Articles of Association and get a lawyer to prepare that.

There was a cost to that and there was no way in the world I was doing that.”

Oliver said he was told by the Registrar General’s office that if those criteria were not met within 60 days, the name would no longer be reserved.

“I reserved the BAAA name. Anyone can do that.

It’s free of charge. It never went beyond that point,” Oliver stated.

“So after six months, it went back to the general public. So I don’t know how Mike Sands could say that I owned the BAAA. I never did. I only reserved the name. Carl Oliver reserving

SEE PAGE 3

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THIS WEEK’S SCHEDULE:

* FIU * Middle Tennessee * Marshall Florida Atlantic Charlotte Old Dominion WKU

MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE Tuesday, Nov. 20 * Ball State at Miami (ESPN+) * Northern Illinois at Western Michigan (ESPNU) Friday, Nov. 23 * Akron at Ohio * Buffalo at Bowling Green (ESPNU) * Central Michigan at Toledo (ESPN3) * Eastern Michigan at Kent State (ESPN3) * - conference games

EAST DIVISION Overall 8-3 7-4 7-3 5-6 4-7 4-7 2-9

* Buffalo * Ohio Miami Akron Bowling Green Kent State

MAC 6-1 5-2 5-2 2-5 2-5 1-6

Overall 9-2 7-4 5-6 4-6 3-8 2-9

WEST DIVISION

WEST DIVISION

C-USA Overall *# UAB 7-0 9-2 * Louisiana Tech 5-2 7-4 * North Texas 4-3 8-3 Southern Miss 4-3 5-5 UTSA 2-5 3-8 UTEP 1-6 1-10 Rice 0-7 1-11 * - bowl eligible # - clinched division

MAC Overall *# Northern Illinois 6-1 7-4 * Western Michigan 4-3 6-5 * Eastern Michigan 4-3 6-5 * Toledo 4-3 6-5 Ball State 3-4 4-7 Central Michigan 0-7 1-10 * - bowl eligible # - clinched division

A LOOK BACK: 2016 BAHAMAS BOWL - OLD DOMINION 24, EASTERN MICHIGAN 20 Old Dominion, making the school’s first bowl appearance since the football program restarted in 2009, held off Eastern Michigan 24-20 to win the 2016 Bahamas Bowl.

CONFERENCE USA Saturday, Nov. 24 * Marshall at FIU * WKU at Louisiana Tech * Old Dominion at Rice (ESPN+) * UAB at Middle Tennessee (ESPN3) * Southern Miss at UTEP (ESPN+) * Charlotte at Florida Atlantic * North Texas at UTSA (ESPN+)

C-USA 6-1 6-1 5-2 3-4 3-4 2-5 1-6

Led by Offensive Player of the Game running back Ray Lawry and his 133 rushing yards, the Monarchs (10-3) left the Bahamas with a six-game win streak and their first bowl trophy.

Quarterback David Washington added 188 passing yards and three touchdowns for ODU.

ODU running back Ray Lawry rushed for 133 yards on the way to 2016 Offensive Player of the Game honors (Photo Credit: Ben Solomon/ESPN Images)

Eastern Michigan quarterback Brogan Roback did all he could to keep the Eagles (7-6) in the game, throwing for 300 yards and two second-half touchdowns, but it was not enough to help EMU to a title in their first bowl game in 29 years.

Eastern Michigan dominated the time of possession, holding the ball 32:30 to the Monarchs’ 27:30, and converted on a season-high 13 third-down attempts, but it was the Old Dominion defense that made one final stand late in the fourth quarter.

ODU senior linebacker TJ Ricks was named Defensive Player of the Game after finishing with nine tackles, including one for a loss.

The game was tied 17-17 going into the fourth quarter. Washington drove ODU 72 yards with 12:56 remaining to put the Monarchs back on top 24-17 after hitting Jonathan Duhart on a five-yard TD pass in the corner of the end zone – his third passing touchdown of the game - for what turned out to be the game-winning score.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, November 22, 2018, PAGE 3

Holowesko, Vlasov honoured

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net IT was back on August 24 that Mark Holowesko and his crew of Peter Vlasov and Christopher Burger became the second Bahamian team in two years to win the International 5.5 Metre Class Association’s World Championships in the Solent near Cowes, Isles of Wight, England.

But yesterday, the Bahamas Olympic Committee took the time out to recognise the crew on board New Moon for their accomplishments.

Joined by the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture and the Bahamas Sailing Association, Holowesko and Vlasov were presented with plaques at the Island House.

BOC president Rommel Knowles, accompanied by his secretary general Derron Donaldson and vice presidents Cora Hepburn, Dorian Roach and Robert Butler, said the achievement of Holowesko and crew should serve as the impetus for the debate on whether or not sailing should be considered the national sport of the Bahamas.

“I’m pleased to be here, obviously our thrust is to get athletes and coaches prepared and developed to compete at the Olympic Games level and we understand in the Olympic movement that there are games that lead up to the Olympics,” Knowles said.

“The World Championships in any sport is quite significant to the international federation and so it’s obviously significant to us as well as it serves as another opportunity, a high level of competition, that is just below the Olympic Games.

CARL OLIVER: ‘I DON’T OWN THE BAAA’ FROM PAGE 2 the name of the federation never came up and if it didm it would have been addressed during my campaign when I won in 2012.

When I became secretary general in 2012, there was no discussion on it. It never happened because I never owned the BAAA.” Oliver said it’s just so sad on the week leading up to the elections that Archer and Sands are trying to distract attention on what Archer claimed to be an egregious art on his behalf.

He posted that in a voice note that he sent out.

“I never owned no federation so why are you trying to protect it from me?” Oliver asked. “Based on the documents they sent in, it was registered in 2014, so obviously the document that they submitted went in before. We see some inconsistent dates on the documents.

“The general body didn’t know anything about it and the executive body didn’t know anything about it. I told Drumeco in the last general meeting we had, if this issue was discussed, you need to submit the meetings because at that time, I was secretary general.

I don’t remember it ever being discussed.”

Oliver said it was only discovered that the BAAA was listed as a company after Carey went to collect the document, which she had paid for. When she opened it, she realised that it was not the document that the BAAA had ratified, but one that was on file in the Office of the Registrar General.

Arnett-Willie, a former assistant treasurer of the BAAA, has since refuted that she had anything to do with the document, questioning the legitimacy of her signature when she was not in fact a member of the BAAA at the time.

She claimed that she never signed the document with Sands.

“So I want to congratulate both of you for representing the Bahamas and putting sailing back on the map again.”

Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture’s permanent secretary, Rhonda Jackson, who was accompanied by the Director of Sports Timothy Munnings, said she was proud to be among the company of men, who sail around the world representing the Bahamas.

“It is very timely for us because it’s Sports Month at the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture and so often the other sports get to be in the forefront,” she pointed out. “But we are more than happy to be here today because we get to participate in this important event where we talk about sailing and we are excited to see what is to come in two years time.”

Lori Lowe, the president of the Bahamas Sailing Association, said she was honoured to recognise Holowesko and Vlasov for their accomplishments.

“I put an idea to them to train a Bahamian so that next time we can have a three-man Bahamian crew in the 5.5 winning the World Championships,” stated Lowe, who was accompanied by her husband Jimmy Lowe, an accomplished sailor himself.

New Moon, skippered

by Holowesko, rebounded from a second place finish a year ago to the Bahamian team led by Gavin McKinney by winning this year’s title on at the Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes, one of the most prestigious yacht clubs in the world.

They did by capturing four of the nine races to complete the five days of competition with a total of 18 points, posting a four first place, one second, one third, one fourth and one

A COCKTAIL reception was held yesterday at The Island House to honour Mark Holowesko (right) and Peter Vlasov on winning the World Sailing Championships.

Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune staff fifth, the latter of which were able to discard from their record.

Displaying the floating trophy that they brought back to the Bahamas after McKinney hoisted it last year, Holowesko said his crew of Vlasov and Burger, who was not in attendance, spent about eight weeks in Europe representing the Bahamas in sailing competition.

“We were very fortunate that a little than half of that time we sailed with Gavin McKinney, another Bahamian sailor, who is a prior world champion,” he said.

“We were very proud to be able to fly the Bahamian flag in Italy, Switzerland, England and Germany. We participated in six major regattas and thankfully, we were able to place in the top two in every regatta, including the World Championship in Cowes. “Cowes is a very complicated place to sail. The variation of tides is about 11 feet on

a good day, so you could imagine the tide here in the Bahamas about 3-4 feet. So the amount of tide and the current flow was incredible. So to manage that and to get ready for that was pretty important.”

Holowesko said en route to winning the world title, they spent a couple of days preparing and they were appreciate of the support of a lot of sailors and persons on the UK Olympic Committee in helping them to understand the weather conditions there.

He also expressed his gratitude to Vlasov, who helped him to transition from the Star Class where he represented the Bahamas at the Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia in 1988. After taking about 15 years off from sailing, Vlasov encouraged him to return about 5-6 years ago and they have been sailing competitively for the past three years. The goal is to now prepare for next

year’s World Championships where they hope to defend their title in Nylandska Jaktklubbenn, Helsinki, Finland.

But just before that, Holowesko said they are proud to have been invited to compete in the 100th anniversary of the Scandinavian Gold Cup, a $3 million event that will take place in Finland in the summer just before the World Championships.

While Holowesko steered the 10 metre or 33 feet long boat that competes in the 5.5 class in competition, Vlasov manages the bow and tells him where to go.

Burger is their middle man, who is the strategist. Holowesko said it was because of both men New Moon is the world champion.

“We are three men on the boat and what makes us so successful on New moon is the fact that even though each and every one of us have a specific job, sometimes we do intermingle

because either I am late or something, so we swipe duties and it works,” he said. “We’ve gotten to the point where all three of us can do everybody else’s job.

“It makes us just this little better and more competitive than others.”

Case in point, Holowesko said in the World Championships, Vlasov decided to fall off the boat and his job was to help him get back on the boat. Vlasov said Holowesko had to actually stop the boat because Burger was tied in the middle of the boat. Vlasov thanked Holowesko for his assistance because he recalled that the water was not as clear and crystal as it is in the Bahamas.”

Vlasov acknowledged the day of November 21 to the sail number of 21 on New Moon. He said they are in the process of building another boat to sail, but first they want to be able to go to Finland and duplicate their feat from Cowes on New Moon.

Also in attendance at the event was American Gwen Jorgensen, who won the gold medal in triathlon at the 2016 Olympic Games.

Jorgensen, who is hoping to venture into marathon running for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, is sponsored by Holowesko. While here, she will be talking to the Bahamas triathlon athletes and a number of schools.

“I’m really excited to be here in the Bahamas,” said Jorgensen, a 32-year-old resident of Portland, Oregon. “I love it. It’s always beautiful, the weather is amazing and the community is really nice, which is something that really surprised me the most about the Bahamas when I first came here, just how welcoming everybody is.”

Battle 4 Atlantis: Sooners stop Gators 65-60 “That will give us the extra boost to get going and give us that edge.”

The remainder of the 2018 field will also include the No.4 Virginia Cavaliers (ACC), Butler Bulldogs (Big East), Dayton Flyers (Atlantic 10), Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders (C-USA and Oklahoma Sooners (Big 12).

Six of those teams were in last season’s NCAA Tournament, and five B4A participants in previous editions. Stanford appeared in 2012 and ultimately finished in fifth place with a 1-2 record.

Butler finished in third place while Florida ended up sixth. The No. 25 ranked Wisconsin Badgers defeated the Stanford Cardinal 62-46 in game two.

“This early in the year, you like to see these types of opportunities and these types of tests. We’re trying to figure ourselves out, let alone not having a dictionary of knowledge on our opponent. We will leave here in the next few days and will have learned a lot more about where we need to go, what we are good at and what we need to improve on,” Badgers head coach Greg Gard said. “I wanted to see how we handle Stanford but also as we move through the week, how do we adjust on the fly to things on the court. Good defensive teams will have the ability to make that adjustment on the floor and help each other out and I want to see this group continue to grow and mature.”

The Badgers look to become the second team to repeat as champions

OKLAHOMA coach Lon Kruger applauds his team during an NCAA college basketball game against Oklahoma State on March 7. (AP) following the Villanova Wildcats.

“There is not a lot of downtime. They are mature about it. I want them to get out and see the place, it is a beautiful place.

It is also a bonding experience that always helps team chemistry, especially as you launch yourself into a season and everything coming down the road,” Gard said.

Ethan Happ, now a graduate student, is the only remaining player from the aforementioned 2014 Badger team that won the B4A title.

“I remember the feeling after winning it and just how excited our team was.

It was really a fun experience for me definitely, but like I said, the feeling that we had as a team after we won this tournament was really something special,” he said.

“We’ve played in NBA arenas and other places that are really special. The first 30 seconds you are out there it sort of feels unique, but then you realise it is just another court.”

Standford Cardinal guard Daejon Davis highlighted the time off the court with their visit to St Cecilia’s Catholic Primary School just prior to tournament play.

“A lot of fun, a lot of excitement off the court, super fun, obviously we have a good time being with the guys doing activities,” he said. “Even more than that I was excited to finally get on the court after that excitement continued to build. There’s a lot of excitement here.

Other coaches have noted the importance in the balance between their teams enjoying the atmosphere of the Atlantis resort but focusing on basketball as well.

“It’s been really good so far. The guys are getting acclimated, they’ve had a chance to walk around the beautiful venue. We’re happy to be here, great weather, a little different than what we left in Ohio, so excited about the preparations and the tournament,” Dayton head coach Anthony Grant

said, “It’s a beautiful facility, beautiful venue. For the majority of our guys, it’s the first time having a chance to be in the Bahamas and be at the Atlantis, so if we get an opportunity to take advantage of some down time, certainly want them to enjoy this experience, but it is a business trip and we’ve got a tough task in terms of three games in three days.

The Blue Raiders, led

by Bahamian President Dr Sidney McPhee, made another trip to the Bahamas for one of its sporting programmes. It will be the third time McPhee’s Blue Raiders have competed in the Bahamas following a pair of trips in 2015 for the Bahamas Basketball Federation’s Summer of Thunder and the Bahamas Bowl. “This is a great location for a tournament and one of the premier tournaments in college basketball.

I told our players I want them to enjoy themselves while they are down here, spend some time with their friends, their families, the fans that have made the trip with us,” Blue Raiders head coach Nick McDevitt said. “At the same time, approach it as a business trip as well. We are playing some elite teams down here. For one, we want to

compete and see our team get better over the next few days and be able to prepare for what comes later in the season. “ The Gators have struggled early in the season, but head coach Mike White said the evaluation is necessary for the programme’s development.

“It provides a level playing field for both teams to be the aggressor in terms of the amount of energy that they bring offensively and defensively. It allows for the ultimate evaluation of what you’re all about and where your team is currently,” he said.

Butler head coach Lavall Jordan said his staff also looks to evaluate his team’s performance moving forward, based on the test of three games in three days against elite competition.

“Just consistency. Offensively it’s been a little different for us, we’ve played teams that have played a lot of zone the last two games, so our man offence, we haven’t run it a ton, to be honest, this early in the season.

“We haven’t put a lot of work in on it but to see what we look like running offence versus more manto-man oriented teams,” he said.

“Then defensive consistency, we started out pretty well and I thought maybe we took a step back in our transition game. Some of our principles were not as tight as they need to be moving forward, so we tried to address that on the way down here. We will see now where we are against some really good competition.”

GOOMBAY SPLASH: CLARKE, BAIN ADVANCE TO TODAY’S SEMI-FINALS FROM PAGE 1 • Results of other singles matches played are as follows: Girls Madison Smith of the USA def. Hannah Pinto from the USA 6-4, 6-4;

Nicole Kiefer of the USA def Andrea Guerrero of Mexico 6-3, 6-1; Leyden Games of the USA topped Artemis Pados of the USA 6-1, 6-1 Boys Top seed Quinn McLeod of the USA def. Derek

Raskopf pf the USA 3-6, 6-3, 6-2; Riley Odell of the USA def. Michael Nicholls 6-4, 2-6, 6-4; Bruno Kuzuharra of the USA def.

Raunak Sood of the USA 6-2, 6-3.

• Results of other doubles matches played are as follows: Boys Piotr Kusiewicz (POL) and Mark Lajal (EST) def.

Nathan Akira Matsugama (JPN) and Sood (USA) 6-4, 6-4

Girls Rachel Caplan and Ashley Vielma (USA) def Roja Abouziena (EGYPT) and Guerrero (6-4, 6-4); Petra Miszczak and Genevieve Quenville def Artemis Pados (USA) and Pinto 7-5, 6-4

PAGE 4, Thursday, November 22, 2018

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Thursday, November 22, 2018, PAGE 5

Big 12 breaks out in NFL, can Saints top Chiefs-Rams totals?

By BARRY WILNER AP Pro Football Writer NOW that we’ve seen Big 12 football break out in the NFL — Rams 54, Chiefs 51 — can we get a college hoops score out of the Saints?

The Who-Dats will be rocking the Superdome on Thanksgiving night, with New Orleans facing its archrival, the Atlanta Falcons.

The Saints are running away with the NFC South and the Falcons have faltered badly, but this is almost always a tense, close affair.

Except that the Saints have manhandled opponents this season, outscoring them 378-239 as Drew Brees, well, breezes through the best year of his superb career.

“Just focus on winning,” Brees says. “And if it takes 20 points to do that or if it takes 50 points to do that, you just focus on winning and everything else takes care of itself. But we’re just trying to stay in the moment right now.”

Coach Dan Quinn says the Falcons can win a highscoring game against the Saints, who won at Atlanta 43-37 in September.

“We are.

We’re equipped,” Quinn said.

“Certainly when you’re going against another team that’s high scoring, it was no surprise to see that in the first game, either.”

New Orleans, ranked atop the AP Pro32, is a 13-point favourite. At home, that doesn’t seem too charitable.

SAINTS, 44-28 KNOCKOUT POOL: Arizona flopped like a wanderer in the desert, yet another nasty blow to Pro Picks. If anyone is interested, we’ll try DALLAS this week.

No. 4 New England (minus 9) at No. 29 New York Jets Angry and rested Patriots are not an opponent the Jets want to face.

BEST BET: PATRIOTS, 37-13 No. 24 Cleveland (plus 3 1-2) at No. 19 Cincinnati The football power in Ohio is changing area codes — if there really is any football power there.

UPSET SPECIAL: BROWNS, 26-24 No. 6 Chicago (OFF) at No. 23 Detroit (Thursday) Unsettled status of Bears QB Mitchell Trubisky means no line, so two picks here: With Trubisky: BEARS, 24-17 Without Trubisky, LIONS 17-13 No. 13 Washington (plus 7 1-2) at No. 14 Dallas, Thursday Don’t underestimate Colt McCoy and don’t overestimate Cowboys.

Still ...

COWBOYS, 20-16 No. 11 Seattle (plus 3 1-2) at No. 9 Carolina

By TOM CANAVAN AP Sports Writer

SAINTS QB Drew Brees (9) is sacked by Atlanta Falcons linebacker Vic Beasley (44) during the second half on September 23. The Falcons play at the Saints tonight.

(AP Photo/David Goldman) Winner here has inside track to wild card.

SEAHAWKS, 27-22 No. 5 Pittsburgh (minus 3 1-2) at No. 18 Denver

NAUGHTY’S NFL PICKS - WEEK 12 NAUGHTY Bears Cowboys Saints Bills Bengals Patriots Giants Bucs Panthers Ravens Chargers Steelers Colts Vikings Texans SANTXO Z Bears Cowboys Saints Bills Bengals Patriots Bills Niners Panthers Ravens Chargers Broncos Colts Vikings Texans LEO B Lions Cowboys Saints

Jacksonville Cincinnati New England San Francisco Philadelphia Carolina Baltimore LA Chargers Pittsburgh Indianapolis Green Bay Houston

Bills Bengals Patriots Eagles Bucs Panthers Ravens Chargers Steelers Colts Vikings Texans

STEVIE J Bears Redskins Saints Browns 49ers Bills Ravens Panthers Patriots Eagles Chargers Colts Broncos Vikings Texans

JOHN S Detroit Dallas New Orleans

ELI MANNING OFF THE HOT SEAT WITH GIANTS WINNING LAST TWO

CLINT J Bears Cowboys Saints Jaguars Colts Patriots Bengals Eagles Bucs Panthers Ravens Chargers Steelers Packers Texans

Steelers got lucky in Jacksonville despite poor performance.

STEELERS, 30-27 No. 16 Green Bay (plus 3 1-2) at No. 10 Minnesota

Ageless Gore faces his former team when Dolphins play Colts

By STEVEN WINE AP Sports Writer DAVIE, Florida (AP) — The subject was playing through pain, and Miami Dolphins running back Frank Gore drew on his extensive experience to share his thoughts with teammate Ryan Tannehill.

Gore’s an ageless model of durability, while Tannehill plans to return from a throwing shoulder injury and start for only the sixth time in the Dolphins’ past 31 games when they play Sunday at Indianapolis.

“He knows how much we need him,” Gore said. “It’s football, though. Everybody is going to be in pain from here on out. Talking to him when he wasn’t playing, he wanted to be out there. He knows that he’s

SEASON STANDINGS OVERALL

5. Santxo Z - 95-65-2

1. Wilner (AP) - 106-53-2

3. Naughty - 103-57-2

2. Clint J - 103-57-2

4. John S - 100-60-2

Vikings have lost all three prime-timers this season. This won’t be a fourth.

VIKINGS, 31-24 No. 20 Miami (plus 10) at No. 12 Indianapolis How good has Andrew Luck been in his return from injury?

COLTS, 36-23 No. 32 Arizona (plus 11) at No. 8 Los Angeles Chargers Two teams coming off ugly collapses. Chargers are better than that.

CHARGERS, 37-20 No. 26 New York Giants (plus 6) at No. 21 (tie) Philadelphia Eagles are going to get things right eventually, aren’t they?

EAGLES, 27-26 No. 31 Oakland (plus 11) at No. 15 Baltimore Lamar Jackson might actually throw a bit more this week.

RAVENS, 20-15 No. 25 Jacksonville (minus 3) at No. 28 Buffalo Biggest question is whether Jags can handle cold temperatures.

JAGUARS, 20-10 No. 30 San Francisco (plus 3 1-2) at No. 27 Tampa Bay Is it Jameis Fitzpatrick or Ryan Winston at QB for Bucs?

BUCCANEERS, 31-23 No. 17 Tennessee (OFF) at No. 7 Houston, Monday night Had there been a line, we would have laid the points. TEXANS, 23-13

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — No one seems to be asking questions about Eli Manning remaining the quarterback of the New York Giants these days.

The two-time Super Bowl MVP has quieted his critics, throwing for five touchdowns and no interceptions in wins over the San Francisco 49ers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers the past two weeks.

In beating the Niners, Manning engineered a late fourth-quarter drive capped by a touchdown pass to Sterling Shepard with less than a minute to play. He was nearly perfect Sunday, hitting 17 of 18 passes for 231 yards and three TDs in a 38-35 win over the Bucs.

His 94.4 completion percentage was a team record in a game with at least 10 attempts, and it was tied for third highest in a game in NFL history with a minimum of 15 passing attempts.

Alex Smith, when he played with the 49ers, and Ryan Tannehill of Miami share the top mark at 94.7 per cent. “You give Eli time to throw and that’s what you are going to get,” Shepard said yesterday before the Giants (3-7) practiced for Sunday’s game at Philadelphia (4-6). “The offensive line has been doing a great job blocking. He has been making the throws. The throws are on point.”

Manning tied his career high by completing his first 11 passes before failing to hook up with halfback Saquon Barkley on a wheel route.

The Eagles have had their way against the Giants. They have won four straight, including a 34-13 win at MetLife Stadium on October 11, a game in which the Giants were down 24-6 at halftime and 31-6 midway through the third quarter.

Manning finished 24 of 43 for 281 yards. However, he was sacked four times and threw an interception on the second play from scrimmage, setting up the first of three touchdown passes by Carson Wentz.

“Last time we played them, I know exactly why they beat us,” coach Pat Shurmur said. “We didn’t do anything that you need to do against any type of team to win. We turned the ball over, we gave them big plays, we just didn’t play well enough to beat any team, so we have to fix that.

That’s more about us.”

7. Leo B - 92-68-2 6. Stevie J - 88-72-2

DOLPHINS’ Frank Gore runs against the Green Bay Packers last Sunday. (AP) going to be in pain, but you can tell that he wants to play, so that’s a plus for us.”

The 35-year-old Gore will be in the lineup too, which almost goes without saying.

He’ll start his 119th consecutive game, by far the most of any active running back.

That includes 48 games with the Colts in 2015-17.

They then let Gore go, providing him with a little extra motivation when he faces his former team.

Not that he needs any.

“I want to win,” he said.

“I’m going to go out there and try to be me.”

The Colts know he’ll do that, and remember Gore fondly.

“He’s the kind of teammates everyone wants to have,” Indy quarterback Andrew Luck said. “He always seemed like he was a step ahead, and I’d say, ‘How did you know that?’

And it was always hard for him to explain. He just knew.”

The Dolphins (5-5) can count Gore as one of the bright spots in a season full of downers. He beat out the more explosive Kenyan Drake for the starting job and leads the team with 528 yards rushing, padding a career total that is the highest among active players and fourth on the all-time list.

And this year may not be his swan song. Gore’s yards per carry average of 4.5 is his best since 2012 with San Francisco. Anyone who has watched him break tackle after tackle this year can believe he’ll be back at 36.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, November 22, 2018, PAGE 7

Australia ends T20 losing streak with 4-run win over India

By JOHN PYE AP Sports Writer BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Australia allrounder Marcus Stoinis took two wickets in the last over yesterday as India’s batting lineup collapsed late to lose its tour-opening Twenty20 international by four runs.

Virat Kohli returned to lead India after skipping the previous series against West Indies and, after winning the toss and sending Australia in to bat, had a below-par night, dropping a regulation catch in the fourth over, misfielding later in the innings and getting out for four.

The Australians posted 158-4 in a rain-interrupted 17 overs with Glenn Maxwell (46 from 24 balls) and Chris Lynn (37 from 20 balls) each belting four sixes and Stoinis finishing unbeaten on 33.

The rain delay brought the Duckworth-Lewis rules into play, giving India a revised target of 174 from 17 overs.

Shikhar Dhawan set India up in its run chase with a 42-ball 76 that included 10 boundaries and two sixes, including one over backward square to raise his half century.

He had a reprieve on 65 when Adam Zampa put down a return catch, but was finally out upper cutting a short ball from Billy Stanlake to Jason Behrendorff on the third man boundary as India slipped to 105-4 in the 12th over.

His wicket came in a period when India lost 3-24, and seemed to give Australia the advantage.

But Rishabh Pant (20) and Dinesh Karthik (30) took up the attack and plundered 25 from one over by Andrew Tye after a tactical blunder by Australia captain Aaron Finch, who lost track of the new bowling restrictions.

The pair put on 51 for the fifth wicket to give India the ascendancy before Pant paddled an easy catch to Behrendorff off Tye’s bowling to again swing the momentum, leaving India

needing 18 runs from nine balls.

Stoinis bowled the last over, with India needing 13 runs, and took pace off the ball as he picked up the wickets of Krunal Pandya and Karthik before India finished 169-7.

Kohli described it as a “sort of see-saw battle” and Dhawan said the India squad wasn’t overly disappointed with the narrow loss.

A missed runout when Maxwell was on 9 and a few dropped catches were momentary setbacks for India, Dhawan said, but “we got a lot of confidence out of this game and we’re going to take it forward for the next game.”

Stoinis said he enjoyed the pressure of bowling the last over and hoped Australia was turning a corner after losing four consecutive T20s.

“We’ve got good memories in the team,” he said.

“We dominated T20s last year. We were No. 1 or 2 in the world rankings not long ago. We’re confident.”

India has won its last seven T20 series, and Kohli’s squad is using the three-game series in the shortest format to fine-tune for the bigger prize starting next month when it chases its first ever test series victory in Australia.

Australian cricket has been in turmoil since a ball-tampering scandal in South Africa in March and is coming off back-to-back series losses to Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates and at home against South Africa.

On top of that, Australia was missing frontline bowlers Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon, who were preparing for the four-match test series which kicks off December 6 in Adelaide.

INDIA’s Khaleel Ahmed celebrates after he got the wicket of Australia’s D’Arcy Short, not shown, during their first T20 International cricket match yesterday.

(AP Photo/Tertius Pickard)

THE WEATHER REPORT

5-Day Forecast

TODAY

ORLANDO

High: 76° F/24° C Low: 60° F/16° C

TAMPA

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

MONDAY

Partly to mostly cloudy; showers

Isolated showers

Clouds and breaks of sun; a shower

Mostly sunny and pleasant

A brief shower; partly sunny

Nice with plenty of sunshine

High: 83°

Low: 71°

High: 82° Low: 71°

High: 84° Low: 72°

High: 85° Low: 72°

High: 85° Low: 71°

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

86° F

72° F

88°-71° F

89°-77° F

92°-79° F

94°-75° F

High: 76° F/24° C Low: 60° F/16° C

The exclusive AccuWeather RealFeel Temperature® is an index that combines the effects of temperature, wind, humidity, sunshine intensity, cloudiness, precipitation, pressure and elevation on the human body—everything that affects how warm or cold a person feels. Temperatures reflect the high and the low for the day.

N

almanac

E

W

ABACO

S

N

High: 79° F/26° C Low: 72° F/22° C

8-16 knots

S

High: 80° F/27° C Low: 64° F/18° C

8-16 knots

FT. LAUDERDALE

FREEPORT

High: 80° F/27° C Low: 66° F/19° C

E

W S

E

W

WEST PALM BEACH

N

uV inDex toDay

TONIGHT

High: 80° F/27° C Low: 66° F/19° C

MIAMI

High: 80° F/27° C Low: 65° F/18° C

8-16 knots

Statistics are for Nassau through 1 p.m. yesterday Temperature High ................................................... 82° F/28° C Low .................................................... 68° F/20° C Normal high ....................................... 81° F/27° C Normal low ........................................ 69° F/21° C Last year’s high ................................. 85° F/30° C Last year’s low ................................... 69° F/21° C Precipitation As of 1 p.m. yesterday ................................. 0.00” Year to date ............................................... 44.28” Normal year to date ................................... 37.68”

ELEUTHERA

NASSAU

High: 83° F/28° C Low: 71° F/22° C

Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2018

High: 80° F/27° C Low: 75° F/24° C

N

KEY WEST

High: 82° F/28° C Low: 72° F/22° C

High: 81° F/27° C Low: 76° F/24° C

N

S

E

W

7-14 knots

S

6-12 knots Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.

tiDes For nassau High

Ht.(ft.)

Low

Ht.(ft.)

Today

6:39 a.m.

6:55 p.m.

3.3 2.7

12:20 a.m. -0.2 1:04 p.m. 0.0

Friday

7:23 a.m.

7:41 p.m.

3.4 2.8

1:02 a.m. -0.3 1:50 p.m. -0.2

Saturday

8:09 a.m.

8:28 p.m.

3.5 2.7

1:47 a.m. -0.4 2:38 p.m. -0.2

Sunday

8:57 a.m.

9:18 p.m.

3.5 2.7

2:34 a.m. -0.4 3:27 p.m. -0.2

Monday

9:47 a.m.

10:12 p.m.

3.5 2.7

3:24 a.m. -0.3 4:19 p.m. -0.2

Tuesday

10:41 a.m.

11:11 p.m.

3.4 2.6

4:18 a.m. -0.2 5:14 p.m. -0.1

Wednesday 11:39 a.m.

-----

3.2 -----

5:17 a.m.

6:13 p.m.

0.0 0.0

sun anD moon Sunrise Sunset

6:31 a.m.

5:20 p.m.

Moonrise Moonset

5:15 p.m.

5:43 a.m.

Full

Last

New

First

Nov. 23

Nov. 29

Dec. 7

Dec. 15

CAT ISLAND

E

W

The higher the AccuWeather UV IndexTM number, the greater the need for eye and skin protection.

ANDROS

SAN SALVADOR

GREAT EXUMA

High: 80° F/27° C Low: 76° F/24° C

High: 81° F/27° C Low: 77° F/25° C

N

High: 82° F/28° C Low: 75° F/24° C

E

W S

LONG ISLAND

insurance management tracking map

High: 82° F/28° C Low: 77° F/25° C

6-12 knots

MAYAGUANA High: 82° F/28° C Low: 76° F/24° C

Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.

CROOKED ISLAND / ACKLINS RAGGED ISLAND High: 82° F/28° C Low: 77° F/25° C

High: 82° F/28° C Low: 77° F/25° C

GREAT INAGUA High: 83° F/28° C Low: 77° F/25° C

N

E

W

E

W

N

S

S

5-10 knots

7-14 knots

marine Forecast ABACO ANDROS CAT ISLAND CROOKED ISLAND ELEUTHERA FREEPORT GREAT EXUMA GREAT INAGUA LONG ISLAND MAYAGUANA NASSAU RAGGED ISLAND SAN SALVADOR

Today: Friday: Today: Friday: Today: Friday: Today: Friday: Today: Friday: Today: Friday: Today: Friday: Today: Friday: Today: Friday: Today: Friday: Today: Friday: Today: Friday: Today: Friday:

WINDS NE at 8-16 Knots W at 6-12 Knots NE at 7-14 Knots NNE at 6-12 Knots NNE at 6-12 Knots SSW at 4-8 Knots NNE at 6-12 Knots ENE at 6-12 Knots NNE at 7-14 Knots NNW at 4-8 Knots N at 7-14 Knots NNE at 8-16 Knots NE at 6-12 Knots NNE at 4-8 Knots NE at 7-14 Knots E at 4-8 Knots NNE at 6-12 Knots ENE at 4-8 Knots NE at 6-12 Knots SE at 4-8 Knots NE at 8-16 Knots N at 5-10 Knots NE at 5-10 Knots ENE at 4-8 Knots NE at 6-12 Knots NNW at 4-8 Knots

WAVES 2-4 Feet 3-6 Feet 1-2 Feet 1-2 Feet 1-3 Feet 2-4 Feet 1-2 Feet 1-3 Feet 1-3 Feet 2-4 Feet 1-3 Feet 1-3 Feet 1-2 Feet 0-1 Feet 0-2 Feet 0-2 Feet 1-2 Feet 1-1 Feet 1-3 Feet 1-3 Feet 1-2 Feet 1-2 Feet 0-2 Feet 0-2 Feet 1-3 Feet 3-5 Feet

VISIBILITY 10 Miles 10 Miles 7 Miles 10 Miles 6 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 5 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 6 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles

WATER TEMPS. 80° F 80° F 82° F 82° F 78° F 78° F 83° F 83° F 80° F 80° F 81° F 81° F 82° F 82° F 83° F 83° F 83° F 83° F 83° F 83° F 80° F 80° F 82° F 82° F 80° F 80° F

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