BASKETBALL
UMass pays prize
The University of Massachusetts (UMass) said that it would pay a student the US$10,000 prize for a halftime promotion at a women’s game after a dispute with an insurance company over whether he stepped over the line when he made a half-court shot. Noah Lee was selected for the contest on Wednesday that required him to make a layup, a free throw, a three-pointer and a half-court shot in 25 seconds. He made them all, but the university said that the insurance company handling the promotion declined the payout. “After their review of the four camera angles we provided, they determined the half-court shot was disqualified, as it was not taken behind the half-court line,” the university said on Friday. “We weren’t satisfied with that outcome and arrived at the decision to provide Noah with both a [US]$10,000 award and a host of additional UMass athletics benefits.” Reno, Nevada-based prize indemnification insurance company Odds On Promotions said that the university went ahead with its decision without ever filing a claim. “Odds On was not involved in the initial invalidation of the contest win and only became aware of the university’s decision to not pay the contestant through media coverage,” it said.
Photo: AFP
BASKETBALL
NYU winning run hits 50
The New York University (NYU) women’s basketball team is on a run few teams have ever seen. The No. 1-ranked Violets have won 50 consecutive games, dating to last season’s undefeated National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III national championship season, to tie for the 15th-longest run in NCAA women’s basketball history for any division. It is the longest active streak in men’s or women’s NCAA basketball. NYU got No. 50 on Friday, 80-58 over the University of Chicago, to tie the Amherst Mammoths for the ninth-longest streak in Division III history.
BOXING
Paul criticizes Alvarez
Jake Paul on Friday punched back at Canelo Alvarez, a day after the Mexican passed up a speculated bout with the YouTube star and agreed to a four-fight deal with Riyadh Season. “The truth is, you could be bought,” Paul said to Alvarez on social media. “You’re a money-hungry squirrel chasing your next nut. The truth is, these sports-washing, shady characters are paying you hundreds of millions of dollars to stop our fight from happening because they couldn’t fathom the fact that they can’t create a bigger fight than me and you. You call me a YouTuber, but you’ve never had a boxing match as big as mine. I promise you one thing, Canelo. Any fight that you do this year, mine will be bigger.”
OLYMPICS
AOC head urges action
Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) chief executive officer Matt Carroll has warned that a final decision on the main venues for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics needs to be made before the end of June. Brisbane was awarded the Games in 2021, but political rows, particularly over the main stadium and the venue for the athletics, have meant that a final plan is not yet in place. “I think it is time to finalize any more reviews and settle on exactly what the ... [state] governments want to fund in terms of venues,” Carroll told an Australian Senate inquiry in Canberra. “I think [that needs to happen in] the first half of this year.”
Robinson Cano spent 17 seasons playing in the MLB in front of all kinds of baseball fans, but he said there is something special about his stint with the Mexican Baseball League’s Diablos Rojos. He is not alone. The league last week opened its 100th season, aiming to keep an impressive growth in attendance that began after the national team’s surprise run at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, and is already surpassing some first-division soccer clubs. After finishing third in the 2023 tournament, many casual fans, some of them soccer enthusiasts disappointed after Mexico were eliminated in the first round in the 2022
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
CUNNINGHAM CONNECTS: In the Eastern Conference, the Pistons snapped their record 15-game playoff losing streak by beating the Knicks to level their series at 1-1 Kawhi Leonard on Monday scored 39 points on 15-of-19 shooting as the Los Angeles Clippers evened their first-round NBA Playoffs series against the Nuggets with a 105-102 win in Denver. “It feels like he didn’t miss a shot,” James Harden said. “His shot-making ability is elite.” Good thing, too, because his teammates were a combined 26 of 66 for a 39 percent clip. “I made shots tonight,” Leonard said. “I just keep playing, try to stay in the zone no matter if I’m making or missing shots.” The fifth-seeded Clippers needed every bit of his brilliance to snatch the homecourt advantage in the series
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