Date: 03/19/2013 05:30 AM
NW–SportsMinute/399
Here is the latest Washington, Oregon and Alaska sports news from The Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Jrue Holiday scored 27 points to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 101-100 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers last night. The Sixers wasted a 14-point lead and Portland took the lead late in the fourth. Holiday, though, rallied the Sixers and stretched the lead to 101-97 on a pair of free throws. Damian Lillard hit a 3-pointer to cut it to 101-100. Holiday fell on the inbound pass and the ball sailed into the Sixers bench, giving Portland the ball with 7.1 seconds left. LaMarcus Aldridge missed the potential winner on a turnaround over Spencer Hawes. Aldridge had 32 points and 14 rebounds, and Lillard scored 27 points.
(AP) – Gonzaga’s first stint on top of the AP college basketball poll has run through the final Top 25 of the season. The 31-2 Bulldogs were a runaway No. 1 for a third straight week yesterday, receiving 45 first-place votes from the 65-member national media panel. Louisville, the overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, is second and got the other first-place votes. Kansas and Indiana – the other No. 1 seeds – are third and fourth followed by Miami, Duke, Ohio State, Georgetown, Michigan State and Michigan. The week’s lone newcomer is Pac-12 champion Oregon. The Ducks replaced VCU, which lost to Saint Louis.
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) – Police confirm they are investigating two Southern California basketball players over a series of fights in Spokane, Wash., on March 10. Police declined to release the names of the two players. USC officials had said last week they had suspended starting center Dewayne Dedmon and backup big man James Blasczyk for violating an unspecified team rule. At the time, interim coach Bob Cantu said the program was aware of an investigation in Spokane and declined to comment further.
PHOENIX (AP) – Michael Morse broke a sixth-inning tie with his sixth home run of spring training, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Oakland Athletics 6-5. Morse homered off starter A.J. Griffin for a 4-3 lead, and Dustin Ackley added an RBI single later in the inning. Ackley added another run-scoring single in the eighth off Pat Neshek. Right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma, one of the candidates to become the Mariners’ No. 2 spot behind Felix Hernandez, gave up three runs and six hits in five innings.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.
