National Sports Briefs

Published 12:00 am Saturday, June 13, 2009

Associated Press
MEMPHIS, Tenn. ó Brian Gay shot his second straight 4-under 66 to take a one-stroke lead over Bryce Molder into the final round of the St. Jude Classic.
Gay, who won at Hilton Head in April, can earn a U.S. Open next week at Bethpage Black berth with a second win this year. He had a 14-under 196 total at TPC Southwind.
Robert Allenby (68) was alone in third at 11 under, Paul Goydos (64) was 10 under, and Woody Austin (68), Heath Slocum (67) and Vaughn Taylor (69) were 9 under.
Phil Mickelson shot a 68 and was 10 strokes back at 4 under in his first event since announcing his wife’s diagnosis of breast cancer.
John Daly’s comeback to the PGA Tour stretched into the weekend as he made the cut in the storm-delayed event on the line at even par. He was 1 over after a 68.
– HAVRE DE GRACE, Md. ó Anna Nordqvist weathered a lengthy rain delay and fading daylight to take one-shot lead over Lindsey Wright in the LPGA Championship when play was halted in the third round Saturday.
COLLEGE HOOPS
HARTFORD, Conn. ó UConn men’s basketball coach Jim Calhoun has been hospitalized after he collapsed following a 50-mile charity bicycle ride during which he fell and broke five ribs.
Calhoun fell 12 miles into the race in Simsbury. Moments after he crossed the finished line, he slumped over and fell to the ground.
At the hospital, Calhoun was told he had broken ribs during the fall. The hospital said he fainted because of dehydration and trauma from the fall.
– COLUMBIA, S.C. ó South Carolina is getting its all-Southeastern Conference guard back as Devan Downey said Saturday he is returning to school for his senior season.
– LOS ANGELES ó UCLA guard Jrue Holiday has decided to remain in the NBA draft and will hire an agent, which makes him ineligible to return to the Bruins.
SWIMMING
SANTA CLARA, Calif. ó Michael Phelps has held off a late charge by his rivals to win the 400-meter freestyle at the Santa Clara International Grand Prix.
Phelps cruised to an early lead in Saturday night’s final, but he had to dig in over the final 100 meters to win in 3 minutes, 48.05 seconds under sunny, windy conditions at the outdoor pool.
CWS
OMAHA, Neb. ó Sean Ochinko’s three-run homer gave LSU the lead in the fifth inning and Ryan Schimpf’s two-run blast in the eighth broke open the game for the Tigers, who beat Virginia 9-5 in the College World Series on Saturday night.
– OMAHA, Neb. ó Andy Wilkins homered and drove in five runs to help Arkansas start off the College World Series with a 10-6 victory over Cal State Fullerton.
TENNIS
BIRMINGHAM, England ó Maria Sharapova’s Wimbledon preparations received a setback Saturday in a 6-4, 6-4 loss to Li Na of China in the Aegon Classic semifinals.
NATIONWIDE
SPARTA, Ky. ó Joey Logano cruised past Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch with 10 laps to go and held on to win Kentucky Speedway’s Nationwide Series race for the second consecutive year Saturday night.
Last year in the Meijer 300, Logano became the youngest winner in a Nationwide event. This time, he made history as the first repeat winner in the track’s signature NASCAR race.
Logano made the move past his Joe Gibbs teammate shortly after a red flag delayed the race for nearly nine minutes to clean debris off the track.
Most of the night, Busch dominated ó at one point leading 104 consecutive laps. Busch led 162 laps, and Logano was the only other driver in double digits with 20.
It was Busch’s second runner-up finish of the day, having lost the NASCAR truck race to Colin Braun hours earlier at Michigan International Speedway.
The teammates were facing off in a Nationwide race for the first time since two weeks earlier in Dover, when a late nudge from Logano may have cost Busch a shot at victory.
TRUCKS
BROOKLYN, Mich. ó Colin Braun has won his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, giving team owner Jack Roush his 50th truck victory.
Braun’s first win came in his 35th truck start.