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Sports Digest

September 2, 2007

Men's Basketball

Anthony leads U.S. to FIBA final

Carmelo Anthony (Towson Catholic) scored 27 points, Michael Redd had 23, and the Americans clinched a spot in the 2008 Olympics by crushing Puerto Rico, 135-91, last night in the semifinals of the FIBA Americas tournament in Las Vegas. LeBron James added 19 points and nine assists, Kobe Bryant scored 15 points, and the three stars keyed a dominant third quarter stretch that showed why the Americans will arrive in China as one of the gold medal favorites. Anthony made four three-pointers during the period, when the Americans hit 14 of 16 shots (87.5 percent), including all eight three-pointers, while outscoring Puerto Rico 43-28. The Americans are without a gold medal in their past three major events: the 2004 Olympics, and 2002 and '06 world championships. But they remain untouchable in the Olympic qualifier, improving to 35-0 - with still only one game decided by single digits. They will try to complete a perfect run in today's final against Argentina, but the game is ultimately meaningless. Both teams locked up Olympic berths.

Auto Racing

Sports Digest Recent columns

Castroneves sets IndyCar mark

Helio Castroneves won his IndyCar Series-record seventh pole of the season at Detroit's Belle Isle, edging Dario Franchitti for the top spot in the 18-car field for today's Detroit Indy Grand Prix. Castroneves, who averaged 103.401 mph, broke Billy Boat's 1998 record of six pole position victories in a season and added to his series record total of 23. Series points leader Scott Dixon qualified third, and Tony Kanaan rounded out the second row. Rookie Ryan Hunter-Reay was fifth, followed by Marco Andretti. With two races left, Dixon and Franchitti are separated by four points for the series championship, while Kanaan is in third-place, 62 points off of the lead.

• Champ Car Dutch Grand Prix // Three-time champion Sebastien Bourdais won the pole in Assen, Netherlands, edging rival Justin Wilson for the top starting spot. Bourdais, hoping to become the first Champ Car driver to claim four straight titles, was timed in 1 minute 18.765 seconds around the 2.83-mile Assen track. Yesterday's pole was the sixth this season for the Frenchman, who is switching to Formula One next year.

Horse racing

Lawyer Ron
wins Woodward

Lawyer Ron pulled away in the stretch and won the $500,000 Woodward Stakes by 8 1/4 lengths at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., moving to the top of the handicap division. "I think he's arguably one of the top older horses in training," winning trainer Todd Pletcher said. Lawyer Ron added the Grade I Woodward to his win in the Grade I Whitney Handicap on July 28, a race in which the 4-year-old colt earned an automatic spot in the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic at Monmouth Park on Oct. 27. Lawyer Ron paid $3.50, $2.60, and $2.10, while Sun King was second and returned $7.70 and $4.70. Diamond Stripes paid $3.50 to show. Earlier, Midnight Lute took the lead going into the final turn and won the $250,000 Forego Stakes. The 4-year-old son of Real Quiet won the 7-furlong event in 1:21.06 and now has four wins in nine starts for owners Mike Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman. Midnight Lute, trained by Bob Baffert, paid $7.20, $4.60, and $3.70. Benny the Bull paid $8.80 and $5.80, and Attila's Storm returned $4.90 to show.

Et Cetera

Gay, Felix
dominate at worlds

Tyson Gay joined some fast, fast company. Allyson Felix is a race away from doing the same. The powerhouse pair helped the United States sweep the men's and women's 400-meter relays at the world track and field championships in Osaka, Japan. Gay joined Carl Lewis and Maurice Greene as the only men to win three gold medals at one world meet. Felix, winner of the 200 meters on Friday night, earned her second gold and can get a third in the women's 1,600-meter relay in meet's final session tonight. Only one woman has won three golds in the meet's history - Marita Koch of East Germany at the first world championships in 1983.

• Soccer // Ben Olsen scored twice in the first half to lead visiting D.C. United to a 4-0 win over FC Dallas in a Major League Soccer game. United (13-6-3) extended its winning streak to six games, the longest by any MLS team this season. The loss was the worst home defeat for FC Dallas (11-8-3) since the team moved to Pizza Hut Park on Aug. 6, 2005.

[FROM WIRE REPORTS

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