SAILING

Maine sailor still in second at Paralympics after Day 4

Hugh Freund of South Freeport and U.S. teammates Alphonsus Doerr and Bradley Kendall remained in second place Thursday after four days of sailing in the Sonar class at the Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro.

The U.S. crew had a sixth-place finish to start the day but rebounded to take second in the late race.

With three races in two days remaining, the Americans have 26 net points. Australia leads with 16 points, while Canada is third with 35.

COLLEGES

FOOTBALL: Greg Ward Jr. returned from a one-game absence and ran for two fourth-quarter touchdowns to help No. 6 Houston – steadied by its fabulous defense – pull away to a 40-16 victory at Cincinnati on Thursday night.

The Cougars (3-0, 1-0 American Athletic) trailed 16-12 early in the fourth quarter before Ward and the defense took over. Ward had the scoring runs to regain the lead, and the Cougars returned a pair of interceptions for touchdowns to close it out.

BASEBALL: Tucker Lee was 3 for 4 and scored twice as Southern Maine CC (2-1-1) played to a 3-3 tie in Game 2 of a doubleheader against Central Maine CC (2-1-1) at South Portland.

Jakob Latini had two hits for the Seawolves, while Caleb Chambers added an RBI triple.

The Mustangs (2-1-1, 2-1-1) took the first game 1-0 after Austin Wing scored on an infield error in the ninth inning.

MEN’S SOCCER: Yuma Kobayashi scored at 47:03, then set up Walter Gadsby 2:33 later, and the Bowdoin JV team outlasted Southern Maine CC for a 2-1 win at South Portland.

Harrison Charwat scored for the Seawolves (2-2-1) at 58:22.

GOLF

LPGA: South Koreans In Gee Chun and Sung Hyun Park shot 8-under 63 on Thursday in Evian-les-Bains, France, to share the first-round lead in the Evian Championship, the last of the tour’s five majors.

Top-ranked Lydia Ko’s bid to defend her title – and win a third career major by the age of 19 – got off to a rocky start with a 70.

U.S. MID-AMATEUR: Former USC player Stewart Hagestad rallied to win the title at Stonewall Links in Elverson, Pennsylvania, overcoming a late four-hole deficit and beating Scott Harvey with a 15-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole.

Hagestad won four of the final five holes of regulation – all with birdies – with a spot in the Masters at stake.

U.S. WOMEN’S MID-AMATEUR: Julia Potter won the for the second time in four years, beating Shannon Johnson 2 and 1 at The Kahkwa Club in Erie Pennsylvania.

Potter, a 28-year-old reinstated amateur from Indianapolis, also won the 2013 event and finished second in 2014.

EUROPEAN TOUR: Defending champion Rikard Karlberg of Sweden shot a 7-under 64 to top the leaderboard in the suspended first round of the Italian Open at Monza.

Thunderstorms delayed play and many players were unable to finish before dark at Golf Club Milano.

BASKETBALL

NBA: Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid has recovered from foot injuries and should be ready to play when the team opens training camp in two weeks.

Embiid, the No. 3 pick in the 2014 draft, has yet to make his NBA debut because of two surgeries on his right foot that stunted his progress.

• Suns forward P.J. Tucker had surgery on his lower back Thursday and is expected to be out six to eight weeks.