BASKETBALL

Beard’s buzzer-beater lifs Sparks to Game 1 win

Alana Beard hit a jumper from the baseline just before time expired to lift the Los Angeles Sparks to a victory over the Minnesota Lynx in Game 1 of the WNBA finals Sunday in Minneapolis.

With the defense collapsing on Candace Parker and Nneka Ogwumike in the paint, Beard was all alone in the corner. She took the pass from Chelsea Gray and knocked down jumper with a hand in her face.

AUTO RACING

XFINITY: Joey Logano passed Kyle Larson on a restart with 12 laps to go to win the Xfinity Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. The race was originally scheduled for Friday night but washed out by Hurricane Matthew and run following the Sprint Cup race. It made for 800 miles of racing, and Logano and Larson were among five drivers who ran both events.

But Logano had tire troubles in the Cup race, came 120 miles short of completion, and joked it made him fresh for the Xfinity race.

FORMULA ONE: Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg capitalized on a slow start by teammate Lewis Hamilton to win the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka, Japan, and widen his lead in the drivers’ championship.

Rosberg, who started from pole position, controlled the race throughout and finished 4.9 seconds ahead of Red Bull driver Max Verstappen, who held off Hamilton in close racing over the final few laps. With four races remaining Rosberg holds a 33-point lead over Hamilton.

Road racing

CHICAGO MARATHON: Abel Kirui of Kenya pulled ahead of defending champion Dickson Chumba for good in the final mile to win the Chicago Marathon.

Florence Kiplagat of Kenya won her second straight Chicago Marathon women’s title.

The 34-year-old Kirui finished the 26.2-mile course in an unofficial time of 2 hours, 11 minutes, 23 seconds.

Chumba finished in 2:11:26.

The 29-year-old Kiplagat finished in an unofficial time of 2:21:32.

TWIN CITIES MARATHON: Kenyan Dominic Ondoro repeated as winner in St. Paul, Minnesota, this time breaking a 30-year-old course record.

Ondoro crossed the finish line in 2 hours, 8 minutes, 51 seconds. The Star Tribune reports his time was more than a minute better than the previous record of 2:10:05 set by Phil Coppess in 1985.

Kenyan Jane Kibii was top women’s finisher at 2:30:01 a year after finishing second.

BOXING

OBITUARY: Aaron Pryor, the relentless junior welterweight who fought two memorable bouts with Alexis Arguello, died Sunday. He was 60.

Pryor’s family issued a statement saying the boxer died at his home in Cincinnati after a long battle with heart disease.

Known as “The Hawk,” Pryor was a crowd favorite who fought with a frenetic style, rarely if ever taking a step backward.

His fights in the early 1980s with Arguello, the great Nicaraguan champion, were both classics that are still talked about in boxing circles.

HIGH SCHOOL

BOYS’ SOCCER: Noah Stracqualursi had three goals and one assist to lead Scarborough (8-3) to a 7-0 win over Noble (4-7) Saturday in Scarborough.

Justin Perry, Liam Brigham and Ben Batoosingh also scored, while Morgan Pratt and Chris Franklin combined for five saves.

Noah Safford had nine saves for the Knights.

– Staff and news service report