Sports Briefs

Arians going with Lindley over Thomas

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — The Arizona Cardinals went back to work Thursday amid media reports that coach Bruce Arians has changed his mind and decided to start Ryan Lindley at quarterback Sunday in the regular-season finale at San Francisco.

Arians does not talk to reporters on Thursday and offensive coordinator Harold Goodwin was not forthcoming about the reported quarterback switch.

“I guess we’ll see on Sunday,” Goodwin said.

Arians had said that rookie Logan Thomas would get his first NFL start against the 49ers but apparently didn’t like what he saw in Wednesday’s practice.

Lindley was working with the No. 1 unit in the brief portion of Thursday’s practice that was open to reporters.

Azcentral.com, which includes The Arizona Republic, first reported the quarterback switch.

GW tops Wichita St. for tourney title

HONOLULU (AP) — Kethan Savage sparked a late rally and scored 12 points to lead George Washington to a 60-54 upset over No. 11 Wichita State in the final of the Diamond Head Classic on Thursday night.

The Colonials (9-3) won their first in-season tournament since they knocked off Michigan State and Maryland in the 2004 BB&T Classic.

They trailed 50-43 with just under 7 minutes remaining when Savage twice swatted away a pass down the court and recovered the ball for a layup. Yuta Watanabe put the Colonials ahead for good with a 3-pointer with 3:32 remaining.

The Shockers (10-2) made only one field goal over the last 6 minutes. Fred VanVleet led Wichita State with 11 points on 4-of-15 shooting. The Shockers shot 34 percent for the game.

Maine-made boat leads yacht race

SYDNEY (AP) — American super maxi Comanche held the lead in the Sydney to Hobart late on the first day after an impressive start to the annual ocean race to the island state of Tasmania.

Nine hours into the race Friday, the 100-foot Comanche led seven-time and defending champion Wild Oats XI by two nautical miles. Two other super maxis, Perpetual Loyal and Syd Fischer’s Ragamuffin, were third and fourth, respectively.

Comanche was launched in October and is being tested for the first time in tough ocean race conditions.

“It’s a little bumpy, but the boat is handling the weather quite well,” Comanche skipper and former America’s Cup yachtsman Ken Read told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from his yacht. “We’re at (winds of) 23 to 26 knots and we’re pushing hard, looking good.”

Earlier, the hi-tech American yacht reached the first turning mark in only 4 minutes, 35 seconds, a 35-second edge over Wild Oats while still in Sydney Harbour.

Comanche’s fast start stunned veteran race observers and also impressed Wild Oats XI skipper Mark Richards, who was heard to say on television “She’s smoking. Look at that thing go!”

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