INDOOR TRACK
Isaiah Harris of Lewiston ran the fastest time in the heats of the 800 meters Friday as he qualified for Saturday’s final at the indoor track world championships in Belgrade, Serbia.
With a time of 1:47.00, Harris won the fourth and final heat, joining U.S. champion Bryce Hoppel (1:48.77) in the final at 2:10 p.m. Saturday.
BASKETBALL
G LEAGUE: BJ Johnson made a go-ahead jumper with 21.1 seconds to play and Jeff Dowtin followed with a pair of free throws as the Lakeland Magic edged the Maine Celtics, 106-103, at the Portland Expo.
Johnson led Lakeland (9-17) with 31 points. Dowtin finished with 19.
Matt Ryan scored 37 points for Maine (12-14), draining 8 of 14 from behind the 3-point arc. Luke Kornet, on assignment from the Boston Celtics, added 15 points and Broderic Thomas had 13.
HOCKEY
ECHL: Shawn St-Amant’s goal midway through the first period was all the Trois-Rivières Lions needed for a 1-0 win over the Maine Mariners in Trois-Rivières, Quebec.
Arturs Silovs made 31 saves for the shutout. Maine’s Callum Booth had 22 saves.
GOLF
PGA: Matthew NeSmith tied the Copperhead course record at Innisbrook with a 10-under 61 and set the tournament record for 36 holes in building a two-shot lead going into the weekend at the Valspar Championship in Palm Harbor, Florida.
Scoring has been low all week after rain softened the course and the wind has been minimal. NeSmith had eagle putts on three of four par 5s. He shot 30 on the front nine, and his 18-foot birdie putt on his final hole at No. 9 burned the edge of the cup.
His 61 tied the course set by Padraig Harrington in 2012. NeSmith was at 14-under 128, breaking by two shots the 36-hole tournament record that Sam Burns and Keegan Bradley set a year ago.
Adam Hadwin of Canada, whose lone PGA Tour victory was five years ago at Innisbrook, had a 66 and was two shots behind.
EUROPEAN TOUR: Shaun Norris of South Africa opened a three-shot lead with a second-round 62 at the Steyn City Championship in Johannesburg.
Norris moved to 18 under par with a near flawless round that included eight birdies and an eagle. His 36-hole score matched the European Tour record set by Ernie Els in 2004, but Norris won’t go down in the history books alongside the four-time major winner because players have been benefiting from preferred lies after heavy rain this week.
Norris surged ahead of South African compatriot James Hart du Preez, who carded 66 and was at 15 under.
TENNIS
BNP PARIBAS OPEN: Taylor Fritz defeated Miomir Kecmanovic, 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-1, to reach the semifinals in Indian Wells, California, for the second time in five months.
Fritz also made it to the semifinals in October, when the tournament was held last year instead of its traditional March spot because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fritz next plays No. 7 seed Andrey Rublev, who beat Grigor Dimitrov, 7-5 6-2.
SOCCER
WORLD CUP QUALIFYING: Russia’s request to freeze a FIFA ban on its soccer teams ahead of next week’s World Cup qualifying playoffs was denied Friday.
FIFA said the Court of Arbitration for Sport dismissed the Russian soccer federation’s bid for an urgent interim ruling to freeze the ban pending a full appeal, which could come within weeks.
The CAS decision means Russia will not be able to play Poland in World Cup qualifying on Thursday.
• Sergino Dest will miss the United States’ last three World Cup qualifiers after injuring his left hamstring and was replaced on the roster Friday by left back George Bello.
Dest, the top American choice at right back, was hurt Thursday during Barcelona’s Europa League win at Turkey’s Galatasaray.
His injury leaves DeAndre Yedlin and Reggie Cannon as the top picks to start at right back in a match at Mexico on Thursday. The U.S. then hosts Panama on March 27 and finishes qualifying at Costa Rica three days later.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: As the club moves closer to replacing its Russian ownership, European champion Chelsea was drawn to play record 13-time winner Real Madrid in the Champions League quarterfinals.
All three English clubs avoided each other in the quarterfinals, as did all three Spanish teams.
Manchester City plays Atletico Madrid, Liverpool was drawn to face Benfica, and Bayern Munich will play Villarreal.
GERMANY: A Bundesliga linesman was struck in the back of the head by a plastic beer cup thrown from the crowd, forcing a game between Bochum and Borussia Monchengladbach to be called off.
The match was already noteworthy for being the league’s first to be played between teams without coaches, as Bochum’s Thomas Reis and Gladbach counterpart Adi Hutter have coronavirus infections.
Gladbach was leading 2-0 through second-half goals from Alassane Plea and Breel Embolo with around 20 minutes remaining when linesman Christian Gittelman was hit from behind by the beer cup.
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