BASKETBALL

The Maine Celtics ended a tough six-game trip with a 118-101 loss Tuesday night to the  College Park Skyhawks in a G League game at College Park, Georgia.

Maine, which had lost just once in seven games before the trip, went 2-4 on the trip and has lost three straight.

The Skyhawks led from the start, scoring 41 points in the first quarter and 33 in the second for a 74-49 halftime lead.

Luka Šamanić led Maine with 17 points, 12 rebounds and three steals. Marial Shayok scored 20 points on 7 for-13 shooting from the field. Kamar Baldwin put up 15 points, six rebounds and three assists off the bench. Two-Way player Mfiondu Kabengele had 14 points, seven rebounds, five assists and four blocks.

Tyrese Martin dropped a game-high 31 points for College Park. Brandon Williams followed up Sunday’s 28-point performance with 27 points and three steals on a career-high seven made 3-pointers.

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BOXING

OBIT: Mills Lane, the Hall of Fame boxing referee who was the third man in the ring when Mike Tyson bit Evander Holyfield’s ear, died. He was 85.

Lane had suffered a stroke in 2002 and his son, Tommy, said his father had taken a significant turn for the worse recently before entering hospice care on Friday. He died at his home in Reno, Nevada, with his wife, Kaye, and two sons in the home.

A boxer himself who won an NCAA championship in 1960, Lane went 10-1 as a pro before eventually making a much bigger mark in the sport as a referee.

Respected for being tough but fair, his “Let’s get it on!” command became the final words heard before many memorable fights.

Mills was the referee when Holyfield won the heavyweight title from Buster Douglas, and again when Tyson was disqualified during his second fight with Holyfield after intentionally biting his ear.

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Lane officiated more than 100 title fights, sharing the ring with greats such as Muhammad Ali, Larry Holmes and Lennox Lewis, and was respected for his fairness and toughness.

But boxing was only his weekend job, Tommy Lane said. Mills Lane was also a judge and district attorney, respected for his fairness and toughness – just as he was in the ring.

SOCCER

MLS: Wilfried Nancy was hired to coach Major League Soccer’s Columbus Crew, replacing Caleb Porter.

Nancy was born in France and spent the last two seasons as coach of CF Montreal, which agreed to release Nancy and some of his assistants in exchange for compensation.

Montreal had a team-best 20 wins, nine losses and five draws last season, finishing second in the Eastern Conference.

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Porter was fired in October, one day after Columbus failed to make the playoffs.

TENNIS

WOMEN: Two-time Grand Slam finalist Karolina Pliskova is reuniting with Coach Sascha Bajin ahead of the 2023 tennis season.

Pliskova posted on her website and her Twitter account about the move, which comes about six months after she and Bajin stopped working together. The pair originally teamed up in November 2020.

While Bajin was her coach, Pliskova reached the final at Wimbledon in 2021 before losing to champion Ash Barty. Pliskova also was the runner-up at the 2016 U.S. Open, where she defeated Serena Williams in the semifinals before being beat by Angelique Kerber for the trophy.

After splitting from Bajin in July, Pliskova was coached by Leos Friedl. Their results together included a quarterfinal run at the U.S. Open.

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HOPMAN CUP: The Hopman Cup competition that pairs one woman and one man from each participating country will return next year and be played in Nice, France.

The International Tennis Federation announced the matches will be held on July 19-23.

The Nice Lawn Tennis Club will be the site for the event through 2027.

The Hopman Cup was last staged in 2019 at Perth, Australia, its home since it was founded in 1989.

EXHIBITION: Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz will resume their rivalry for the ages in an exhibition match in Las Vegas on March 5.

Nadal, 36, owns a men’s-record 22 Grand Slam titles, including two in 2022 at the Australian Open in January and French Open in June, and Alcaraz, 19, claimed his first major trophy at the U.S. Open in September.

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The two Spaniards finished 1-2 in this year’s ATP rankings: Alcaraz is the youngest man to finish at No. 1, and Nadal is the oldest to finish at No. 2.

OLYMPICS

IOC: The International Olympic Committee warned it could stop working with Afghanistan ahead of the next Olympics in 2024 if women are not allowed to play sports under Taliban rule.

The IOC said its support for Afghanistan’s National Olympic Committee will depend on conditions including women being allowed to play sports with “safe and inclusive access” and to take part in sports administration. Afghanistan’s teams for international events must include female athletes who live in the country and not only those based abroad.


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