HOCKEY
Curtis Hall completed a hat trick with 10 seconds to go and Brad Arvanitis made 33 saves for his first professional shutout as the Maine Mariners routed the Adirondack Thunder 7-0 in an ECHL game at Cross Insurance Center.
Owen Pederson and Chase Zieky each added a goal and an assist, while Brooklyn Kalmikov and Austin Albrecht also scored.
GOLF
PGA: Shane Lowry set the target but wound up with lots of company at the top in the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando, Florida.
Scottie Scheffler chipped in for eagle and holed a 45-foot birdie putt on his way to a 5-under 67. U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark birdied five of his last six holes – he had nine birdies for the round – and shot 66. Hideki Matsuyama, coming off a win at Riviera, had a 70 to put himself in the mix for another $4 million payoff.
All that movement late on a warm day in central Florida led to a six-way share of the lead that includes British Open champion Brian Harman (68) and Russell Henley (69).
They were at 7-under 137. It was the largest logjam through 36 holes on the PGA Tour since seven were tied for the lead at the Texas Open in 2011.
• Tiger Woods is not in the field for The Players Championship next week, opening questions about whether or where the five-time Masters champion will play before Augusta National.
There was not an immediate reason why Woods chose not to play at the TPC Sawgrass, where he has won twice. Even though injuries have severely limited his schedule, he would be eligible from his five-year exemption from winning the 2019 Masters.
• Joe Highsmith made a pair of late birdies to get the lead in the Puerto Rico Open before darkness prevented the rain-delayed second round from being completed.
Highsmith, a 23-year-old rookie, was at 13-under overall with three holes left in the second round. He was one shot ahead of six players who completed their rounds.
LPGA: Narin An shot a 7-under 65 to join Sarah Schmeizel in the lead after the second round of the Blue Bay LPGA on China’s southern island of Hainan.
Both golfers had a 9-under total of 135 to sit one shot clear of Hye-Jin Choi as they each look for a first victory on the LPGA Tour.
LIV: Abraham Ancer and Dean Burmester shot 7-under 63s to share the first-round lead at the inaugural LIV Golf tournament in Hong Kong.
They led by one stroke over a group that included Martin Kaymer and Louis Oosthuizen.
EUROPEAN TOUR: Matteo Manassero of Italy shot a career-low round of 11-under 61 to take a one-shot lead in the Jonsson Workwear Open in South Africa.
Home favorite Oliver Bekker was one shot back.
TENNIS
BNP PARIBAS OPEN: Top-ranked Iga Swiatek moved on with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Danielle Collins at Indian Wells, California.
Swiatek improved to 15-2 this season and earned her fifth straight win over the 30-year-old American, who has announced that she intends to retire after the season.
In other women’s action, Angelique Kerber battled back to beat Jelena Ostapenko 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 in a matchup of former Grand Slam champions.
On the men’s side, Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner cruised to a 6-3, 6-0 win over Thanasi Kokkinakis to extend his winning streak to 16 matches.
AUTO RACING
FORMULA ONE: Max Verstappen of Red Bull won pole position for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, 0.319 seconds ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, with the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez 0.016 further back.
Eighteen-year-old British driver Oliver Bearman qualified 11th for Ferrari in his F1 debut, just hours after the team announced he was the last-minute replacement for Carlos Sainz Jr. The Spanish driver was diagnosed with appendicitis, requiring an operation Friday.
HIGH SCHOOLS
BOYS’ BASKETBALL: New Jersey’s acting education commissioner has rejected an appeal from a high school that lost a state basketball tournament game when referees wrongly overturned a buzzer-beating basket, but the school is taking a final shot in court to have the decision changed.
Manasquan school officials had asked that the state title game scheduled for Saturday be delayed while it appeals its case in court, claiming it deserves to be in the game. But in a ruling issued Friday, acting commissioner Kevin Dehmer said Manasquan’s claims were “not reviewable,” citing the guidelines of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association.
Manasquan initially was declared the winner over Camden in Tuesday night’s Group 2 semifinal game. However, the call was soon overturned when the referees discussed the shot and concluded it came after the buzzer, giving Camden a 46-45 win.
A review of multiple videos of the final seconds clearly showed the shot was in the air and was going into the basket when the final buzzer sounded, meaning it should have counted. The NJSIAA acknowledged Wednesday that the referees made the wrong call but said it would not overturn Camden’s victory. Camden is scheduled to play Newark Tech for the title on Saturday.
– From news service reports
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