Newspaper Page Text
2B Sunday, November 25, 2018
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
SPORTS
RACING | Formula One
Hamilton clinches pole
position for FI finale
JEROME PUGMIRE
Associated Press
ABU DHABI, United
Arab Emirates — Five
time Formula One world
champion Lewis Ham
ilton clinched pole posi
tion for the season-ending
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on
Saturday.
The Mercedes driver’s
11th pole of the season and
record-extending 83rd of his
career looked in some doubt
as Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel
was quicker at the first time
split.
But Vettel went too wide
on the last turn and qualified
only third behind the Mer
cedes of Valtteri Bottas.
“What a great way to end
the season with a 1-2 quali
fying,” Hamilton said. “I
wanted to finish the season
on a high. Really happy with
today.”
Vettel felt he could have
done better.
“I thought (it) was in
reach. I would have liked to
have been on the front row,
it’s not the case,” the Ger
man driver said. “But we
will fight as hard as we can.
We have good speed on the
straights, let’s see what we
can do.”
Kimi Raikkonen was
fourth fastest in his last race
for Ferrari before leaving to
join Sauber next year.
Red Bull drivers Daniel
Ricciardo and Max Verstap-
pen will start from fifth and
sixth on the grid, respec
tively, on a track not well
suited to their car.
Hamilton is aiming to sign
off with an 11th win of the
season, while Bottas has yet
to win one and Vettel’s last
victory came at the Belgian
GP in August.
For the second straight
year, four-time FI champion
Vettel led during the cham
pionship — and was close
behind Hamilton at the half
way stage. Vettel finished 46
points behind Hamilton last
year and trails by 81 heading
into Sunday’s race.
Earlier, Hamilton posted
the fastest time in the third
and final practice in hotter
conditions at the Yas Marina
desert circuit, about 0.3 sec
onds ahead of Vettel and 0.4
ahead of Raikkonen.
It is Ricciardo’s last race
for Red Bull before join
ing Renault next year, and
McLaren veteran Fernando
Alonso’s last ride in FI
before the 37-year-old Span
iard leaves to pursue other
racing interests.
Near the end of P3, there
was a heated moment
between Toro Rosso driver
Pierre Gasly and Romain
Grosjean of Haas when they
narrowly avoided colliding.
The Frenchmen made up
afterward as Grosjean went
over to speak to Gasly, who
patted him on the back.
Today’s race begins at
5:10 p.m. local time and ends
under floodlights.
Bottas has not won since
last year’s season-ender in
Abu Dhabi.
Lauda hopes to be back with Mercedes soon
Niki Lauda hopes to be back working with
Mercedes soon as he continues his recovery
from a lung transplant.
The three-time Formula One champion
appeared cheerful as he posted a message
on the Mercedes team’s Twitter account on
Saturday.
Speaking softly but clearly, Lauda says
“the important message is I will be there
soon” before thanking all his fans for the
“unbelievable” support he has received.
The 69-year-old Lauda, who received a
new lung on Aug. 2, is non-executive chair
man of Mercedes. He has had a close work
ing relationship with five-time FI champion
Lewis Hamilton and was involved in helping
to sign the British driver from McLaren for
the 2013 season.
Hamilton has won four of his titles with
Mercedes, including the past two and in 2014
and T5.
Lauda won the FI drivers’ championship
in 1975 and 1977 with Ferrari and again in
1984 with McLaren.
In 1976, he was badly burned when he
crashed during the German Grand Prix, but
made an astonishingly fast return to racing
just six weeks later.
Associated Press
SCOREBOARD
TENNIS
THIBAULT CAMUS I Associated Press
France’s Nicolas Mahut, right, and Pierre Hughes Herbert celebrate after defeating
Croatia’s Ivan Dodig and Mate Pavic of Croatia during the Davis Cup final between France
and Croatia Saturday in Lille, northern France.
France stays alive
in Davis Cup final
BY SAMUEL PETREQUIN
Associated Press
LILLE, France — Suddenly realizing he
was listening to France’s national anthem
for maybe the last time in his Davis Cup
captain role, Yannick Noah could not hold
back tears.
Standing next to his players during “La
Marseille,” Noah was emotional before
Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Her
bert took on Croatia’s Ivan Dodig and
Mate Pavic in the doubles of the final on
Saturday.
“It’s the first time it happens to me. I told
myself it’s perhaps the last time I’m sing
ing it,” said Noah, who will be replaced at
the helm of the team by Amelie Mauresmo
after this weekend.
The former French Open winner will
have another occasion to sing and cry on
Sunday after Mahut and Herbert put a
smile back on French faces with a 6-4,6-4,
3-6, 7-6 (3) win to keep alive slim French
hopes.
France cut Croatia’s lead to 2-1. Croa
tia still remains the favorite to claim one
more point to dethrone the defending
champions.
“We still have two more matches to win,
we want to win the Davis Cup,” Mahut said.
“Our players can do it tomorrow. They had
a tough day yesterday but maybe with this
win everything can change.”
Chasing an 11th title, France is back
in the final but still faces a big challenge.
The singles players were out of their depth
on Friday, casting serious doubt on the
chances of a comeback in Sunday’s reverse
singles.
Marin Cilic is set to face Jeremy Chardy,
then Borna Coric plays Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
if needed, although captains can change
their lineups.
No team has overturned a 2-0 deficit in a
final since Australia beat the United States
in 1939.
Football/NFL
AMERICAN CONFERENCE
W
East
L T
Pet PF
PA
New England
7
3 0
.700 280
236
Miami
5
5 0
.500 199
256
Buffalo
3
7 0
.300 137
251
N.Y Jets
3
7 0
.300 208
254
W
South
L T
Pet PF
PA
Houston
7
3 0
.700 239
205
Indianapolis
5
5 0
.500 298
249
Tennessee
5
5 0
.500 178
189
Jacksonville
3
7 0
.300 176
219
W
North
L T
Pet PF
PA
Pittsburgh
7
2 1
.750 299
225
Baltimore
5
5 0
.500 237
181
Cincinnati
5
5 0
.500 256
312
Cleveland
3
6 1
.350 218
263
W
West
L T
Pet PF
PA
Kansas City
9
2 0
.818 404
294
L.A. Chargers
7
3 0
.700 262
209
Denver
4
6 0
.400 228
235
Oakland
2
8 0
.200 170
293
NATIONAL CONFERENCE
W
East
L T
Pet PF
PA
Dallas
6
5 0
.545 234
213
Washington
6
5 0
.545 220
229
Philadelphia
4
6 0
.400 205
231
N.Y. Giants
3
7 0
.300 215
263
South
W L T
Pet PF
PA
New Orleans
10
1 0
.909 409
256
Carolina
6
4 0
.600 260
252
Atlanta
4
7 0
.364 280
307
Tampa Bay
3
7 0
.300 267
329
W
North
L T
Pet PF
PA
Chicago
8
3 0
.727 317
211
Minnesota
5
4 1
.550 241
229
Green Bay
4
5 1
.450 247
243
Detroit
4
7 0
.364 238
286
W
West
L T
Pet PF
PA
L.A. Rams
10
1 0
.909 389
282
Seattle
5
5 0
.500 246
216
Arizona
2
8 0
.200 145
248
San Francisco
2
8 0
.200 230
266
Thursday’s Games
Chicago 23, Detroit 16
Dallas 31, Washington 23
New Orleans 31, Atlanta 17
Today’s Games
Seattle at Carolina, 1 p.m.
New England at N.Y. Jets, 1 p.m.
Jacksonville at Buffalo, 1 p.m.
San Francisco at Tampa Bay, 1 p.m.
Oakland at Baltimore, 1 p.m.
N.Y. Giants at Philadelphia, 1 p.m.
Cleveland at Cincinnati, 1 p.m.
Arizona at L.A. Chargers, 4:05 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Denver, 4:25 p.m.
Miami at Indianapolis, 4:25 p.m.
Green Bay at Minnesota, 8:20 p.m.
Open: L.A. Rams, Kansas City
Monday’s Game
Tennessee at Houston, 8:15 p.m.
Basketball/NBA
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Atlantic Division
W
L
Pet
GB
Toronto
16
4
.800
—
Philadelphia
13
8
.619
3 1 /z
Boston
10
9
.526
5 1 /2
Brooklyn
8
12
.400
8
New York
6
14
.300
10
Southeast Division
W
L
Pet
GB
Charlotte
9
9
.500
—
Orlando
9
10
.474
1 /2
Miami
7
11
.389
2
Washington
6
12
.333
3
Atlanta
3
16
.158
6 1 /2
Central Division
W
L
Pet
GB
Milwaukee
13
5
.722
—
Indiana
11
8
.579
2 1 /2
Detroit
9
7
.563
3
Chicago
5
14
.263
8 1 /2
Cleveland
3
14
.176
9 1 /2
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Southwest Division
W
L
Pet
GB
Memphis
12
6
.667
—
Houston
9
8
.529
2 1 /2
New Orleans
10
9
.526
2 1 /2
San Antonio
9
9
.500
3
Dallas
8
9
.471
3 1 / 2
Northwest Division
W
L
Pet
GB
Oklahoma City
12
6
.667
—
Denver
12
7
.632
y 2
Portland
12
7
.632
1 /2
Minnesota
8
11
.421
4/2
Utah
8
11
.421
4/2
Pacific Division
W
L
Pet
GB
L.A. Clippers
12
6
.667
—
Golden State
13
7
.650
—
L.A. Lakers
11
7
.611
1
Sacramento
10
8
.556
2
Phoenix
4
14
.222
8
Basketball/College
Men’s AP Top 25
Record
Pts
Prv
1. Duke (53)
3-0
1564
1
2. Kansas (7)
3-0
1510
2
3. Gonzaga
3-0
1437
3
4. Virginia (2)
3-0
1299
4
5. Tennessee (1)
3-0
1281
5
6. Nevada
3-0
1253
6
7. North Carolina
4-0
1246
7
8. Auburn
3-0
1123
9
9. Michigan
5-0
1021
18
10. Kentucky
3-1
980
10
11. Michigan St.
3-1
937
11
12. Kansas St.
4-0
889
12
13. Virginia Tech
4-0
849
16
14. Florida St.
2-0
794
14
15. Mississippi St.
3-0
619
17
16. Clemson
3-0
462
19
17. UCLA
3-0
430
20
18. TCU
3-0
388
21
19. LSU
4-0
358
22
20. Iowa
4-0
354
—
21. Oregon
3-1
325
13
22. Buffalo
3-0
240
25
23. Ohio St.
4-0
222
—
24. Purdue
4-1
199
23
25. Wisconsin
3-0
150
—
Others receiving votes: Nebraska 98, Indiana
74, Maryland 56, Villanova 53, Furman 50,
Syracuse 29, Washington 29, Texas 23, Butler
18, Miami 18, West Virginia 18, St. John’s 13,
Iowa St. 11, Texas Tech 8, Florida 7, Marquette
7, Saint Louis 6, Arizona St. 4, Marshall 4,
Notre Dame 4, Vanderbilt 4, UConn 3, Loyola of
Chicago 2, Loyola Marymount 2, Temple 2
Women’s AP Top 25
Record
Pts
Prv
1. Notre Dame (31)
3-0
775
1
2. UConn
2-0
736
2
3. Oregon
4-0
705
3
4. Baylor
4-0
677
4
5. Louisville
2-0
656
5
6. Mississippi St.
4-0
604
6
7. Maryland
4-0
563
9
8. Stanford
3-0
562
7
9. Oregon St.
3-0
537
8
10. Texas
3-0
490
11
11.Tennessee
3-0
469
12
12. Iowa
4-0
435
13
13. South Carolina
2-0
365
10
14. Syracuse
2-0
357
18
15. NC State
4-0
355
17
16. DePaul
2-0
279
15
17. South Florida
4-0
243
21
18. California
4-0
219
23
19. Arizona St.
2-0
165
22
20. Texas A&M
2-0
143
20
21. Missouri
2-0
135
16
22. Marquette
2-0
120
19
23. Minnesota
3-0
116
25
24. Miami
2-0
95
24
25. West Virginia
3-0
70
—
Others receiving votes: Iowa St. 64, Georgia
48, Northwestern 46, Drake 12, UCLA 8, Boise
St. 6, Michigan 5, Virginia Tech 5, TCU 3, Green
Bay 2, Southern Cal 2, Duke 1, Georgia Tech 1,
South Dakota St. 1.
Transactions
FOOTBALL
National Football League
NFL — Fined Kansas City WR Tyreek Hill
$10,026 for taunting and Kansas City S Eric
Murray $26,739 for unnecessary roughness
against the Los Angeles Rams. Fined Denver S
Justin Simmons $53,482 for a helmet-to-helmet
hit on a defenseless receiver against the Los
Angeles Chargers. Fined Los Angeles Chargers’
Jeff Richards $26,739 for unnecessary rough
ness and Derwin James $10,026 for a facemask
penalty. Fined Jacksonville’s Calais Campbell
$20,054 for roughing the passer and Yannick
Ngakoue and Telvin Smith $10,026 each for
unnecessary roughness against Pittsburgh.
Fined New York Giants’ Olivier Vernon $20,054
for a roughing-the-passer penalty. Fined
Minnesota’s Harrison Smith $10,026 for his
hit on Chicago QB Mitchell Trubisky. Fined New
Orleans RB Alvin Kamara $10,026 for unsports
manlike conduct; and fined Indianapolis’ George
Odum (unnecessary roughness), Cincinnati’s
Dre’ Kirkpatrick (unsportsmanlike conduct) and
Green Bay’s Bashaud Breeland (unnecessary
roughness) $10,026 each.
BALTIMORE RAVENS — Activated CB Maurice
Canady from injured reserve. Waived G/C
Hroniss Grasu.
CHICAGO BEARS — Signed DB John Franklin
III to the practice squad.
GREEN BAY PACKERS — Signed DL James
Looney from the practice squad. Placed LB Nick
Perry on injured reserve.
SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS — Promoted LB Jeff
Wilson Jr. from the practice squad. Waived QB
Tom Savage.
HOCKEY
National Hockey League
NHL — Fined Vancouver F Antoine Roussel
$5,000 by the NHL for biting San Jose D Marc-
Edouard Vlasic during a Nov. 23 game.
EDMONTON OILERS — Recalled F Jesse
Puljujarvi from Bakersfield (AHL).
NEW YORK ISLANDERS — Recalled F Tanner
Fritz from Bridgeport (AHL). Assigned F Michael
Dal Colie to Bridgeport.
American Hockey League
BRIDGEPORT SOUND TIGERS — Recalled F
Ryan Hitchcock from Worcester (ECHL).
TODAY ON TV
FOOTBALL
■ Patriots at Jets, 1 p.m., CBS
■ Seahawks at Panthers, 1 p.m., FOX
■ Steelers at Broncos, 4:25 p.m., CBS
■ Packers at Vikings, 8:20 p.m., NBC
SKIING
■ Women’s Killington Cup, 1 p.m., NBC
SOCCER
■ Atlanta United vs. New York Red Bulls,
5 p.m., ESPN
■ Portland Timbers vs. Sporting KC, 7:30
p.m., FS1
BASKETBALL
■ Advocare Invitational seventh-
place game, 10:30 p.m., ESPNU
■ Advocare Invitational
championship, 1 p.m., ESPN
■ Wooden Legacy fifth-place game,
2 p.m., ESPNU
■ Advocare Invitational third place
game, 4 p.m., ESPN2
■ Wooden Legacy third-place
game, 4 p.m., ESPNU
■ Advocare Invitational fifth-place
game, 6:30 p.m., EPSNU
■ Wooden Legacy championship,
10:30 p.m., ESPN2
COLLEGE BASKCTBALL | Top 25
No. 2 Kansas beats No. 5
Tennessee in overtime
Associated Press
Dedric Lawson had 24 points, 13
rebounds and five assists, and No. 2 Kan
sas rallied to beat No. 5 Tennessee 87-81
in overtime in the NIT Season Tip-Off title
game that ended early Saturday.
Lagerald Vick scored 15 points, with
eight straight during a crucial stretch for
the Jayhawks’ comeback, and assisted on
an alley-oop to Lawson that made it 78-73
with 2:39 left in overtime. Lawson was
named the tournament MVP.
Tennessee’s Admiral Schofield had 21
points and six rebounds while Grant Wil
liams had 18 points, eight rebounds and
six assists before fouling out. Jordan Bone
added 16 points for the Volunteers (4-1).
Bone skipped back to the bench after hit
ting a 3-pointer to end the first half and put
Tennessee up 33-31. The Volunteers led by
as many as nine points in the second half
before Kansas (5-0) stormed back.
NO. 4 VIRGINIA 53, NO. 25 WISCON
SIN 46:
De’Andre Hunter had 20 points and nine
rebounds to help Virginia beat Wisconsin in
the Battle 4 Atlantis championship game.
Ty Jerome added 11 points for the Cava
liers (6-0), who led 33-18 after a strong first
half, and then sputtered offensively as the
Badgers kept pushing back. Virginia made
just 2 of 16 shots out of halftime and shot 26
percent for the second half.
But the Cavs’ usual tough defense was
good enough to keep the Badgers and
preseason Associated Press All-American
Ethan Happ at arm’s distance.
Happ finished with 22 points, 15
rebounds and six assists for Wisconsin (5-1),
which shot 52 percent after halftime to cut
into the deficit. The Badgers got as close as
five four separate times in the second half,
but could never overtake the Cavaliers.
NO. 6 NEVADA 110, MASSACHU
SETTS 87:
Caleb Martin scored 29 points,
Tre’Shawn Thurman added 22 points and
eight rebounds, and Nevada beat Massa
chusetts in the Las Vegas Invitational’s sec
ond championship game.
Martin, who was named the tournament
MVP, finished 9 of 15 from the field and 6
of 10 from 3-point range.
Cody Martin had 18 points and seven
rebounds for the Wolf Pack (6-0), and
Jordan Caroline had 16 points and 10
rebounds. Nevada shot 62 percent from the
field, including 11 of 22 from 3-point range.
Luwane Pipkins led the Minutemen (4-2)
with 30 points and seven rebounds, while
Keon Clergeot added 12 as five Massachu
setts players reached double digits.
STRIPES
■ Continued from 1B
A trophy.
United went into the last
day of the regular season
leading the Supporters’
Shield standings, only to
flop in a 4-1 loss at Toronto
that allowed the Red Bulls
to take the prize.
Defender Michael
Parkhurst said that
slip-up is providing
extra motivation in
the playoffs, which
Atlanta opened
with a win over
New York City in
the Eastern Confer
ence semifinals.
“If we had won
the Supporters’
Shield and just got knocked
out playoffs against New
York City, we probably
would’ve looked back and
said, ‘Hey, it was still a
pretty good season.’ Now,
I don’t think we’ll be able
to look back and say that
until we win a trophy,”
Parkhurst said. “The goal
is to win a trophy, for sure. ”
United also wants to send
its coach out in style.
Tata Martino has already
announced he will be leav
ing at the end of the season
, reportedly to take over
as Mexico’s national team
coach. The former Barce
lona and Argentina national
coach has been a huge fac
tor in Atlanta’s immediate
success, most notably by
persuading talented South
American players such as
Martinez and Almiron to
take a chance on
an MLS expansion
team.
Before the play-
off-clinching win
over New York
City FC , United
fans unveiled a
tifo of Martino in
statue-like form.
“People under
stand that Tata
has had a big role in this
team from the beginning,”
Parkhurst said. “We were
able to bring in talent that
may not have come here
without him. It’s not only
what we’ve done on the
field, the product we’ve
been able to bring on
a weekly basis and the
results. It’s also the culture
he created here from day
one.
The Red Bulls’ success
is all the more remarkable
given the jarring change
they went through in early
July when Marsch left to
become assistant manager
with RB Leipzig in the Ger
man Bundesliga, leading to
Armas’ promotion.
Since he took over, New
York is 12-3-3 — including
five straight victories to
close the regular season.
In the Eastern Confer
ence semifinals against
Columbus, the Red Bulls
rebounded from a 1-0 loss
on the road to win the series
with a 3-0 victory at home.
“It’s never easy when
transitioning from assistant
coach to head coach,” New
York’s Sean Davis said.
“There are different ways
you have to manage play
ers. But Chris has done a
fantastic job of adjusting.
There’s nothing that really
prepared him for that until
he stepped into the head
coaching role. With the lim
ited time he got, he’s been
fantastic. The guys love
playing for him just like
they loved playing for Jesse
Marsch.”
Parkhurst