Boykins steals spotlight from James
CLEVELAND, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- Earl Boykins scored 10 of his 18 points in a span of 2:04 Wednesday night, lifting Denver over Cleveland, 93-89.
The outcome spoiled the home debut of Cleveland's LeBron James and Boykins managed to overshadow the highly-publicized matchup of James and fellow-rookie Carmelo Anthony.
After seven scoreless minutes in the first half, Boykins led the way in the third quarter. He assisted on Jon Barry's three-pointer that capped a 9-1 spurt for a 64-56 advantage with 4:28 left.
The Cavaliers responded with four straight points before Boykins hit a three-pointer to start his personal tear. He made two more jumpers and assisted on another three-pointer by Barry as Denver took a 77-64 advantage into the fourth period.
Anthony scored 14 points while James did not score in the second half and finished with seven points.
TCU barely stays unbeaten
FORT WORTH, Texas, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- Unbeaten Texas Christian escaped with a 31-28 victory over Louisville Wednesday night when Nate Smith's last-second field goal try hit the crossbar.
Quarterback Brandon Hassell threw and ran for a touchdown as the Horned Frogs, ninth in th3 BCS rankings, improved to 9-0.
TCU overcame a 459-yard passing performance by Stefan LeFors, who brought the Cardinals within three points when, as the holder on an apparent field goal try, ran nine yards on the fake for a score with 6:39 remaining.
Smith had two late chances to tie the game. He missed a 47-yard try with 2:36 left and then, on the final play of the game, his 44-yard attempt into a gusting north wind hit the crossbar and bounced back into the end zone.
It was the fifth three-point win of the year for the Horned Frogs.
Vancouver's unbeaten streak reaches nine
NASHVILLE, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- Brendan Morrison scored in his fourth straight game and Markus Naslund added three assists Wednesday night, giving Vancouver a 4-3 win over Nashville.
The Canucks extended their unbeaten streak to nine games.
Scott Hartnell took advantage of a turnover 7:45 into the contest, giving Nashville the lead and ending Vancouver's string of scoring first at 12 games. The teams traded power-play goals later in the first period before Jason King netted his third goal in two games in the second period to knot the contest at 2-2.
Trevor Linden snapped the tie early in the third, and Morrison tallied midway through the period to extend his points streak to nine games.
Johan Hedberg stopped 23 shots for the Canucks, who won their fifth straight and ran their string of consecutive games with three or fewer goals allowed to 13.
Tour Championship opens Thursday
HOUSTON, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- Vijay Singh and Tiger Woods begin their battle for the PGA Tour money title Thursday in the opening round of the Tour Championship.
Singh will have the advantage at the start of the week as the top two ranked players in the world also contend for the tour's Player of the Year honor.
Even if he wins at Champions Club on Sunday, Woods still will finish behind Vijay Singh on the money list if Singh winds up no worse than third.
"All we can do is control our own destiny," Woods said. "If Vijay wins, he probably should get Player or the Year. If Mike Weir wins, he automatically gets Player of the Year and if Davis Love wins, that puts him at five wins."
Singh and Woods will be paired together for the opening round.
