Lakers outlast Spurs in two overtimes
SAN ANTONIO, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- Shaquille O'Neal's two free throws with 17 seconds left in the second overtime Thursday night lifted the Los Angeles Lakers past San Antonio, 120-117.
The Lakers remained unbeaten in their first five games of the season.
Kobe Bryant scored 37 points, O'Neal had 35 and 19 rebounds and Karl Malone added 15 and 18 before fouling out in the second overtime.
Bryant scored five straight points to start the second overtime and the Lakers had a five-point lead after Gary Payton converted a three-point play.
But Robert Horry made two free throws and then tied the game with a three-pointer with 56 seconds to play.
Bryant missed a shot with 20 seconds to go only to have San Antonio fumble away the rebound right to Bryant. He was fouled and hit both free throws. Payton added a free-throw with four seconds remaining.
Howell, Perry lead Tour Championship
HOUSTON, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- Charles Howell and Kenny Perry put Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh in the background Thursday by sharing the first-round lead at the Tour Championship.
Howell and Perry both shot 4-under 67 at the Champions Club to take a one-shot lead over Fred Funk, Jerry Kelly and Chris DiMarco.
Singh has a lead of $768,494 over Woods in the PGA Tour's money race, which will be a key element in determining Player of the Year honors.
They were paired together Thursday in the season-ending event. Woods had four back-nine bogeys in a 1-under-par 70 while Singh struggled to a 73. To claim his fifth straight money title, Woods must win and rely on Singh finishing worse than third.
Those tied for sixth at 2-under 69 were Chris Riley, Robert Allenby, Briny Baird, Justin Leonard, Jonathan Kaye, Retief Goosen and David Toms.
Blues end Canucks nine-game unbeaten streak
ST. LOUIS, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- Steve Martins scored a shorthanded goal and Keith Tkachuk added a power-play tally Thursday night as St. Louis held on for a 3-2 win over Vancouver.
The Canucks had a nine-game unbeaten streak snapped.
The second rematch of last season's first-round playoff series featured several hard hits. St. Louis center Doug Weight could face NHL discipline after his cross-check on Henrik Sedin left the Vancouver center bloodied.
No penalty was called on that one, but the Canucks had seven power plays. The Blues, however, yielded just one power-play goal and Martins got the go-ahead talley while St. Louis killed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Mike Danton.
Martins turned and fired a long slap shot over the shoulder of Vancouver goaltender Dan Cloutier and into the top right corner of the net with 2:12 to go in the first period.
Atlantic 10 invites two schools
PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- The Atlantic 10 Conference issued invitations Thursday to Charlotte and Saint Louis.
A-10 Commissioner Linda Bruno said the additions would take place beginning with the 2005-06 season.
"Charlotte and Saint Louis are outstanding institutions with strong commitments to athletic excellence," Bruno said. "The two institutions fit perfectly with the current Atlantic 10 membership and would further strengthen our position as one of the best college basketball conferences in the country."
Charlotte, which has more than 19,000 students, already is an A-10 member in several sports, including baseball.
In basketball, the A-10 already consists of Dayton, Xavier, Duquesne, Fordham, George Washington, LaSalle, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Richmond, St. Bonaventure, Saint Joseph's and Temple.
