U.S. team earns world's semifinal spot
ISTANBUL, Turkey, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- Kevin Durant scored 33 points Thursday in pacing the United States to an 89-79 win over Russia in quarterfinal play of the FIBA world championships in Turkey.
The Americans wore down the Russian team, which led 35-30 midway through the second quarter, and had a double-figure lead most of the second half.
The United States moves into Saturday's tournament semifinals against Lithuania, which rolled past Argentina 104-85 in its quarterfinal Thursday. The other semifinal is set with Serbia playing host Turkey.
The 10-point victory was the second closest result for the United States, which beat Brazil 70-68 earlier in the tournament. But it took the Russians scoring the last five points of the game to make Thursday's game appear close.
Russia built a 5-point lead in the second period before the Americans' defense began to take its toll. The United States had a 14-4 run to end the first half and led 44-39 at intermission. The U.S. team, forcing turnovers and not allowing an offensive rebound in the second half, pushed their advantage to as much as 18 points midway through the fourth period.
Durant's 33 points came on 11-of-19 shooting. Chauncey Billups added 15 points and Russell Westbrook 12 for the United States. Russia was paced by a 17-point effort from Sergey Bykov with Andrey Vorontsevich adding 14 and Tomofey Mozgov 13.
Another Williams for Clijsters in semis
NEW YORK, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- Caroline Wozniacki and Kim Clijsters will play for a U.S. Open finals rematch in semifinals matches Friday in New York.
Clijsters defeated Wozniacki in the women's singles final of 2009's last Grand Slam event in a match somewhat overshadowed by Serena Williams' exit in the semis after she was penalized a point, giving Clijsters the match.
Clijsters, who had recently ended a two-year layoff from competitive tennis, then defeated Wozniacki 7-5, 6-3.
It's the other Williams sister who will face Clijsters in this year's semifinals. Third-seeded Venus Williams will meet the second-seeded Clijsters in one of Friday's semifinals. Wozniacki, the No. 1 seed, goes against seventh-seeded Vera Zvonareva in the other.
Clijsters is 6-6 in her career against Venus Williams. But Clijsters has a 2-1 edge in matches at the U.S. Open and has won her last four meetings with Williams, including a victory in the finals this year in Miami.
Wozniacki is 2-2 in her matches against Zvonareva, with the most recent pairing going to Wozniacki in the finals at Montreal. Wozniacki hasn't dropped a set in this year's U.S. Open and has won her last 13 matches overall.
If she manages to win the women's title Saturday night, in addition to her first major tournament title, she'll move into the world No. 1 ranking and collect a $1 million bonus for winning the U.S. Open Series leading up to the tournament in New York. The women's singles title is worth $1.7 million on its own.
'First Four' NCAA games to Dayton
INDIANAPOLIS, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- The first four games of a revamped NCAA Men's Division I basketball tournament will be played in Dayton Ohio, the association said Thursday.
The NCAA in April changed the format of the tournament, adding three teams to make a field of 68. That created the need for a "First Four" series of games prior to the start of the main tournament draw.
Four of the teams involved will play for the right to be installed as two of the four No. 16 -- and last -- seeds. The other two games will send the last four at-large selections against each other.
The games will be played March 15-16 in Dayton, which has been the site of play-in games since the NCAA expanded its tournament from 64 to 65 teams in 2001.
"Dayton hosted the opening round game for the past 10 years and consistently attracted extraordinary crowds, including over 11,000 in 2009," said Ohio State Athletic Director Gene Smith, the chairman of the Division I Men's Basketball Committee. "The enthusiasm the UD staff and the local fans demonstrated for hosting that game did not go unnoticed, so it makes sense to us to conduct the inaugural First Four in Dayton."
Selection Sunday for the tournament field is March 13.
Patriot's Brady in traffic collision
BOSTON, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was involved in a traffic collision that left an occupant of the other vehicle unconscious, authorities said.
Firefighters had to use the Jaws of Life to free the passenger in a minivan involved with Brady's Audi in the Thursday morning accident, the Boston Herald reported.
The man extricated from the van was conscious by the time he was taken into the ambulance, witnesses said.
Brady refused treatment at the scene and was reportedly on his way to Gillette Stadium for practice, a team source said.
Emergency Medical Services personnel transported one person to a hospital, spokeswoman Jennifer Mehigan said.
A witness said Brady was driving south on Commonwealth Avenue in the Back Bay area of Boston and had a green light when the minivan went through a red light and the two cars collided, The Boston Globe reported.
The Patriots are preparing for their season opener Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals.
