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Sports Briefs: USA falls to Finland
Monday, May 12, 2008

Mikko Koivu scored with less than four minutes remaining to give Finland a 3-2 come-from-behind win yesterday against the United States at the world hockey championships in Halifax, Nova Scotia, that was marred by a postgame brawl.

After Koivu scored with 3:50 left, the United States' Adam Burish was ejected for butt-ending a Finland player.

As the final horn sounded to end the game, U.S. forward Dustin Brown drilled a Finnish defenseman into the boards with a hit to the head, touching off a melee that featured a fight between David Backes of the United States and Amsso Salmela of Finland.

The United States took a two-goal lead to the third after scoring twice in the second. But Finland (4-0) scored three times on 25 shots in the final frame.

Phil Kessel and Tom Gilbert scored for the United States in the second period for a 2-0 lead.

In Quebec City, Andres Ambuhl and Sandy Jeannin scored early to help Switzerland beat Denmark, 7-2, temporarily tying it with the Czech Republic for second in the group.

College basketball
A former associate of Southern California freshman guard O.J. Mayo claims Mayo received thousands of dollars in cash and other gifts from an event promoter the past four years that would violate NCAA rules, ESPN reported.

Louis Johnson told ESPN's "Outside the Lines," that Rodney Guillory, a Los Angeles-based event promoter, gave Mayo about $30,000 and other benefits while he attended high school and his sole season at USC. Mayo has decided to forgo his sophomore year and enter the NBA draft.

Mayo got into some minor trouble with the NCAA earlier this year after he accepted free tickets from Denver Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony to an NBA game. Mayo didn't miss any games but had to contribute $460 -- the total value of the two tickets -- to a charitable organization.

Tennis
Novak Djokovic won the 10th title of his career, rallying to beat unseeded Stanislas Wawrinka, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, at the caly-court Rome Masters. Third-ranked Djokovic won the Australian Open in January for his first Grand Slam tournament title, then captured the Masters Series event in Indian Wells, Calif., in March.

Dina Safina pulled off her third upset of a top-10 player in a week at the German Open in Berlin, winning the title by defeating ninth-ranked Elena Dementieva, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2. Safina, ranked 17th, also beat No. 1 Justine Henin and No. 8 Serena Williams at this clay-court event.

Ivan Ljubicic was two points from losing the match when he rallied to beat Steve Darcis, 6-7 (6), 7-5, 7-6 (4), in a rare Sunday start for the clay-court Hamburg Masters in Germany. Top-ranked Roger Federer is the defending champion, with a win against Rafael Nadal in the final last year.

• Two-time champion Amelie Mauresmo withdrew from the Italian Open in Rome because of a rib injury.

Soccer
Manchester United won its 10th Premier League title in 16 years, getting a penalty from Cristiano Ronaldo and another goal from Ryan Giggs to beat Wigan, 2-0, on the final day of the season.

Softball
Host Long Island won its 11th league title with a 2-1 win against Robert Morris in the Northeast Conference championship game. Tournament MVP Blaire Porter allowed three hits for Long Island. Camile Kline hit a solo home run for the Colonials, who defeated Saint Francis, Pa., 4-3, in 10 innings to reach the championship game.

Diving
China did not reign supreme at the USA Diving Grand Prix in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., giving hope to the other nations preparing for the Beijing Olympics. On the final day of competition, the Australians took home two gold medals and a silver, with Russia winning the only other gold medal awarded.

The Chinese were shut out of gold for the first time in the four-day event but still managed to lead all countries in the medal count with seven -- three gold, two silver and two bronze.

Australia and United States each finished with five medals overall, with the U.S. team capturing four silver medals.

First published on May 12, 2008 at 12:00 am
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