Spain Beats Greece, Wins Basketball Championship

Pau Gasol’s teammates kept their word, and he had a trophy for each crutch supporting him.

Spain won its first world basketball championship without its star in a performance worthy of a Hollywood script.

With the injured Gasol cheering from the bench, Spain beat Greece, 70-47, Sunday night at Saitama, Japan, in an emotional victory some thought couldn’t happen and few thought would be so easy.

Gasol led Spain (9-0) in scoring and rebounding throughout the tournament. When the 7-footer broke his foot with about a minute left in a 75-74 semifinal win over Argentina, his team’s gold-medal hopes dimmed considerably.

“Against Argentina that was a night of pain and happiness, and it has become happiness,” said Gasol, the world championship trophy on one side and the MVP award on the other. “It couldn’t be any better today. It’s hard to describe with words.”

Gasol stood holding his head in his hands, tears on his face, in the final seconds. It wasn’t long before the Memphis Grizzlies’ star hopped to midcourt to join his teammates.

Spain’s challenge seemed even more difficult considering a near-perfect performance by Greece (8-1) in a 101-95 semifinal victory over the United States.

Spain limited Greece to less than half the points it scored against the U.S. and kept its shooting percentage to about half (33% vs. 63%).

Gasol averaged 21.3 points and 9.4 rebounds during the worlds. He has a partial fracture in his left foot, and the Grizzlies say he will need surgery.

Mihalis Kakiouzis had 17 points for Greece, which finished fourth in 1994 and 1998.

This was Europe’s third straight world title -- Yugoslavia won in 1998 and 2002 -- and it will have the home continent advantage in 2010 with the tournament in Turkey.

SOCCER

U.S. Women Lose to Brazil, Finish Fourth

The United States finished fourth at the FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Championship, losing, 6-5, on penalty kicks to Brazil after a 0-0 tie in the third-place game at Moscow.

It marked the first time the Americans finished out of the top three in 10 FIFA women’s tournaments.

North Korea won the final, 5-0, over China in heavy rain.

China’s Ma Xiaoxu won the Golden Ball as most valuable player and the Golden Shoe as top scorer with five goals and two assists.

Brazil defeated Argentina, 3-0, behind two goals from Elano and one by Kaka in a men’s exhibition game at London.

MISCELLANY

Hackett, Gibson Given Clearance by NCAA

USC freshman basketball players Daniel Hackett and Taj Gibson have received initial eligibility clearance from the NCAA, providing the Trojans with a major boost in the wake of a turbulent off-season.

Hackett, a 6-foot-6 guard, who graduated from Bellflower St. John Bosco High a year early, will help freshman Kevin Galloway fill the ball-handling void created by the shooting death of freshman Ryan Francis and first-semester academic ineligibility of junior Gabe Pruitt.

Hackett will be a walk-on but will not have to pay tuition because his father, Rudy, is USC’s strength and conditioning coach.

Gibson, a 6-9 forward from San Fernando Calvary Christian, is expected to solidify the Trojans’ interior presence.

*

-- Ben Bolch

The United States baseball team qualified for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing with an 11-5 victory over Panama at Havana.

Cuba garnered the region’s other direct slot for the Olympics after a 4-0 victory over Mexico. The United States will play Cuba for the tournament championship on Tuesday.

Jessica Mendoza hit two home runs to lead the United States to an 11-2 victory over Australia and extend the Americans’ unbeaten streak at the world softball championships at Beijing. In other second-round games, Japan edged China, 1-0; Canada defeated Taiwan, 3-2, and Italy eliminated Venezuela, 2-1.

Mike Keenan resigned as general manager of the NHL’s Florida Panthers, stepping down after a little more than two years running the team’s day-to-day operations.

Coach Jacques Martin will assume the GM duties, effective immediately, team officials said.

In a statement, the team said Keenan was leaving “to pursue other career opportunities.”

Asafa Powell led from start to finish to win the 100 meters in 9.86 seconds, joining two others in big paydays at a track meet at Berlin.

Jeremy Wariner and Sanya Richards also earned just under $250,000 each by winning their events. Wariner completed a sweep of six wins in six Golden League races, taking the 400 meters in 44.26 seconds.

Richards won the women’s 400 by nearly a second in beating another American, Dee Dee Trotter. Richards eased home in 49.81 and Trotter was second in 50.87.

Powell, the world record co-holder from Jamaica, was followed by Americans Tyson Gay in 9.96 and Leonard Scott in 10.07.

Sherone Simpson of Jamaica ran away with the women’s 100, posting a time of 10.92 to beat Me’Lisa Barber of the United States, who finished in 11.21.

Mat Mladin completed a sweep of weekend AMA Superbike Championship races, winning at Road Atlanta at Barselton, Ga., for his 50th career victory.

It was the Australian’s seventh victory of the season, keeping his championship hopes alive with one round remaining in the series.

George Hincapie pulled away from his future teammate to win the road race title at the USA Cycling Professional Championships at Greenville, S.C.

Hincapie traded the lead and shared the workload throughout the 121-mile course with Levi Leipheimer, who will join him on the Discovery Channel team next year.

Hincapie pulled ahead in the final mile to win the race by 16 seconds in a time of 4 hours 47 minutes 15 seconds. Danny Pate, of Colorado Springs, Colo., was third, 1 minute 20 seconds behind.