The Sun /Sunday, February 16, 2014 www.sunnewspapers.net SP Page 3 * MEN'S BASKETBALL: FGCU holds off S.C. Upstate BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Bernard Thompson scored 24 points and hot-shooting Florida Gulf Coast turned away South Carolina Upstate 84-80 on Saturday. The Eagles (17-10, 11-3) moved within a half-game of first-place Mercer (11-2) in the Atlantic Sun Conference. Chase Fieler added 17 points and Jamail Jones 14 for FGCU, who made 30 of 51 shots for 58.8 percent, including 11 of 19 from 3-point range for 57.9 percent. Upstate's Ricardo Glenn had a career-high 24 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for his conference-leading ninth double-double. Jodd Maxey added 16 points, Torrey Craig 14 and Fred Miller 10. Glenn made two free throws with 21.9 seconds left to get the Spartans (15-14, 8-6) within 82-80. After a FGCU free throw, Craig missed a 3-point try and another FCGU free throw sealed the out- come. Craig, who has led * MEN'S BASKETBALL: BEARS AT EAGLES WHO: Mercer (20-6,11-2 Atlantic Sun) at FGCU (17-10, 11-3) WHEN: Friday, 6:05 p.m. WHERE: Alico Arena, Fort Myers TV:ESPNU EAGLES PERCH Check out Zach Miller's pre- and postgame reports on Florida Gulf Coast men's basketball at SunCoastSportsBlog.com the conference in scoring the last two seasons, missed all nine of his 3-point attempts. FLORIDA GULF COAST 84, S.C. UPSTATE 80 FLORIDAGULF COAST (17-10) McKnight 3-4 0-06,Fieler7-8 1-417, Comer 2-53-4 8,Thompson 6-10 8-9 24, Jones 6-12 0-0 14,Hicks 1-1 0-02,Cvjeticanin 1-40 03, Graf 4-7 1-410.Totals 30-51 13-2184. SC-UPSTATE (15-12) Glenn 8-8 8-1024, Craig 5-184-614,Maxey 5-9 6-1016, Blessing 3-6 0-0 8, Miller 4-8 0-0 10, Mawuenyega 2-3 0-0 5, Cuthbertson 1-4 0-0 3, Stephens 0-1 0-0 0, Buchanan 0-3 0-0 O.Totals 28-60 18-26 80. Halftime-SC-Upstate 41-38. 3-Point Goals-Florida Gulf Coast 11-19 (Thomp- son 4-5, Fieler 2-3, Jones 2-3, Graf 1-2, Cv- jeticanin 1-3, Comer 1-3), SC-Upstate 6-21 (Blessing 2-3, Miller 2-4, Mawuenyega 1-2, Cuthbertson 1-2, Stephens 0-1, Craig 0-9). Fouled Out-Fieler. Rebounds-Florida Gulf Coast 30 (Jones,Thompson 6), SC-Up- state 33 (Glenn 11). Assists-Florida Gulf Coast 18 (Comer 10), SC-Upstate 18 (Bless- ing 5). Total Fouls-Florida Gulf Coast 23, SC-Upstate 17. A-NA. * AUTO RACING: AP PHOTO Danica Patrick, front center, slides through the infield as Tony Stewart, left, Jeff Gordon (24), Kurt Busch (41), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (17) and Matt Kenseth, right, crash on the front stretch Saturday during the NASCAR Sprint Unlimited race at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach. Unlimited survival Hamlin wins exhibition race of attrition at Daytona ByJENNA FRYER ASSOCIATED PRESS DAYTONA BEACH- Denny Hamlin won a race of attrition Saturday night, beating just seven other cars to the finish of the exhibition Sprint Unlimited. Only eight cars were running at the end of the 75-lap showcase at Daytona International Speedway on a bizarre night that saw Ricky Stenhouse Jr. end girl- friend Danica Patrick's race and the Chevrolet pace car catch fire. It set up a final 20-lap sprint to the finish with the second fewest num- ber of drivers taking the checkered flag in event history. Only seven drivers finished the 1981 race. Hamlin charged to the front right before he took the white flag by diving to the inside and sailing past the few cars on the track. He then drove away in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota for his second career win in the Speedweeks opener. He also won the event as a rookie in 2006. "That was survival of the fittest for sure," Hamlin said. "With three to go, we were at the tail end of a very small pack. It's really hard to get runs, but this car was phenom- enal. You saw it those last couple of laps." A 75-lap race split over three segments, this version had a heavy fan involvement as sponsor Sprint allowed fans to vote for various aspects of the race. Among them was the starting order, how the segments were split and how the cars lined up in the final segment. But it was mostly for naught as half the 18-car field was knocked out six laps into the second seg- ment when Matt Kenseth cut across the front of DAYTONA 500 WHAT: 56th annual Great American Race WHEN: Feb. 23,1 p.m. WHERE: Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach TRACK: 2.5-mile superspeedway TV: FOX RADIO: Motorsports Radio Network TICKETS: daytonainternational- speedway.com DEFENDING CHAMPION: Jimmie Johnson Joey Logano. It triggered a nine-car accident on the frontstretch including Stenhouse's dramatic late hit into the side of Patrick's car. "I got hit by my boy- friend. What a bummer," Patrick said. Stenhouse took blame for ending Patrick's race. He had difficulty seeing in front of him because his hood was badly crumpled when he hit the back of Kurt Busch. "I just drilled her," Stenhouse said. "I didn't see anything from the time it started to the time it ended. Talking to Danica, I drilled her when she was pretty much sitting still. I couldn't see, couldn't turn." The accident left debris and mangled sheet metal all over the frontstretch and brought the race to a stop for just over 11 min- utes. It ended the night for Tony Stewart, who was racing for the first time since he broke his right leg in an August sprint car crash, and teammates Patrick and Kurt Busch. Kevin Harvick, driving the fourth Stewart-Haas Racing entry in the field, seemed to have a Chevrolet capable of con- tending for the win but suffered serious damage that dropped him well off the pace. Florida State's Michael Ojo shoots as Wake Forest's Devin Thomas (2) and Arnaud-William Adala Moto look on during the first half of Saturday's game in Winston-Salem, N.C. Seminoles rally past Deacons BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. Ian Miller scored a career-high 25 points, and Florida State over- came a large first-half deficit to defeat Wake Forest 67-60 on Saturday night. Aaron Thomas added 19 points and 14 re- bounds for the Seminoles (15-10, 6-7 ACC), who registered their first road win since posting a 63-53 victory at Miami on Jan. 15. Wake Forest (14-11, 4-8 ACC) took control with a 12-0 run, as Coron Williams scored seven quick points to push the Deacons to a 21-6 lead. The advantage grew to as many as 16 points at 24-8 before Florida State rallied, but still trailed Wake Forest 29-23 at the break. The Seminoles took their first lead at 39-37 in the second half on a Devon Bookert jumper and held it down the stretch. Miller's 3-pointer with 2:12 remaining gave Florida State a 61-55 TAR HEELS AT SEMINOLES WHO: North Carolina (17-7, 7-4 ACC) at Florida State (15-10, 6-7) WHEN: Monday, 7 p.m. WHERE: Donald L. Tucker Center, Tallahassee TV: ESPN advantage. Williams led Wake Forest with 18 points in losing its fifth-consecu- tive game. FLORIDA ST. 67, WAKE FOREST 60 FLORIDA ST. (15-10) 0. White 2-5 2-4 6, Ojo 0-0 0-0 0, Bookert 1-5 0-1 2,Thomas 7-175-8 19, Brandon 2-5 4-6 8, Smith 1-3 0-02,Gilchrist 0-10-00, Bo- janovsky2-3 1-2 5, Miller 8-12 4-4 25.Totals 23-5116-2567. WAKE FOREST (14-11) Thomas 1-4 0-0 2, McKie 4-8 5-6 14, Adala Moto 0-1 1-2 1, Miller-McIntyre 4-13 1-3 9, Jones 1-3 0-0 2,Williams 7-12 1-1 18, Over- ton 0-0 0-0 0,Washington 0-0 0-2 0, Roun- tree III 0-2 0-0 0, Cavanaugh 3-10 6-6 14. Totals20-53 14-20 60. Halftime-Wake Forest 29-23. 3-Point Goals-Florida St. 5-17 (Miller 5-7,0.White 0-1, Smith 0-2, Bookert 0-3, Thomas 0-4), Wake Forest 6-21 (Williams 3-8, Cavana- ugh 2-6, McKie 1-3, Rountree III 0-1, Mill- er-McIntyre 0-3). Fouled Out-O. White. Rebounds-Florida St. 41 (Thomas 14), Wake Forest 27 (Cavanaugh, McKie 7). As- sists-Florida St.5 (Thomas 3),Wake Forest 12 (McKie,Williams 3). Total Fouls-Florida St. 17,Wake Forest22. Technical-Thomas. A-10,043. * NBA: Team Bosh wins Shooting Stars title FROM WIRE REPORTS the game," Bosh said. "He Lillard, Burke take skills Belinelli wins 3-point NEW ORLEANS- won't let me do it yet but I challenge: Portland's Damian contest: San Antonio's Marco .,..., ., + ]., 1,;. think that (Saturdav) will Lillard is an NBA All-Star skills Rplinplli won thpe -noint crnntpst at Cnhls DOShH LOOK his shooting range to a different level in leading his team to a Shooting Stars title. It was the second straight time he, Dominique Wilkins and Swin Cash won the event at All-Star Weekend. Bosh made two half- court shots to seal the victory. "I keep asking coach to let me shoot that shot in BILLING FROM PAGE 1 MVP award this season. "I think it's ultimately going to be KD and LeBron, and KD's team is No. 1 in the West right now," Portland's Damian Lillard said. "He's getting 40 every night and flirting with a triple-double, so I think if they had to pick an MVP right now it would be KD." But MVP is decided by a media panel. Nobody voting for that ever shares the floor with James or Durant. What about somebody like Carmelo Anthony, who plays the same position, is sand- wiched between them at No. 2 in the scoring race, and has teamed with both on the U.S. Olympic team? "As far as Durant, he's a hell of a scorer, great scorer, gets better every year in all facets of his game. Never seen give him confidence if he was watching." Team Bosh defeated a team of Karl Malone, Kevin Durant and Skylar Diggins. Each team must make a layup, free throw, 3-pointer and halfcourt shot. -Shandel Richardson, South Florida Sun Sentinel somebody his height shoot the ball the way he's capable of shooting the ball," Anthony said. "Then you look on the flip side with LeBron, you have somebody who's so powerful, so athletic, can do so many things, can change a game in so many different ways throughout the course of a game. So going up against those two guys, it's a totally different mindset, game plan, focus that you have to have because it's coming at you from a lot of different ways." James has been consid- ered the game's best play- er for a while now, having moved past Kobe Bryant. Durant was the sensation- al scorer he's on his way to a fourth scoring title in five years but without the full array of skills that James possessed. But even with his 26.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game, James isn't the only guy filling up every stat challenge champion for a second straight year. The team of Lillard and Trey Burke, representing the Western Conference, beat the tandem of Michael Carter- Williams and Victor Oladipo of the East in the final round by a tenth of a second. The skills course consists of dribbling around obstacles, passing to targets, and hitting shots from medium and close range. The winning time was 45.2 seconds. category. Besides his 31.5 points per game, Durant is also averaging 7.8 rebounds and 5.5 assists. Love said James is like "Old Faithful," because "you know what he's going to give you," and added that "at this point it's going to be very tough to pass him" as the best player in the world. But he seems in the Durant category when it comes to the MVP ballot. "I have to say with what Kevin Durant is doing at this point, it's pretty unbe- lievable," he said. "Scoring the ball at such a high clip, and then you look at the stat sheet and he's filling it up in other categories as well. His team is winning, and LeBron is having a great year, but it just seems like what KD has done has been pretty unbelievable." James caused a stir this week when he said he believed he'd go down as one of the top four players in history during NBA All-Star Saturday night. The Italian, who previously played for New Orleans, needed to win a tiebreaker round in the final to beat Bradley Beal. The Washington All-Star had made his final six shots, including two "money balls"worth two points each, to tie Belinelli's initial final-round score of 19. -Associated Press an interview with NBA TV that will air Monday. Yet even as he looks toward his place in the future, he seems aware his status at the present could be in jeopardy. "LeBron for a few years has known Kevin Durant has been coming as a player," said Dwyane Wade, James' teammate in Miami. "He wants to be the best, one of the greatest of all-time and he knows that this young guy is coming and he's trying to protect his turf." Durant sent a loud statement when the Thunder routed the Heat in Miami during his incredible scoring run of 12 straight games with 30 or more points. He scores so easily that even other guys who can fill it up are in awe, and Irving said he'd pick Durant at No. 1 in part because of what Durant could do for his own stats. The Sun /Sunday, February 16, 2014 www.sunnewspapers.net SP Page 3