Albirex cruise past struggling 89ers

Kimitake Sato again tormented the Sendai 89ers, scoring a game-high 24 points in the Niigata Albirex BB's 86-73 triumph over the hosts on Friday.

The veteran standout knocked down 6 of 8 3-point shots in the rematch as Niigata improved to 20-7, becoming the first bj-league team this season to get 20 wins. In the Thursday opener, he had 32 points, sank 5 of 10 3s and 8 of 9 shots from inside the arc.

The Albirex trailed 45-37 at halftime.

After intermission, coach Matt Garrison's squad outscored Sendai 49-28 to secure the victory.

Nile Murry added 15 points, eight assists, six rebounds and two blocks for Niigata. Yuichi Ikeda had 14 points and Taj Finger and Chris Holm each scored 12 points for the 89ers. Holm also grabbed 17 rebounds.

Takuya Komoda paced Sendai (8-15) with 23 points and shot 10-for-14 from 2-point range, while T.J. Cummings, back in the rotation after missing Thurday's contest due to an ankle sprain, scored 20 points and made 9 of 11 shots from the field. Hikaru Kusaka scored eight points and Sam Coleman had seven. Takehiko Shimura handed out six assists and Sam Willard pulled down 11 boards.

The three-game series concludes on Saturday.

Cinq Reves 92, Northern Happinets 81

In Tokyo, Dennis Carr scored 23 points and grabbed 14 rebounds and Jonathan Jones had 19 points and 12 boards for the hosts in a series-opening win over Akita.

Rasheem Barrett contributed 16 points and three assists for Tokyo (10-15) and Cohey Aoki poured in 15 points, including 8-for-8 at the free-throw line. Akihito Inoue scored 13 points for the Cinq Reves.

Akita led 32-20 after the first quarter, but saw its scoring total drop to 18, 18 and 13 points over the final three quarters.

Marshall Brown had 26 points for the Happinets (13-8), Yuki Kikuchi added 15 and Dion Harris and Shigehiro Taguchi both scored 14.

Tokyo raked in 60 rebounds to Akita's 29. In addition, the Cinq Reves shot 38 free throws (33 makes), while the visitors were 7-for-12.

***

League leaders (through Thursday)

Scoring—1. Jonathan Jones, Tokyo, 21.0; 2. T.J. Cummings, Sendai, 20.8; 3. Draelon Burns, Yokohama, 20.7; 4. Michael Parker, Shimane, 20.0; 5. Dominique Keller, Gunma, 19.3.

Field-goal percentage—1. Dillion Sneed, Iwate, 63.2; 2. Gyno Pomare, Kyoto, 59.6; 3. Joe Werner, Chiba, 59.5; 4. Anthony Kent, Akita, 59.0; 5. Marcus Cousin, Kyoto, 59.0.

Rebounds—1. Chris Holm, Niigata, 13.3; 2. Reggie Warren, Fukuoka, 12.5; 3. Sam Willard, Sendai, 12.4; 4. Wendell White, Hamamatsu, 12.1; 5. Mike Bell, Osaka, 11.8.

Assists—1. Narito Namizato, Ryukyu, 6.1; 2. Kevin Galloway, Hamamatsu, 5.9; 3. Kensuke Tanaka, Chiba, 5.8; 4. Takehiko Shimura, Sendai, 5.6; 5. Draelon Burns, Yokohama, 4.8.

3-point percentage—1. Kazuhiro Shoji, Akita, 46.8; 2. Shinya Ogawa, Shiga, 45.7; 3. D'Andre Bell, Chiba, 44.4; 4. Masayuki Kabaya, Yokohama, 43.7; 5. Kimitake Sato, Niigata, 43.0.

Steals—1. Draelon Burns, Yokohama, 2.4; 2. Masato Tsukino, Iwate, 2.3; 3. Anthony McHenry, Ryukyu, 2.3; 4. Ira Brown, Toyama, 2.0; 5. D'Andre Bell, Chiba, 1.9.

Blocked shots—1. Jeral Davis, Shimane, 3.5; 2. Lawrence Blackledge, Iwate, 3.0; 3. Wayne Marshall, Shinshu, 2.0; 4. Thomas Fairley, Miyazaki, 1.9; 5. Paul Williams, Takamatsu, 1.7.

Free-throw percentage—1. Kohei Mitomo, Oita, 93.3; 2. Cohey Aoki, Tokyo, 93.2; 3. Marquin Chandler, Chiba, 91.1; 4. David Palmer, Kyoto, 89.9; 5. John Humphrey, Saitama, 87.5.

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Federer, Nadal cruise into fourth round with straight sets wins

MELBOURNE, Australia — In the same half of a Grand Slam singles draw for the first time since 2005, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are taking similar paths to a potential semifinal matchup at the Australian Open.

On the women's side, defending champion Kim Clijsters also advanced to the fourth round.

Neither the four-time Australian champion Federer nor 2009 titleholder Nadal have dropped a set, although Federer's path has been made easier by a walkover win in the second round.

The longtime rivals played back-to-back matches at Rod Laver Arena on Friday. Nadal, his right knee still taped from a recent injury, showed no problems while moving briskly around the court in a 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 win over qualifier Lukas Lacko.

Federer followed in the marquee matinee program by beating Ivo Karlovic 7-6 (8-6), 7-5, 6-3, saving a set point in the tiebreaker with a scrambling lob over the 208-cm Croatian.

"He gave me a second serve and gave me a slight chance," Federer said. "Might have had a little bit of a lucky volley. . . ."

Karlovic agreed.

"It was unlucky ... one in a 100 that I'm going to lose that point," Karlovic said. "I didn't really expect him to do that. I was there, I just miscalculated how much I was jumping. If I would have won that, everything would be different, but that's life."

Nadal had few dramas in his match against Lacko, which is just the way he wanted it. He felt a sharp pain in his knee while sitting in his chair in his hotel on the weekend, an innocent enough movement he initially feared would cause him to withdraw from the tournament.

Three matches later, Nadal says "the knee is fine . . . being in the fourth round without losing a set, it's fantastic news."

Nadal will next meet fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, who beat No. 16 John Isner 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 6-7 (0-7), 6-1 to put the last U.S. man out of the draw.

It is the first time since the start of the Open Era in 1968 that no American men have reached the fourth round at the Australian Open, although no Americans entered the tournament in 1972 and 1973. The last American to win the Australian Open was Andre Agassi in 2003, his third win in four years at Melbourne Park.

"It's very ugly, to be honest, to have no one in the round of 16 . . . very disappointing, not a good effort from the Americans," Isner said. "We've got to try to rectify that next time the big tournaments roll around."

No. 7 Tomas Berdych beat No. 30 Kevin Anderson of South Africa 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-1), 6-1 and will next play No. 10 Nicolas Almagro of Spain, who beat 21st-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland 7-6 (7-2), 6-2, 6-4.

Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber defeated Alejandro Falla of Colombia 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (7-3) in the other early third-round match, with two more matches scheduled for Friday night.

Defending champion and top-seeded Novak Djokovic and fourth-seeded Andy Murray, who has lost in the final at Melbourne Park the last two years, play their third-round matches Saturday, with a Djokovic-Murray replay only possible in the semis.

On the women's side, top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki also has not dropped a set in advancing to the fourth round as she continues her quest for a first Grand Slam title. She beat Monica Niculescu of Romania 6-2, 6-2 Friday, and third-seeded Victoria Azarenka defeated Mona Barthel 6-2, 6-4.

It's the toughest half of the women's draw. Wozniacki could face Clijsters in the quarterfinals, but before Clijsters gets that far, she might have to beat French Open winner Li Na of China.

Clijsters' only loss to Hantuchova in 11 matches was at Brisbane two weeks ago when she withdrew with a hip injury in the second set of their semifinal.

Wozniacki, who needs to reach the quarterfinals to have any chance of retaining the No. 1 ranking, wasted one match point and was broken when she was serving for the match. But she broke back immediately to ensure she moved into a final 16 encounter against former No. 1-ranked Jelena Jankovic, who beat American Christina McHale 6-2, 6-0.

Azarenka, who beat Li to win the Sydney International last week, has only lost eight games at Melbourne Park and remains one of three women who can overhaul Wozniacki for the top ranking at the Australian Open.

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Giants cruise to playoff berth

EASTRUTHERFORD, New Jersey — Thanks to Eli Manning and Victor Cruz, an all-or-nothing game was all New York Giants and nothing but frustration for the Dallas Cowboys.

Manning threw three touchdown passes, including a 74-yarder to Cruz early, and the Giants claimed the final spot in the NFL playoffs, beating the Cowboys 31-14 on Sunday night to win the NFC East.

"I knew we were going to fight and keep playing until the end, I feel good about the way we're handling the ups and downs, and it comes down to finishing," Manning said after throwing for 346 yards and no interceptions.

New York (9-7) won three of its final four games for 65-year-old coach Tom Coughlin and earned a wild-card home game next Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons (10-6).

"We've had a lot of ups and down, but when our team needed it most we responded," said the up-and-coming Cruz, who has capped his team-record setting season with six catches for 178 yards. "We were able to keep level-headed when we were on the four-game skid."

The Cowboys (8-8) lost four of their final five games in their first full season under coach Jason Garrett.

"It's extremely painful and it's a damn shame," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said. "We have a good team and I thought we would be going to the playoffs, but that didn't happen. We have to be able to take some of the good with the bad and move on. We did a lot of good things this year, but to point to one thing why this happened would be subjective. We're 8-8 and we have to be better than that."

Patriots 49, Bills 21: In Foxborough, Massachusetts, Tom Brady led the Patriots back from a three-touchdown deficit as they scored 49 straight points.

Brady finished the regular season with the second-most yards passing in NFL history, 5,235, after throwing for 338. Drew Brees, who last week broke Dan Marino's record of 5,084 with the Miami Dolphins in 1984, added 389 Sunday for the New Orleans Saints and ended with 5,486.

Chiefs 7, Broncos 3: In Denver, Tim Tebow fell short in his latest comeback bid and former Bronco Kyle Orton got his revenge in leading Kansas City to a win over Denver.

Ravens 24, Bengals 16: In Cincinnati, Ray Rice had a pair of long touchdown runs that gave the Ravens their third AFC North title.

Chargers 38, Raiders 26: In Oakland, Philip Rivers threw three touchdown passes and Richard Goodman returned a kickoff 105 yards.

Steelers 13, Browns 9: In Cleveland, Isaac Redman replaced an injured Rashard Mendenhall and ran for a touchdown as Pittsburgh limped into the playoffs.

Saints 45, Panthers 17: In New Orleans, Drew Brees threw for 389 yards and five touchdowns.

Jaguars 19, Colts 13: In Jacksonville, Maurice Jones-Drew ran for a season-high 169 yards, clinching the NFL rushing title and breaking Fred Taylor's single-season franchise record.

Titans 23, Texans 22: In Houston, Matt Hasselbeck threw two touchdown passes as the Titans edged the Texans.

Dolphins 19, Jets 17: In Miami, Mark Sanchez threw three interceptions and the Jets were eliminated from the wild-card race.

Packers 45, Lions 41: In Green Bay, backup Matt Flynn threw a touchdown pass to Jermichael Finley with 1:10 left to finish off his record-setting day of 480 yards and six TD passes.

Bears 17, Vikings 13: In Minneapolis, Charles Tillman's interception return in the second quarter helped Chicago end a five-game losing streak.

Eagles 34, Redskins 10: In Philadelphia, Michael Vick threw three touchdown passes, including a 62-yarder to DeSean Jackson, as the Eagles closed the season with four straight wins.

49ers 34, Rams 27: In St. Louis, Michael Crabtree caught two touchdown passes, one from kicker David Akers on a perfectly executed trick play.

Cardinals 23, Seahawks 20 (OT): In Glendale, Arizona, Larry Fitzgerald's spectacular one-handed grab set help up a 28-yard field goal by Jay Feely.

Falcons 42, Buccaneers 24: In Atlanta, Julio Jones caught two touchdown passes in a span of 26 seconds, Michael Turner ran for two scores and the Falcons put up a team-record 42 first-half points.

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