BASKETBALL
Red Claws miss chance at end of regulation, fall in OT
The Maine Red Claws fell back to .500 this season with a 110-104 NBA G League loss in overtime to the Agua Caliente Clippers on Tuesday afternoon at Ontario, California.
Maine (16-16) had a chance to win in regulation, but L.J. Peak missed a pair of free throws with 2.2 seconds remaining and the score tied at 102. Trey Davis (26 points, seven assists) had rallied Maine from a five-point deficit in the previous 59 seconds with two free throws and a tying 3-pointer.
Devin Williams had 26 points and 18 rebounds. Peak finished with 19 points and seven rebounds.
J.J. O’Brien of Agua Caliente (16-17) had 30 points.
The Red Claws continue their four-game road trip Wednesday night with a game at Santa Cruz.
HIGH SCHOOLS
COMMITTEE MEETING IN WELLS: The Wells-Ogunquit School District’s Mascot Advisory Committee will hold a meeting with representatives of Maine’s Native American tribes at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, at Wells High.
The open meeting, originally schedule for Jan. 17, was postponed because of snow. The committee is reviewing the use of Native American imagery associated with Wells High’s “Warrior” mascot.
GOLF
SOLHEIM CUP: Juli Inkster is the first American to be Solheim Cup captain three times. Now she’d like the distinction of being the first American captain with three victories.
She was announced Tuesday as U.S. captain for the 2019 matches in Scotland, where the Americans will try to match the longest winning streak in a Solheim Cup they have largely dominated since it began in 1990.
OLYMPICS
RUSSIA DOPING: Vladimir Putin said Tuesday he hopes Russia can soon leave its years of doping scandals behind.
There are 168 Russians due to compete at the PyeongChang Olympics under a neutral flag as punishment for past doping offenses.
“I hope that this page will be turned, and moreover, in the very near future,” the Russian president told a gathering of his supporters in Moscow ahead of March’s presidential election.
However, Putin continued to portray Russia as a victim of political intrigue designed to tarnish the good name of its athletes.
• A Russian speedskater refused her place at the PyeongChang Olympics on Tuesday after several of her teammates weren’t invited.
Olga Graf, a two-time bronze medalist from the 2014 Sochi Games, targeted a medal in the team pursuit race next month.
“All my hopes to compete for the Olympic podium are fated not to be realized because sport has become a bargaining chip in filthy political games,” Graf said in a statement on social media.
• The IOC is “very concerned” about claims that the new sample bottles for the PyeongChang Olympics can be opened, and one national anti-doping agency has said it will stop using them.
The doping bottles were introduced last year to increase security after investigators found Russians were able to surreptitiously open bottles at the Sochi Olympics and exchange dirty urine samples with clean ones previously provided the same athlete.
However, the World Anti-Doping Agency is now examining the new bottles after receiving reports from a laboratory that the bottles can be opened manually when frozen.
– Staff and news service report
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