BASKETBALL
Theo Pinson scored 30 points, including a go-ahead dunk with 55.4 seconds remaining, and the Maine Celtics improved to 3-1 with a 113-108 victory Sunday against the Delaware Red Coats in a G League game at the Expo.
Ryan Arcidiacono added 19 points and eight assists, and Sam Hauser had 19 points and seven assists. Arcidiacono helped clinch the win with a jumper and two free throws in the final minute.
Maine also got 14 points from Jaysean Page and 11 apiece from Juwan Morgan and Luke Kornet.
The Red Claws will play at home again Thursday and Friday against the Capital City Go-Go.
HOCKEY
ECHL: Former UMaine player Patrick Shea got his first professional goal, Justin Brazeau and Pascal Laberge each had a goal and an assist, and the Maine Mariners held on for a 4-3 win Sunday against the Trois-Rivières Lions at Cross Insurance Arena.
Shea, in his debut with the Mariners, collected a long pass from Keltie Jeri-Leon and scored on a breakaway in the first period. Maine extended the lead to 3-0 on goals by Cameron Askew and Brazeau in the second period.
Laberge’s power-play goal midway through the third made it 4-2.
The Mariners start a four-game Florida trip on Tuesday against the Jacksonville Icemen.
SOCCER
WORLD CUP QUALIFYING: Aleksandar Mitrovic scored in the 90th minute as Serbia stunned host Portugal with a 2-1 win to qualify for next year’s World Cup in Qatar and leave Cristiano Ronaldo in danger of missing out on the tournament after four straight appearances.
A draw would have been enough for the hosts, who were trying to qualify for the World Cup for the sixth straight time.
Now Portugal will have to face the playoffs, involving the other nine group runners-up and two group winners from the UEFA Nations League.
• Croatia, the World Cup runner-up in 2018, qualified for next year’s tournament by defeating Russia, 1-0, on a late own-goal in Split, Croatia.
Croatia bombarded the Russian goal throughout the game, with little success, in search of the win it needed to secure the automatic qualifying spot in Group H and consign Russia to the playoffs.
The breakthrough came in the 81st minute. Croatia’s Borna Sosa hit a cross too deep, evading his teammates, but Russian defender Fedor Kudriashov directed the ball into his own net as he tried to control it.
• Substitute Alvaro Morata scored late as Spain beat Sweden 1-0 in Seville, Spain, to qualify for the World Cup for the 12th straight time, leaving Sweden facing the playoffs.
Morata scored the winner from inside the area in the 86th minute after a long-range shot by Dani Olmo struck the post.
• Defender James Sands was added to the U.S. roster for a World Cup qualifier Tuesday at Jamaica.
The U.S. will be without defender Miles Robinson and midfielder Weston McKennie because of one-game suspensions. Robinson was given two yellow cards in Friday night’s 2-0 win over Mexico, and McKennie received his second yellow card of qualifying after getting one in the opener at El Salvador on Sept. 2.
AUTO RACING
FORMULA ONE: Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton ended “the hardest weekend I’ve had” with a stunning victory at the Brazilian Grand Prix in Sao Paulo, gaining ground in his title fight with Red Bull driver Max Verstappen.
Hamilton, a seven-time world champion, beat Verstappen despite starting from 10th position on the grid due to a penalty – the second Hamilton faced this weekend.
Verstappen saw his lead in the driver’s championship shrink to 14 points, with three races left.
Hamilton’s teammate, Valtteri Bottas, finished third and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez was fourth.
TENNIS
ATP FINALS: Strong serving and consistent baseline play propelled U.S. Open champion Daniil Medvedev to a 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4 win over Hubert Hurkacz in the opening match of the tournament in Turin, Italy.
Medvedev, the defending champion at the year-end tournament for the top eight players, served 15 aces and didn’t face a single break point against the seventh-seeded Hurkacz, who beat him in five sets at Wimbledon this year.
In the day’s second match, 2018 champion Alexander Zverev won when local favorite Matteo Berrettini retired early in the second set because of an apparent abdominal injury. Zverev won the first set 7-6 (7) and was leading 1-0 in the second.
WTA FINALS: Karolina Pliskova rallied to beat Barbora Krejcikova 0-6, 6-4, 6-4 and remain in contention for a spot in the final four in Guadalajara, Mexico.
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