In Brief

basketball

Lithuania tops champion Spain with 18-point second-half rally

Lithuania rallied from an 18-point second-half deficit to defeat defending champion Spain 76-73 Tuesday in Izmir, Turkey, in a game between the Group D favorites at the basketball world championship.

Lithuania used a 23-5 run to tie the score at 66 with 5:25 left. Linas Kleiza scored four points in the final 35 seconds to clinch the victory and finished with 17 points.

In other Group D games, New Zealand whipped Lebanon 108-76 and France edged Canada, 68-63. In Group C, Turkey defeated Greece 76-65, Russia beat Ivory Coast 72-66 and Puerto Rico topped China, 84-76.

Also: Court filings show a plea bargain is in the works for Jay Vincent, the former Michigan State basketball star and retired NBA player, who appeared in court in Grand Rapids, Mich., on charges in a $2 million Internet scam. Vincent was silent as a not guilty plea to fraud and tax charges was entered on his behalf. But a judge also set a Sept. 28 hearing for him to change that plea.

Michigan State junior guard Korie Lucious has been charged with drunken driving in East Lansing, Mich. Lucious, 20, was pulled over early Monday near the school campus, and his blood-alcohol level was 0.09 percent, according to a police report. The legal limit in Michigan is 0.08 percent.

Connecticut center Tina Charles won the WNBA's Rookie of the Year award, months after she was honored as the women's college player of the year at the University of Connecticut. Charles averaged more than 15 points and almost 12 rebounds a game for the Sun.

golf

Sorenstam returns for Begay fundraiser, loses on back nine

Annika Sorenstam had three birdies and playing partner Rickie Fowler added an eagle -- all in the first eight holes -- before Cristie Kerr and Hunter Mahan rallied with six birdies on the back nine for a 10-under-par 62 and a two-shot victory at Notah Begay's NB3 Challenge at Verona, N.Y.

Kerr and Mahan trailed Sorenstam and Fowler by two shots at the turn before pulling away in the closing holes to win the $100,000 top prize in the best-ball competition at Atunyote Golf Club. Sorenstam and Fowler (64) were second, followed by Vijay Singh and Suzann Pettersen (66), Camilo Villegas and Anna Rawson (67), Anthony Kim and Morgan Pressel (68) and Begay and Lorena Ochoa (69).

The event is the chief fundraiser for Begay's foundation, which is dedicated to helping fight obesity and diabetes in the Native American community. He was presented a check for $1.25 million.

Also: The PGA of America announced it will hold the 2017 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, N.C. It will mark the third time the PGA Championship will be in North Carolina and the first for the state's largest city. The event will draw about 50,000 a people a day and tens of millions of dollars in economic impact.

miscellaneous

AC Milan bolsters forward line with acquisition of Robinho

AC Milan acquired Robinho from Manchester City to bolster a formidable forward line and sold Klaas-Jan Huntelaar to the German club Schalke at European soccer's transfer deadline.

Schalke was one of the continent's busiest clubs, with midfielder Jose Manuel Jurado and defender Nicolas Plestan also joining Huntelaar.

Several World Cup stars used their enhanced reputations to switch teams. Ghana forward Asamoah Gyan left Rennes for the Premier League's Sunderland, and Netherlands midfielder Rafael van der Vaart was closing in on a move to Tottenham from Real Madrid.

Robinho will compete for a starting spot alongside newly signed Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Ronaldinho and Alexandre Pato as Milan looks to end Inter Milan's five-year reign as Serie A champions.

Also: Laurent Fignon, the Frenchman who won the Tour de France in 1983 and 1984 and lost to Greg LeMond in 1989 in the race's closest finish, died Tuesday of cancer. He was 50.

Fignon said in June 2009 he had advanced cancer of the digestive system and was undergoing chemotherapy. He had been a TV commentator in France since 2006.

Edmonton Oilers goalie Nikolai Khabibulin has been sentenced to 30 days in jail stemming from his Scottsdale, Ariz., drunken driving conviction. The four-time All-Star, who signed a four-year, $15 million deal with Edmonton last year, was also fined $5,100 and must enroll in an alcohol-treatment program.

Ken Stopkotte, a critic of USA Swimming's response to a sexual abuse scandal, was banned from coaching for two years by the sport's national governing body after admitting he violated the conduct code. Stopkotte, the former Fishers Area Swimming Tigers coach, admitted he had entered times achieved by some swimmers in high school meets as the actual results for three club meets in February.