AIR21 HEAVY BOMBERS BLAST CAFÉ FRANCE BAKERS IN PBA D-LEAGUE
Jose Rizal University (JRU)-Air21 Heavy Bombers beat Café France Bakers, 66-62, on Tuesday in the PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup at the JCSGO Gym in Cubao, Quezon City.

With the win, JRU-Air21 improved their record to 4-3 joining Cagayan Valley Rising Suns and Fruitas Shakers in fourth to sixth spots while Cafe France dropped to 4-5 at the seventh spot. JIM LEMUEL WILSON

NASH JOINS 10,000 CLUB
HOUSTON: Canada’s Steve Nash became just the fifth player in NBA history to reach 10,000 career assists, hitting the milestone in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 125-112 loss to Houston Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila). Nash notched his 10,000th assist in the first half, making him the fourth fastest to reach the mark in league history (1,162 games). He finished with 16 points and 10 assists. The historic marker came late in the half as the 17-year veteran found Antawn Jamison to give Los Angeles a 62-57 lead. The Lakers were without two of their top scorers, Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol, who were out with injuries. Nash joins John Stockton (15,806), the New York Knicks’ Jason Kidd (11,969), Mark Jackson (10,334) and Magic Johnson (10,141) in the exclusive club. AFP

SEAHAWKS LOSE TOP DEFENDER CLEMONS TO INJURY
SEATTLE, Washington: Seattle will have to continue their NFL post-season campaign without top pass rusher Chris Clemons, who tore a knee ligament in the Seahawks’ first-round win over the Washington Redskins. Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll confirmed Monday that the defensive end tore the anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus in his left knee a day earlier in Washington. Clemons started all 16 regular-season games for the Seahawks in 2012. Along with his sacks he notched 40 tackles and forced three fumbles this season. AFP

CRISIS-HIT MADRID DEFENDS 2020 OLY BID
MADRID: Spain on Tuesday defended a 1.7-billion-euro ($2.2-billion) bid to host the Olympics in Madrid in 2020 even as the country battles a recession and high unemployment while slashing spending. Spain’s delegation submitted the 360-page bid document to the International Olympic Committee headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Monday. If Madrid beats favorites Tokyo and rival Istanbul, it estimates it would have to invest another 1.7 billion euros to complete the infrastructure for the games. AFP

POLAND’S RADWANSKA INTO SYDNEY SEMIFINALS
SYDNEY: Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska clinched a seventh straight victory to reach the semifinals of the Sydney International on Wednesday, as she builds toward next week’s Australian Open. The world No. 4 and tournament top seed overcame Italian world No. 16 Roberta Vinci, 6-4, 7-5 in just over an hour and a half to move into the last four. AFP