Black colleges make APR gains

Athletes at historically black colleges and universities are closing the gap in the classroom, according to the latest academic report from the NCAA.

The NCAA’s newest Academic Progress Rate showed that single-year scores at HBCUs had climbed to 962 — a 34-point increase over the past five years and significantly higher than the five-point increase at other schools.

College tennis: Cal’s Billy Griffith upset eighth-seeded and eighth-ranked Ryotaro Matsumura of Kentucky 6-4, 6-3 in the opening round of the NCAA men’s singles championship at Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, N.C. Griffith, ranked 54th, will play 18thranked Jose Salazar of Arkansas on Thursday.

Griffith and J.T. Nishimura will play North Carolina’s second-seeded and second-ranked William Blumberg and Robert Kelly on Thursday in the opening round of doubles.

In the women’s singles championship, Stanford’s Emily Arbuthnott and Michaela Gordon won their first-round matches, but Melissa Lord was eliminated. Arbuthnott beat South Carolina’s Ingrid Gamarra Martins 6-3, 7-5 and Gordon defeated Wichita State’s Fatima Bizhukova 6-2, 6-3. Lord lost 6-4, 6-1 to Florida International’s Andrea Lazaro.

Cal’s Olivia Hauger, Julia Rosenqvist and Anna Bright lost their opening-round singles matches.

College golf: Haley Moore beat Lakareber Abe with a birdie on the first extra hole to give Arizona a 3-2 victory over Alabama in the NCAA women’s championship at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla.

WNBA: Tiffany Hayes scored 22 points and the Atlanta Dream (1-1) breezed to an 81-63 victory at Chicago (2-1) . ... Sylvia Fowles had 23 points and 20 rebounds for the host Minnesota Lynx (1-1) in a 76-68 win over the Dallas Wings (1-2) . ... Jewell Loyd scored 29 points, Breanna Stewart had nine points and 11 rebounds and the Seattle Storm (1-1) prevailed 87-71 at Phoenix (2-1).

Police: Police in Linden, N.J., say former Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets outfielder Lenny Dykstra put a gun to his Uber driver’s head when the driver declined to change the trip’s destination. Dykstra, 55, was arrested early Wednesday after the driver stopped and ran out of the car. Police say they found cocaine and marijuana among Dykstra’s belongings.

⏩ NFL guard Richie Incognito, who is currently without a team, was taken into custody for psychiatric examination after a disturbance at a Boca Raton, Fla., gym.