Sports shorts Akron sets school win record in NIT victory over Houston

Akron gutted out a 78-75 NIT first-round victory over Houston on March 15.

The win gave the Zips 27 wins on the season, establishing a new Akron single-season record.

Nursing a one-point lead, 76-75, following a layup by Houston’s Rob Gray, Akron’s Noah Robotham connected on a pair of free throws with seven seconds remaining.

A 3-pointer at the buzzer by Houston’s Damyean Dotson — who was 4 of 5 from deep prior to the last-second shot — missed to give the Zips the win.

Akron was paced by Isaiah Johnson’s 21 point effort.

Chima Moneke had 18 points and 12 rebounds as UC Davis won in its first NCAA Tournament appearance, beating North Carolina Central, 67-63, in a First Four game on Wednesday night.

The 16th-seeded Aggies rallied in the second half and held off North Carolina Central down the stretch to earn a trip to Tulsa to play No. 1 seed Kansas on Friday.

Brynton Lemar scored 15 points and Lawrence White added 14 for UC Davis, which had earned a trip to the tournament by winning the Big West Conference Tournament.

The Aggies (23-12) won despite 18 turnovers that led to 20 points for streaky North Carolina Central.

Graf paced North Carolina Central (25-9) with 15 points. Kyle Benton and Patrick Cole added 13 each.

The U.S. women’s hockey team is threatening to boycott the world championships because of a wage dispute.

The team announced Wednesday that they will not participate in the International Ice Hockey Federation tournament that begins March 31 in Plymouth, Michigan.

A spokesman for USA Hockey did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

Players say they informed USA Hockey that they would not report to training camp March 21 unless meaningful progress is made. The U.S. is the defending champion after winning the gold medal last.

The players are seeking a contract with USA Hockey that they say “includes appropriate compensation.” All-Star catcher Salvador Perez should be ready for Kansas City’s season opener after tests showed there was no structural damage to his injured left knee. The Royals, though, are still concerned about his hyperextended left elbow.

Royals manager Ned Yost said Perez would probably be ready to play in a week.

Perez returned to the Royals camp Wednesday after playing for Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic. He was injured Saturday in a collision at the plate with his Royals backup, Drew Butera, who was playing for Italy.

Initially, the knee was Perez’s main concern, and he had a second MRI on Tuesday. But the test only showed inflammation, not serious damage. Spurs forward LaMarcus Aldridge has been cleared to play after the latest occurrence of heart arrhythmia, which has sporadically sidelined him throughout his career.

The Spurs said Aldridge is available to play in the game against the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night with no restrictions. He will have missed less than a week after he was pulled from basketball activities indefinitely on Friday.

The Spurs said Aldridge went through multiple tests and consulted with experts in the field before he was cleared to return. The five-time AllStar is averaging 17.3 points and 7.4 rebounds for the Spurs this season.

The Spurs (52-14) are a halfgame behind Golden State (5314) for the top seed in the Western Conference.

Clint Dempsey, Tim Howard and Geoff Cameron are back on the U.S. roster after lengthy layoffs as Coach Bruce Arena made large-scale changes, hoping to spark the Americans to a rebound in World Cup qualifying.

The U.S. coach from 19982006, Arena replaced Jurgen Klinsmann in November after a 0-2 start in the final round. For the first competitive matches of his second stint, he selected just 13 of the 26 players on Klinsmann’s final roster.

Six players earned selection with their performances during Arena’s January training camp: defenders Jorge Villafana and Walker Zimmerman; midfielders Kellyn Acosta, Sebastian Lletget and Dax McCarty; and 37-year-old goalkeeper Nick Rimando.

Fourteen of the players are from Major League Soccer, up from 10 in November.

The U.S. hosts Honduras on March 24 and is at Panama four days later.

A judge has dismissed all charges against former New York Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis stemming from a fight last month in Pittsburgh.

Revis had been charged with aggravated assault and other counts in a fight Feb. 12 in which two men were punched and knocked out.

A witness testified Wednesday that he came to Revis’ aid during the fight and was responsible for the knockout punches.

Police said the incident began when a man started recording a video of Revis and Revis grabbed his phone and tried to delete it.