Stanford’s COVID-19 issues force tourney final canceling
The Diamond Head Classic championship game between Stanford and Vanderbilt was canceled Saturday because of COVID-19 issues in the Cardinal men’s basketball camp.
In a tweet, the tournament said Stanford has health and safety protocols within its program and the game “will be declared a no contest.” The Liberty-BYU game was played as scheduled Saturday.
Stanford, which played Liberty on Wednesday night, said in a press release that team-related activities are on pause and “the status of future games” will be determined. Its next scheduled game is Jan. 2 against Cal, then Jan. 6 against UCLA, which also has paused team activities because of COVID-19.
The release did not specify the how many members within the program had tested positive for COVID-19.
A day earlier, Hawaii pulled out of the tournament because of injuries and COVID-19 issues.
Hawaii coach Eran Ganot said in a release that the program hadn’t had a case in 21 months and that the “priority remains to protect our studentathletes as well as those we compete against.”
On Thursday, the Hawaii Bowl was canceled because of COVID-19 issues for the Hawaii football team.
College football
GRAINGER GIFTS GEORGIA STATE A 51-20 CAMELLIA BOWL WIN >> Darren Grainger and Georgia State saved their best for the last game of the season — and especially for a thoroughly dominating third quarter.
Grainger passed for 203 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 122 yards and a fourth TD to lead Georgia State to a 51-20 victory over Ball State in the Camellia Bowl in Montgomery, Ala.
The Panthers (8-5) finished with their seventh win in eight games, dominated the lone bowl played on Christmas Day and set a season record for wins.
Coach Shawn Elliott called it “the best performance Georgia State football has had this year.”
“I think we finished Christmas Day with one of the best presents we could have ever asked for and that’s a commanding, dominating win,” Elliott said. It was the first time the program had won back-to-back bowl games.
His team was up 20-13 at halftime but scored the next 31 points.
Grainger completed 15 of 19 passes
and carried 11 times, including a play fake midway through the third quarter when he scampered 34 yards untouched into the end zone. It was the first 100-yard rushing game of his career, and he was named the game MVP.
Ball State (6-7) couldn’t summon many big plays after Drew Plitt’s 56yard touchdown bomb to Jayshon Jackson for an early lead.
The Cardinals finished with a losing record a year after coach Mike Neu led his alma mater to its first
Mid-American Conference championship since 1996.
Tight end Aubrey Payne had two touchdown catches for Georgia State, along with career highs of eight catches and 109 yards.
Tennis
DJOKOVIC TO SKIP 2022 ATP CUP IN SYDNEY >> World number one Novak Djokovic will not travel to Sydney for the men’s season-opening ATP Cup next week, Serbian daily Blic reported.
Djokovic was named in Serbia’s team for the ATP Cup, although the 34-year-old has yet to commit to the Australian Open following the organizers’ mandate for COVID-19 vaccinations. Djokovic has declined to disclose whether he is vaccinated, citing privacy.
Australian Open chief Craig Tiley said on Wednesday that he is still uncertain whether Djokovic will be playing at the Melbourne Park major.
Golf
LADIES TOUR TO HAVE RECORD PRIZE PURSE IN 2022 >> The Ladies European Tour is set to offer players a record prize fund of 24.5 million euros ($27.76 million) in 2022 after it announced 31 events across 21 countries, the biggest number of tournaments in its 44-year history. The prize money has increased by 4.5 million euros over last season and is 19 million euros more than in 2019.