Abstimmungen » ndyCar season after Pocono -- Texas, Watkins Glen

AUBURN, Ala. -- The play didnt come off precisely as Auburn drew it up, but T.J. Dunans made it turn out perfectly, anyway.Dunans hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer off an inbounds pass to lift Auburn to a 76-74 victory over Mercer on Sunday.I knew it was going in, he said. The way I shot, I knew it was going in.Dunans grabbed the pass from Mustapha Heron with 1.4 seconds left, turned and fired up the winning shot from the left corner for the Tigers (8-2), who have won two straight minus a pair of suspended starters. The play was designed by assistant coach Chuck Person to get the ball to Jared Harper off a screen but Danjel Purifoy jumped the gun.Jared curled and wasnt open, so really Mustapha had no one to throw the ball to, Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. So he threw it to the tallest, next-available player and that was Dunans in the corner.Obviously he made a memorable shot.Rian Holland had scored five points in the final 11 seconds to give Mercer (5-6) a 74-73 lead. Auburn fumbled away its first chance to grab the win but cashed in on the last-gasp attempt.Heron couldnt control the inbounds pass near midcourt for the Tigers, who were forced to call timeout with 1.4 seconds to play. On the next inbounds attempt, Heron then found Dunans, who managed to get off the game-winner.Holland scored 24 points for the Bears. He hit a runner in the lane and then followed an Auburn free throw with a layup with 3.8 seconds left, drawing a foul and making the free throw for the Bears.Heron scored 19 of his 21 points in the second half for Auburn. Dunans scored 13 points and made three 3-pointers while TJ Lang had 11. Freshman Austin Wiley made the go-ahead basket with 45 seconds left in his Auburn debut.The five-star prospect, who signed in November, had nine points on 5-of-8 free throws. Auburn announced Friday that Wiley was cleared by the NCAA to join the team, and the 6-foot-11, 255-pounder debuted after two days of practice with the team.Hes a terrific young man whos extremely dedicated that worked really hard to get here, Pearl said.Added Wiley: At first I was nervous but as the game started flowing, I started picking it up and got comfortable out there as the game was going.Auburn made 9 of 25 3-pointers three days after tying the SEC record with 21.Jordan Strawberry added 13 points for Mercer and Demetre Rivers scored 10.Were not into moral victories, Mercer coach Bob Hoffman said. We wanted the `W today and we didnt get it, but I saw some things that we can carry (over) to get better.BIG PICTUREMercer: Has lost five of its last six games. Outrebounded Auburn 41-26.Auburn: Took the series lead, at 17-16, and has won eight of the last 10 meetings. Made 27 of 35 free throws.WILEYS DEBUTWiley was the centerpiece of Auburns Top 10 recruiting class. The son of former Tigers stars Aubrey Wiley and Vickie Orr came into the game with 12:55 left in the first half and was fouled going up for a shot three seconds later. He was 2 of 5 shooting with three rebounds and two blocked shots. Aubrey Wiley had 16 points in his Auburn debut while the Olympian Orr opened with 12 points and 10 rebounds.SUSPENSIONSAuburn starters Horace Spencer and Bryce Brown sat out their second straight game since being suspended following an arrest on misdemeanor marijuana possession charges.UP NEXTMercer hosts La Salle Thursday night.Auburn faces Oklahoma in the Hall of Fames Birthday of Basketball event Wednesday night in Uncasville, Conn. Clayton Kershaw Youth Jersey . After Martin Skrtel put the Reds in front from close range at Stamford Bridge after only four minutes, Hazard hit back in the 17th with a superb strike. Etoo gave Jose Mourinhos team a decisive lead from Oscars back pass in the 34th. Mike Piazza Dodgers Jersey . 10 VCU 85-67 on Thursday night at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off. The Seminoles (4-0) have scored at least 80 points in each of their games. http://www.ladodgersprostore.us/Sandy-Koufax-dodgers-jersey/ . -- Peyton Manning will have all of his wide receivers available for the first time in a month when the Denver Broncos begin their playoff run Jan. Maury Wills Jersey . -- Its been a long road back for Sean Bergenheim. Kenley Jansen Dodgers Jersey . Jeff Green scored 13 points and Kris Humphries 12 for the Celtics, who nearly blew an 18-point, second-half lead. Sullingers 20-20 was the first by a Celtics player since Kevin Garnetts first game in Boston in 2007. Garnett was dealt -- along with Paul Pierce -- to Brooklyn during the off-season. LONG POND, Pa. -- With rain pelting the garage roof at Pocono Raceway and knowing hed have to wait another day to race, Mikhail Aleshin just shrugged.No big deal for the first Russian-born driver to win an IndyCar pole.Just one more day sitting on the pole, Aleshin said Sunday. Thats life. I just want to win this race. For me, it doesnt matter if its going to be today, tomorrow, or next month. Im still on the pole.IndyCar officials acted quickly Sunday and postponed the race at the triangular 2.5-mile track until 12:09 p.m. ET Monday because of persistent midafternoon rain. With no lights to allow for night racing and no quick end to the downpour in sight, drying the track in time to get in 101 of the 200 laps to make the race official was not possible. The race was scheduled to begin at 3:09 p.m. Sunday.Aleshin turned a fast two-lap average of 220.454 mph on Saturday in his No. 7 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda to edge Josef Newgarden for the pole. Its the third time this season Newgarden has qualified second. He was on the front row at the Indy 500 and at Iowa, just missing the top spot Saturday with a two-lap average of 220.195 mph.Takuma Sato will start third, followed by Helio Castroneves, Carlos Munoz, Aleshins teammate James Hinchcliffe, Alexander Rossi, Will Power, Tony Kanaan and Ed Carpenter. Points leader Simon Pagenaud qualified 14th in windy conditions, while defending race winner Ryan Hunter-Reay crashed in morning practice and did not qualify.Team Penskes Pagenaud and Power are 1-2 in the points standings, separated by 58 points, and sitting aroundd another day wasnt exactly what they wanted to be doing.ddddddddddddIts back-to-back races coming up -- three in a row, Power said. It is what it is. Sit back and relax for the night and get ready to [go] again tomorrow. Nothing really changes. When you wake up in the morning, you get a little bit nervous and butterflies.Both Power and Pagenaud, who was hanging out with his Jack Russell terrier, Norman, said they were disappointed for the fans.Only three races remain in the IndyCar season after Pocono -- Texas, Watkins Glen and the season finale at Sonoma on Sept. 18, which is worth double points. Next weeks Firestone 600 at Texas Motor Speedway is a makeup from a race in mid-June that also was postponed by rain -- after the drivers had completed only 71 of the scheduled 248 laps.Newgarden is fourth in the standings and wont be able to race at Texas because he crashed out of the race. Starting on the front row at Pocono still gives him a glimmer of hope, though he trails Pagenaud by 120 points.Were taking it as it is, Newgarden said. Were going to have a points loss there [at Texas]. Well push forward from that.Rain at Pocono Raceway three weeks ago pushed the finish of the NASCAR Sprint Cup race until Monday. Rookie Chris Buescher raced to his first Sprint Cup victory as continued bad weather shortened that event.A blue sky and warm temperatures had settled in over Pocono before Sunday and the forecast for Monday was for more sunshine. ' ' '