Sports
Maxime Raynaud, Stanford to test Clemson defense
Dec 21, 2024; San Jose, California, USA; Stanford Cardinal forward Maxime Raynaud (42) dunks against Oregon Ducks guard Keeshawn Barthelemy (right) during the first half at SAP Center at San Jose. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images Clemson coach Brad Brownell said the Tigers’ ability to stick to the defensive plan tends to be a huge factor in the trajectory of games.
That figures to be even more crucial on Wednesday when Stanford arrives in Clemson, S.C., with the Atlantic Coast Conference’s leading scorer to kick off 2025.
Stanford’s Maxime Raynaud is the ACC leader in points (21.4) and rebounds (11.8) per game, while leading the country with 10 double-doubles in 12 games. The 7-footer is bound to give Clemson concerns with his versatility as he also tops the Cardinal with 21 baskets from 3-point range.
Both Clemson (10-3, 2-0 ACC) and Stanford (9-3, 1-0) have been off since Dec. 21, when Clemson defeated visiting Wake Forest 73-62 and Stanford fell 76-61 to former Pac-12 foe Oregon in a neutral-site game.
Clemson has widespread options on offense, with four players averaging more than nine points per game.
“Every game is different,” Brownell said. “Some of it is based on how the other team guards you.”
Jake Heidbreder provided Clemson with 15 points off the bench in the Wake Forest game, though he ranks seventh in team scoring this season with 5.1 points per game.
“It’s good to see Jake getting more comfortable and knocking a few shots down,” Brownell said.
Stanford coach Kyle Smith said the Cardinal are adjusting with some roster fluctuations. There has been progress for Stanford, even in defeats.
“We had some guys that made some positive steps,” Smith said. “… I think we are going to be good.”
Clemson has the fourth-most ACC victories (74) since the 2017-18 season. Stanford is a first-year ACC member.
The Cardinal’s only ACC game thus far came against Cal, so this will be the program’s first outing of the season against a traditional ACC team. Stanford guard Jaylen Blakes is familiar with Clemson from his three seasons at Duke. He’s the second-leading scorer for the Cardinal with 15.3 points per game.
Clemson’s only two losses since mid-November have come in overtime. Brownell said with the campus on holiday break there’s the likelihood that the home crowd might not be as amped up as normal for an ACC game.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Jordin Canada's buzzer-beater lifts Dream over Sky
Jul 19, 2026; College Park, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Dream guard Rhyne Howard (10) drives the ball towards the basket against Chicago Sky guard Gabriela Jaquez (11) during the first quarter at Gateway Center Arena at College Park. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Godfree-Imagn Images Jordin Canada scored on a layup at the buzzer to lift the Atlanta Dream past the visiting Chicago Sky 93-91 Sunday afternoon in College Park, Ga.
The Dream had seen a 22-point first-half lead vanish, and the game was tied at 91 with 5.5 seconds left and the Dream inbounding the ball. Brionna Jones took the inbounds pass and then briefly paused before Canada swept by, received a short pass and drove to the basket for the game-winner.
Allisha Gray had a game-high 29 points for Atlanta. Madina Okot had 14 off the bench. Rhyne Howard added 11 points, six rebounds, and six assists, while Canada had 10 points and nine assists.
The Sky were led by Azura Stevens, who had 20 points to go along with nine boards. Rookie Sydney Taylor had 18 points for the Sky, including a clutch three-point shot with 6.2 seconds left to tie it.
Angel Reese, playing against the team that traded her away in April, finished with eight points on 3-of-13 shooting and five rebounds before leaving the game with 9:45 remaining due to a left knee injury.
Atlanta (16-10) has now won four of its last five games entering the All-Star break. Chicago (9-17) saw its modest two-game win streak snapped. The Sky haven’t won three games in a row since 2023.
Atlanta started strong in the first quarter, going on an early 7-0 run highlighted by a 3-pointer from Howard and two free throws by Jones, who was playing just her second game since returning from injury.
With Chicago star center Kamilla Cardoso on the bench with two early fouls, the Dream had their way inside. They finished with 31 points in the first quarter, the second-most points they’ve scored in a quarter this season.
The Dream lead crested at 47-25 with 3:18 left in the half on a layup by Isobel Borlase, but the Sky fought back. Atlanta went over three minutes without a point until Jones hit two free throws with 4.6 seconds left. Taylor drilled a shot at the buzzer just inside the half-court line to make it 49-34 at the break.
Chicago dominated the third quarter and took the lead for the first time in the game with 9:32 remaining in the fourth on a layup by Elizabeth Williams.
Atlanta has won the last seven meetings between the two franchises. Chicago last beat Atlanta on July 10, 2024.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Nationals turn back Athletics for series victory
Jul 19, 2026; West Sacramento, California, USA; Washington Nationals third baseman Curtis Mead (45) grounds out resulting in an RBI during the third inning against the Athletics at Sutter Health Park. Mandatory Credit: Scott Marshall-Imagn Images Foster Griffin’s seven innings of one-run ball and home runs by CJ Abrams and Dylan Crews led the visiting Washington Nationals to a 5-2 win over the Athletics on Sunday afternoon in West Sacramento, Calif.
Griffin (11-2), who picked up his third win in as many starts, only struck out two but induced 12 groundball outs. Two of those grounders resulted in double plays as Griffin limited the damage from the eight hits he allowed.
Abrams’ and Crews’ back-to-back long balls were the big hits in a three-run fifth that added to an early Washington lead. Curtis Mead and Harry Ford had the other RBIs for the Nationals.
Shea Langeliers went 2-for-4 with a double while Alika Williams hit a pair of two-baggers out of the No. 9 spot for the A’s, who out-hit Washington 11-7 in a losing effort.
Tyler Soderstrom and Jacob Wilson each had an RBI for the Athletics. First baseman Tommy White was 0-for-2 with a walk after doubling in his MLB debut on Saturday.
Jacob Lopez (4-4) took the loss, giving up two runs in 4 1/3 innings.
The teams traded runs in the third to open the scoring. Nasim Nunez walked to lead off the inning and then stole second and third base before coming home to score on Mead’s RBI groundout.
Soderstrom then leveled it for the A’s in the bottom of the frame with a two-out RBI single, scoring Williams after the first of his two doubles.
Washington regained the lead in the fourth on an RBI double by Ford and they added on with Abrams’ two-run shot and Crews’ solo homer off reliever Elvis Alvarado an inning later.
Jonah Heim and Joshua Kuroda-Grauer hit two-out singles off Tom Cosgrove in the eighth to mount a late-game rally for the Athletics, but Clayton Beeter stepped in to force pinch hitter Carlos Cortes to ground out to first for the third out.
Wilson hit an RBI single in the ninth off Beeter, who recorded the final four outs to earn his eighth save of the season.
Washington took two games in each team’s first series out of the All-Star break. The Nationals won the opener 23-4 on Friday and the A’s took Saturday’s game 15-1.
–Field Level Media
Sports
PARIVISION claims top prize for Dota at Esports World Cup
Nov 5, 2022; San Francisco, California, USA; Fans do the wave between games of the League of Legends World Championships between T1 and DRX at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images PARIVISION picked up 1,000 Esports World Cup club points by taking down BetBoom Team 3-1 in the grand final of the Dota competition on Sunday in Paris.
They also collected a tidy $750,000 of the $2 million prize pool for their victory. BetBoom settled for 750 club points and a $340,000 share of the pot.
In the third-place match, Team Yandex defeated Vici Gaming 2-0 to earn $200,000 and 500 club points.
PARIVISION, who won their six-team group in the opening stage of the tournament, sailed through the playoff bracket to match up with BetBoom Team, who won their first two playoff matches by 2-0 scores.
BetBoom opened the grand final with a 48-minute win on green, but PARIVISION grinded out a 62-minute win on green to level it. That was enough to control the momentum, as they won the next two maps in 41 minutes on red and 37 minutes on green, clinching the championship.
PARIVISION’s Evgeniy “Noticed” Ignatenko of Russia earned tournament MVP honors, which came with a $25,000 bonus. Noticed averaged a 3.8-2.3-12.3 kills-deaths-assists ratio in the grand final, while countryman Alan “Satanic” Gallyamov led PARIVISION with 38 total kills.
Yandex won in 35 minutes on red before steamrolling Vici in 19 minutes on red to clinch the best-of-three third-place match. Ilya “CHIRA_JUNIOR” Chirtsov of Russia averaged a 9.0-1.5-11.5 K-D-A for Yandex.
The Dota 2 event at the Esports World Cup was the final championship of the ESL Pro Tour, now in its fourth season.
The format consisted of three phases: a group stage of 24 teams that competed in a round robin, a survival phase formatted into a single-elimination bracket that saw four teams advance, then a final, single-elimination playoff stage that ran Thursday through Sunday.
The four group winners advanced directly to the playoffs. Teams finishing second through fourth in their groups went to the survival stage, a two-round bracket that decided the other four teams to make the playoff field of eight.
All matches in Phase 1 were two games, while the matches in Phases 2 and 3 were best-of-three until the best-of-five grand final.
Dota 2 Esports World Cup payouts (prize money, EWC club points)
1. $750,000, 1,000 — PARIVISION
2. $340,000, 750 — BetBoom Team
3. $200,000, 500 — Team Yandex
4. $120,000, 300 — Vici Gaming
5-8. $70,000, 200 — Team Spirit, Rune Eaters, Nigma Galaxy, Team Falcons
9-12. $40,000, 0 — LGD Gaming, 1w, Team Liquid, Aurora Gaming
13-16. $20,000, 0 — MOUZ, Xtreme Gaming, Virtus.pro, PlayTime
17-20. $10,000, 0 — GamerLegion, Level UP, REKONIX, OG
21-24. $7,500, 0 — Poor Rangers, L1 Team, Team Nemesis, Inner Circle x Insanity
–Field Level Media
Jordin Canada's buzzer-beater lifts Dream over Sky
Nationals turn back Athletics for series victory
