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SPORTS Thursday 1 augusT 2024
U.S. tops South Sudan 103-86 at Paris Olympics, earns spot in men’s

basketball quarterfinals

By TIM REYNOLDS standably so. The story of
AP Basketball Writer his team from the young-
V I L L E N E U V E - D ’ A S C Q , est country in the world, a
France (AP) — In the re- group that overcame ab-
match, the U.S. had an surd odds just to get to the
easier time with South Su- Paris Games is a quintes-
dan than it did when the sential Olympic one, one
teams first met a couple of that will be talked about for
weeks ago. years whether the African
Easier. Not easy. nation wins another game
The U.S. clinched a trip to in France or not.
the quarterfinals at the That said, if nearly beating
Paris Olympics by beat- the Americans in London
ing South Sudan 103-86 on on July 20 in an exhibition
Wednesday night a game the 101-100 game where
that wasn’t ever really in James had to bail out the
doubt but was no romp ei- U.S. at the end was a mov-
ther. Bam Adebayo scored ie, then this was the sequel.
18 points and Kevin Durant In the movie world, sequels
scored 14 for the Ameri- often aren’t as good as
cans, who took control with the originals. Such was the
a 25-4 run in the first half. case Wednesday.
Anthony Edwards scored The first few minutes after
13 and LeBron James Bam Adebayo, of the United States, reacts after a dunk over Wenyen Gabriel, of South Sudan, in a the opening credits weren’t
scored 12 for the U.S. Nuni men’s basketball game at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, July 31, 2024, in Villeneuve- bad — South Sudan led 7-6
Omot led South Sudan with d’Ascq, France. Associated Press and 10-8 — but the plot
21 points, while Carlik Jones got predictable quickly.
scored 18 and Bul Kuol Puerto Rico, which faces cord in group play would plications for both teams. Durant made a 3-pointer
added 16. the Americans on Saturday, give the Americans their The draw for the quarterfi- with about a minute to go
The win locked up a knock- has been eliminated from best chance at a top- nals will be held Saturday in the opening quarter for
out-round berth and the contention to advance. two seed for the knock- night, and all four quarter- the first double-digit lead,

No. 1 seed out of Group C That said, Saturday’s game out round and, in theory, final games will be played Adebayo scored inside
for the U.S., which joined the first between Puerto an easier matchup in the Tuesday in Paris. with 8:42 left in the half to
Canada, France and Ger- Rico and the U.S. at the quarterfinals. South Sudan coach Roy- cap what was a 25-4 run,
many in the quarterfinals. Olympics since an embar- South Sudan finishes group al Ivey likened his life to a the Americans had a 33-
There are seven teams rassing 92-73 loss in Athens play against Serbia on Sat- movie after his team won 14 lead and there wasn’t a
still alive for the other four 20 years ago isn’t mean- urday, a game that’ll have its Olympic opener over ton of drama the rest of the
quarterfinal spots; only ingless for the U.S. A 3-0 re- serious knockout-stage im- Puerto Rico, and under- way.q

NFL is moving closer to replacing the chain gang with new

technology to measure line to gain

By ROB MAADDI ... We have multiple stadiums tifies officials instantly if a first
AP Pro Football Writer with multiple dimensions in- down was gained after the
The NFL is moving closer to side of those stadiums with ball is spotted by hand.
replacing the chain gang different age. So we’re re- “We’re reducing a signifi-
with new technology to ally just going through the cant amount of time, 40
measure line to gain. installation of putting in the seconds for each time of
NFL executive Gary Brantley infrastructure and making use that basically is mak-
told The Associated Press the sure these cameras are in- ing the game that much
league will test Sony’s Hawk- stalled.” more impactful,” said Neal
Eye technology during some Sony, which was named Manowitz, Sony president
preseason games. The sys- the NFL’s official technology and chief operations officer.
tem most likely wouldn’t be partner on Wednesday, has “And then also the system is
ready for full implementation expanded its sports technol- accurate down to less than
until next season, though it ogy through Hawk-Eye Inno- half an inch, which is incred-
could happen sooner. vations to support officiating ibly, incredibly accurate. Chain gang first down marker during an NFL preseason football
“We’re in the installation and the development of Hopefully the fans appreci- game between the New Orleans Saints and the Kansas City
Chiefs at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Friday,
phase for all of our stadi- on-field and sideline tech- ate the objective view, or at Aug. 9, 2013
ums, really getting them cali- nologies, including a new least half the fans each play Associated Press
brated and up to date,” said coach’s sideline headset will be appreciating it.”
Brantley, the NFL’s senior vice that will debut in 2025. The NFL has long used two ment and new headsets “The NFL has incredibly high
president and chief informa- Its Hawk-Eye tracking ser- bright orange sticks and a for coaches’ communica- standards and really what
tion officer. “We’re just really vices for line-to-gain mea- chain to measure for first tion, Sony is partnering with we’re talking about in this
getting to a place where this surement adds cameras to downs. That method would the NFL to enhance sideline relationship is together, at
system is as accurate as pos- stadiums to track players, remain in a backup capac- photography, broadcast the highest level, how do we
sible and really calibrating officials and the ball. The ity. Beyond new technology cameras and production, change the future of sports,”
across our multiple stadiums. optimal tracking system no- for line-to-gain measure- and more. Manowitz said. q