BUENOS AIRES (Liga Nacional) - Libertad cruised to a relatively straightforward 80-72 victory over Gimnasia y Esgrima from Comodoro in the first leg of the Liga Nacional semi-final.

Ryan Carroll and Roberto Lopez were the stand-out players for the home side with both men collecting 20 points.

Charles Jones scored 15 points for Gimnasia, including eight rebounds.

The second game will be played on Friday night.

PA Sport

BRA - Trio off to winning

RIO DE JANEIRO (Campeonato Nacional) - Telemar, Rio Claro and Franca all won their first games of the Campeonato Nacional play-offs. Telemar beat Uniberso/BRB 95-88 with Arnaldinho netting 21 points including

IRI - Hopes bounce off the

AMMAN (WABA U18) - Iran's U18 national team was outclassed by Yemeni juniors 77-54 on the second day of West Asia Championship, underway in Jordan. Iran was experiencing its second loss in a row

FRA - Gravelines edge ahead

GRAVELINES (Pro A) - Gravelines-Dunkerque edged Game One in their Pro A play-off against Dijon after stealing an 86-85 win in overtime. Fabrice Courcier's men were trailing by 11 points five minutes before the end of the contest but managed to force the game

USA - Spurs claw their way back

SAN ANTONIO (NBA) - With their reign as NBA champions on the line, the San Antonio Spurs finally got the break they needed as they held on for a season-saving 98-97 victory over the Dallas Mavericks in Game Five of the Western Conference semi-finals.  Tim Duncan was again unstoppable with 36 points and 12 rebounds for the top-seeded Spurs, who still face a 3-2 deficit in the series

FIBA Europe -

MUNICH (FIBA Europe) - George Vassilakopoulos earned a second mandate as FIBA Europe President on Saturday in Munich, Germany at the 2006 General Assembly. Vassilakopoulos was the only candidate after Sarunas Marciulionis