THOMAS GODOJ & BAND AKTUELL » and a steal for Delaw

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Mark Calcavecchia appeared to be off to yet another slow start after only two strokes. He managed to save par, and went on to put together his best opening round of the year. Calcavecchia and Wes Short Jr. shot 6-under 66 on Friday at Wakonda Club to share the lead in the Champions Tours Principal Charity Classic. Bobby Clampett, Peter Senior and Shane Lowery were a stroke back. Calcavecchia, who lived in nearby Laurel, Nebraska until he was 13, said the rolling hills of the Wakonda Club reminded him of the course he learned to play on. He finished third in Iowa last season, and four straight birdies on the back nine helped put him atop the leaderboard. "Im comfortable on the course," Calcavecchia said. "Its still tough, and you still have to execute under pressure and handle your nerves and stuff. But the course does suit me." It didnt look that way on the first hole. Calcavecchia sent his approach flying over the green. But he put his next shot within 10 feet and made the par putt for his first and perhaps best save of the day. Calcavecchia entered Friday ranked 63rd in opening-round scoring average, but fifth for final rounds. "It was looking like I was going to bogey the first hole right off the hop," Calcavecchia said. Short followed an eagle on the 15th hole with a bogey. But Short, who has been up and down since opening the season with 10th- and 11th-place finishes, made a birdie putt on No. 18 to tie Calcavecchia. Shorts 66 snapped a stretch of six straight rounds of 70 or higher. "Its been a long road for me. I was hurt for a number of years," said Short, who has long battled back issues. "I put a lot of work into it and its starting to pay off." Clampett, whose best finish was a tie for 29th in March, got stuck in the bunker on the par-4 12th and mishit his approach en route to a bogey. But when faced with a similar shot on the next hole, Clampett holed out from 40 feet for eagle. It was an encouraging start for Clampett, who shot his low round of the year. Jay Haas began his attempt to become just the third player to win the same tournament four times with a 69. But history isnt on Haass side, as no one has rallied from more than two strokes down to win in the 14-year history of the Iowa tournament. Defending champion Russ Cochran had the days worst round, shooting a 6-over 78. Jerseys Authentic Wholesale . After losing Brett Cecil to groin tightness on Friday, the Blue Jays watched as R. Cheap Jerseys .C. -- Duke sophomore Rodney Hood is entering the NBA draft. http://www.chinacheapjerseysauthentic.com/. Raymond, 31, started 15 regular-season games for the Stamps in 2013, racking up 51 tackles. He also returned two kickoffs for 79 yards including a 61-yarder. Wholesale Jerseys China . A groundswell for raising the number of playoff qualifiers to seven in each conference figures to get plenty of support from the 32 owners. Most notably, Arizonas Bill Bidwill, who saw his Cardinals go 10-6 and not get in, while Green Bay (8-7-1) qualified by winning the NFC North. China NCAA Jerseys . Right-hander Ricky Nolasco and the Twins agreed to terms on a free-agent contract Wednesday, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press.COLUMBUS, Ohio -- No. 3 Ohio State had reeled off double-digit wins in its first 10 games. As Delawares players watched some of the film from those victories, they began to wonder, "What would the Buckeyes do if they were in a tight game?" They found out on Wednesday night, hanging around for most of the game before falling 76-64. "Thats one of the things that we realized, looking at their past games -- that they really hadnt been in a dogfight," said Jarvis Threatt, who had 14 points and nine rebounds for the Blue Hens (5-6). "We just tried to make it a game and we fell a little short." LaQuinton Ross scored 19 points, including eight in a decisive 15-0 run in the middle of the game, for Ohio State (11-0), while Lenzelle Smith Jr. had 14, Aaron Craft 12, Amir Williams added 11 points and 12 rebounds and Amedeo Della Valle finished with 10 points. The Blue Hens led by as many as six points in the opening 4 minutes. They never led after Marvin King-Davis hit a short jumper with 3:31 left in the half to put them up 26-25. Then the Buckeyes ran off the last 12 points of the half to take a 37-26 lead and then Ross opened the second half by hitting a 3-pointer. Still, Delaware didnt fold. The Blue Hens twice cut the lead to eight points, the last time at 68-60 with 1:48 remaining on a second consecutive layup by Saddler right down the heart of the lane. But Smith hit a jumper and two free throws and the game was out of reach. "Our guys stood toe-to-toe for the most part with who Im going to call the best team in the country," Delaware coach Monte Ross said. "Im just going to say that and Im going to keep saying that because we played them. I hope they win every game the rest of the way." Saddler, still rounding into shaape after a seven-game disciplinary suspension, had 17 points to lead the Blue Hens, who have lost three straight.dddddddddddd It was their second of three games in six days, all in the BlackRock Gotham Classic. Both teams will be playing in the same final round of the "tournament" at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, with the Blue Hens meeting Bryant and Ohio State squaring off against Notre Dame. "We played good but there were some things at our own end that we didnt capitalize on for us to pull out the win," said Davon Usher, who had eight points, seven rebounds, a block and a steal for Delaware. "We felt we had a chance to come in here and win but we just messed up on some things on our part." The Blue Hens hung tough despite being outrebounded 46-30. Ohio States guards -- Craft and Shannon Scott -- are considered among the best defensive tandems in the country. But the Blue Hens gashed them for 28 points in the paint, mostly on one-on-one drives through the middle of the defence. "We knew that Delaware has a heck of basketball team," Buckeyes coach Thad Matta said. "Theyve got guys who can really score it. They hit some difficult shots, but thats what they do and theyre good at it." The Blue Hens fell to 0-8 against Big Ten teams, 0-17 against Top 10 teams and 0-29 against ranked opponents. The only time the Blue Hens played a higher-ranked team was No. 2 Duke last season. But this loss certainly wasnt because they were intimidated. "I told our guys coming in, we couldnt blink," Delawares Ross said. "It was a terrific environment for college basketball that Ohio State, overstating the obvious, is used to playing in. But our guys didnt shrink from the moment or the atmosphere." ' ' '