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FARGO, N.D. -- Paul Miller scored 24 points on 8-of-12 shooting, Dexter Werner added 16 points and North Dakota State held off a late Arkansas State run to win 76-66 in Friday nights season opener.A.J. Jacboson scored 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds for the Bison, who outshot the Red Wolves 50 percent to 40 percent from the field and made 29 of 42 free throws (69 percent).Trailing 40-34 at halftime, Arkansas State rallied to a 48-47 lead on a layup by Jahmiah Simmons before the Bison surged ahead on a 19-0 run. The Red Wolves pulled to within 67-62 after Donte Thomas layup with 1:11 left, but North Dakota States Khy Kabellis made nine free throws down the stretch to help clinch it.Devin Carter scored 15 points for Arkansas state and Thomas made 10 assists. . Then the Pacers gave Oladipo and his Orlando teammates the cold shoulder. Paul Georges buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of the third quarter spurred a 21-4 run, finally sending Indiana past the Magic 97-87 in a tougher-than-expected opening night matchup. . Instead of dwelling on the negative, Oates focused on what was good about the clubs recent play. It worked. . -- San Francisco 49ers linebacker Ahmad Brooks was fined $15,570 by the NFL on Wednesday for his hit on Saints quarterback Drew Brees last Sunday. . That left plenty of energy for pitching books and swatting away free agency questions. Anthony had 24 points and nine rebounds, and the Knicks avenged an embarrassing home loss with a rout of their own, beating the Boston Celtics 114-88 on Wednesday night for their third straight victory. . Uniteds eighth defeat of a wretched campaign means Liverpool, which currently occupies the fourth and final Champions League place, could go nine points clear of its fierce rival by beating West Bromwich Albion on Sunday. Charlie Adam scored both of Stokes goals at Britannia Stadium either side of Robin van Persies equalizer, with a miserable day for seventh-place United capped by first-half injuries to centre halves Jonny Evans and Phil Jones that forced them off. Vernon Philander is used to drawing the short straw.At the beginning of his career, his skills as a long-format seam bowler somehow slipped behind his potential as a limited-overs allrounder and he debuted in the wrong format. When he flopped, he was sent back to franchise cricket to find form and fitness, and it took four years before he found his way back.Luckily, his new role fitted perfectly. Philander opened the bowling with such precision and penetration that he became the fastest South African to 100 Test wickets but still, he was not the countrys poster boy. The doubters believed he could only perform on pitches he was used to at home and the occasions on which Philander proved them wrong - Hamilton, Lords, Abu Dhabi - were conveniently forgotten. Last years tour to India would have been the biggest opportunity for Philander to show what he could do.He started strongly - with the most success by a South African seamer in the first Test in Mohali - but then disaster struck. In the warm-ups of the Bangalore Test, Philander tore ankle ligaments playing football and the injury looked bad enough to end his career.It took him three times longer to recover than first predicted - almost 18 weeks instead of six - he missed the rest of the international summer and with the rise of Kagiso Rabada, Philanders chances of finding his way seemed slim and he knew it. You always get a scare when this type of thing happens, especially with the time duration of it. I initially thought six weeks and I will be back on the park, he said. Then I realised the extent of the injury and the rehab that I had to undergo. When you are not playing and not being part of the set-up, you start doubting when you will be back in that space.For a change, it was not other people doubting Philander, but that did not make it any easier. He had to strengthen the ankle slowly and learn to trust it again. By his own admission, there was the mental challenge of being comfortable with landing on it, running on it and turning on it.Thats why Philanders comeback involved all the steps a sportsman entering the game for the first time takes. He played club cricket, provincial cricket, franchise cricket and A-team cricket. With each outing, he felt more assured. For me, it was to get over the mindset of wondering if the ankle is going to hold up.dddddddddddd Thats why I went (with the A team) to Zimbabwe and Australia, he said. It held up pretty well so going into this Test match, I was pretty confident on it. I needed to play those couple of games to get that mental edge to be ready for this.And then, despite delivering six of possibly the most threatening overs of his career, in which he beat the bat several times with the kind of seam movement that he made his name on, Philander was overshadowed by Dale Steyn. Again.Steyn had been out of the Test side for almost as long as Philander, with a groin and then a shoulder problem, and his comeback was more eagerly anticipated. With Steyns reputation and the record for South Africas leading Test wicket-taker within his grasp, that was understandable. After Steyn shot out the New Zealand openers with signature swing, that was even more understandable, so it is hardly surprising that Philander gets why he has not made the headlines and his new-ball partner has. In fact, he welcomes it, because he believes they need each other to get South Africa climbing the rankings again.We formed a good partnership over the last few years. For me, its to get back to what I have been doing successfully, which is hitting the top of off with the odd bouncer, to create pressure from the other end with the consistency of bowling line and length, Philander said. When you slip down the rankings, you are going to try and find what was the key reason. South Africa have played with a lot of new faces and the lack of experience is what I would put it down too. Dale and I bring a bit of experience to the fold. Id like to see us lead the attack again.As for the doubters, who continue to wonder if Philander has passed his best, he hopes to answer them with his actions, as he has always done. We always need to prove ourselves wrong first of all, he said. As for proving other people wrong, it will always be there because theres always going to be critics, theres always going to be people questioning. You can only control what you can, and for me thats controlling 20 overs a day. ' ' '
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