COLLEGES

Novick named Plymouth State head coach, Dumont gets Bowdoin assistant position

Portland native Andrew Novick was named head coach of men’s basketball at Plymouth State University in Plymouth, N.H.

Novick, a former Deering High captain, replaces Damien Strahorn, who resigned to become head coach at Colby College.

Novick was a graduate assistant at Maryland and has been an assistant coach at Tulane since 2005.

MEN’S HOCKEY: Lewiston native Jamie Dumont was named an assistant coach of men’s hockey at Bowdoin College.

Dumont also was an assistant with the Polar Bears from 2001 to 2005. He most recently was head coach and general manager of the Geleen Smoke Eaters of the Dutch Professional Hockey League in Geleen, Holland.

• NCAA champion Minnesota Duluth and five other top hockey programs will make up the new National Collegiate Hockey Conference at the start of the 2013-14 season, the schools announced.

Minnesota Duluth, Colorado College, Denver, Nebraska-Omaha and North Dakota of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association will join current Central Collegiate Hockey Association member Miami of Ohio in the new league. The new conference hopes to add Notre Dame, but an agreement hasn’t yet been made.

BASEBALL

TWILIGHT LEAGUE: Travis Wade had a two-run double as Patriot Insurance (8-3-1) rallied for four runs with two outs in the sixth inning for a 4-2 victory over Aero Heating and Ventilating (4-8) at Standish.

Ian Edwards had two hits for Patriot. Ben Goodall and Kevin Chamberlain each drove in a run for Aero.

TENNIS

SWEDISH OPEN: Top-seeded Robin Soderling routed Diego Junqueira 6-0, 6-1 to reach the quarterfinals at Bastad, Sweden. Third-seeded Thomas Berdych also advanced with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Teymuraz Gabashvili.

BASKETBALL

WNBA: Diana Taurasi scored 27 points, including five 3-pointers, to rally the Phoenix Mercury past the Minnesota Lynx 112-105 at Minneapolis for sole possession of first place in the Western Conference.

• Katie Douglas scored 20 points and the Indiana Fever defeated the Connecticut Sun 90-78 at Indianapolis to stretch their winning streak to seven games.

• Nicole Powell scored 20 points and the New York Liberty cruised to a 91-69 victory over the Atlanta Dream at New York.

SOCCER

MANCHESTER UNITED TOUR: Federico Macheda scored twice to lead Manchester United to a 4-1 victory over the New England Revolution at Foxborough, Mass., in the opener of its U.S. exhibition tour.

Kenny Mansally scored for New England to make it 2-1 in the 56th minute.

— From staff and news services