In brief: Bryant nails winning shot in return

NBA: Kobe Bryant returned to the lineup after missing five games with an ankle injury and hit a 3-pointer with 4.3 seconds left to lift the Los Angeles Lakers to 99-98 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies at Memphis, Tenn.

Bryant led the Lakers with 32 points, including his team’s final nine points. His 3-pointer with 54 seconds left tied the game.

Pau Gasol added 22 points and 13 rebounds for the Lakers, who won for the seventh time in their last eight road games.

The Grizzlies, who lost their fifth straight home game, were led by O.J. Mayo’s 25 points. Zach Randolph scored 20 and grabbed 14 rebounds.

•Roy helps Blazers hold off Nets: Brandon Roy scored 10 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter and the Portland Trail Blazers avoided blowing a big lead for a second straight game by holding off the New Jersey Nets 102-93 in East Rutherford, N.J.

LaMarcus Aldridge added 27 points and Andre Miller had 20 as the Trail Blazers overcame an ankle injury to recently acquired center Marcus Camby in snapping a two-game losing streak and winning for only the sixth time in 14 games.

Evansville stuns Northern Iowa

Men’s basketball: James Haarsma had 12 points and eight rebounds to help Evansville stun No. 25 Northern Iowa 55-54 at Evansville, Ind. Evansville had lost 17 of 18 before pulling off one of the biggest upsets of the college basketball season.

Kavon Lacey scored 11 points and Colt Ryan added 10 for Evansville (8-20, 2-15 MVC).

Jake Koch scored 22 points for Northern Iowa (24-4, 14-3).

NFLPA director says 2010 likely uncapped

NFL: NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith sent a memo to players and their agents, telling them it is likely no new collective bargaining agreement will be reached and the upcoming season will be played without a salary cap.

In the memo, Smith outlined the union’s talks with the league, but made it clear he doesn’t think a new deal will occur before the March 5 deadline – giving the NFL its first uncapped season since 1993.

If no deal is reached next season, a work stoppage could occur before the 2011 season. It all puts the future of the league in uncertain territory despite soaring TV ratings and an average team value of $1 billion.

•Panthers won’t franchise Peppers: Carolina Panthers general manager Marty Hurney announced the Panthers won’t place the restrictive franchise tag on Julius Peppers, the team’s career sacks leader, for a second consecutive year at a cost of at least $20.1 million.

NCAA accuses Michigan football

College football: The NCAA is accusing Michigan of five potentially major rules violations under coach Rich Rodriguez, who admitted making “mistakes” but will be back for a third try at putting the Wolverines back into the national title hunt.

Incoming athletic director David Brandon disclosed the NCAA conclusions, while expressing full support for his coach, who is just 8-16 in two seasons heading the nation’s winningest football program.

In its notice of allegations – which Michigan received Monday – the NCAA said Rodriguez “failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance within the football program.” He tracked neither what his staff was doing nor whether his players were following NCAA rules, particularly those limiting the time spent on practice and football-related activities.

Strike looms for Major League Soccer

Soccer: Negotiators for Major League Soccer players and owners failed to meet, two days before the latest extension in their labor talks is due to expire.

With players failing to match management’s no-lockout pledge with a no-strike offer, the league’s first work stoppage appears possible, one that could postpone the first game of the expansion Philadelphia Union and the official opening of Red Bull Arena.

Horse trainer on trial for animal cruelty

Miscellany: The 177 horses seized in a raid of an upstate New York farm last year were malnourished, a prosecutor said at the start of the trial of the farm’s owner, a prominent thoroughbred horse breeder who was banned from racing.

Ernie Paragallo, the former owner of 1996 Kentucky Derby favorite and fifth-place finisher Unbridled’s Song, was charged with multiple counts of animal cruelty after the April raid by state police and animal welfare investigators.

Scores of malnourished horses, many of them infested with internal and external parasites, were found in the raid of the 500-acre farm in Coxsackie in the Hudson Valley on April 8, 2009. Most were later adopted by rescue groups and horse farms around the country.

•Last witness testifies in Iowa coach killing trial: The prosecution’s final witness in its case against a man charged with killing an Iowa high school football coach in Allison, Iowa, testified that the defendant was sane at the time of the shooting.

Michael Taylor, a psychiatrist from Des Moines, said Mark Becker was too organized in his thinking to be insane on the morning of June 24, when Aplington-Parkersburg coach Ed Thomas was shot and killed.