draft, suggesting, "Im a different breed. I can block, I can run, I can get the tough yards. Everybody cant do that." He also said he had been medically cleared to participate fully at practice, declaring, "Im healthy. Im clear. No problems. I can run," and he said he felt he stil

The Cairns Taipans have recovered from a final-quarter lapse to beat the New Zealand Breakers by 11 points in their NBL clash at the Cairns Convention Centre.Cairns will be relieved with the 91-80 win after they almost let a 15 point half-time lead evaporate in the fourth quarter.The Taipans entered the second half with their biggest half-time lead of the season but the Breakers hung around in the third quarter.New Zealands defence then went into another gear to start the final term as they hassled and smothered the Taipans at every turn.By the five-minute mark they had reeled the game back to within two points.But a brace of buckets from Cairns centre Nate Jawai and a breakaway Travis Trice layup from a stolen ball kept the home sides nose in front.A four-point play from Travis Trice with just a minute and a half left then looked to have put the Breakers to bed.But New Zealand, whove enjoyed a strong rivalry with Cairns in recent years, refused to go away.New import David Stockton picked up the crumbs of an offensive rebound to make a three from well beyond the line, but that was as close as the visitors could get.Playing in just his second home game, Snakes point guard Travis Trice proved he had well and truly put his recent hip injury behind him.He has the ability to just go and make a play, and that is his responsibility, coach Aaron Fearne said.It helps when you have someone who can make plays, as much as coaches like structure and plays, he can just go and make it happen.The loss is the Breakers second in a row and coach Paul Henare could only lament his sides slow start.We came out flat and we didnt have the energy required which is hugely disappointing, Henare said.I trusted our group to make good decisions down the stretch but we fell well short of that in the last few minutes.New Zealand will face the Illawarra Hawks next on Thursday, while the Taipans will travel to Brisbane to face the Brisbane Bullets on Saturday. 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Jordan Lynch, the all-purpose Heisman Trophy finalist from Northern Illinois, failed to make it into that exclusive club. Cheap Hines Ward Jersey . The visitors took a deserved lead in the 16th minute with midfielder Yohan Cabaye curling the ball beyond Adrian from inside the penalty area.ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Willis McGahees decision to skip off-season workouts isnt what cost the veteran running back his job with the Denver Broncos. His absence, however, did allow the organization to see ample promise in rookie Montee Ball and abundant progress from second-year speedster Ronnie Hillman. That gave them the faith to put the football and their fortunes in the hands of the two young running backs Thursday by releasing McGahee, the 31-year-old bruiser who led them in rushing last season despite missing the final two months with a right knee injury. The move wasnt unexpected, but the timing of it was a bit of a surprise. The Broncos could have kept McGahee through training camp as an insurance policy against injury even if he wasnt going to vie for the starting job. Instead, they sent him on his way just before wrapping up their three-day mandatory minicamp where McGahee had gotten just a handful of handoffs. "In fairness to him, I think (for) the things hes done for us, this gives him a better opportunity to hook on somewhere," coach John Fox said. "It gives us a better opportunity to give some of these young guys more reps. Its just a conscious decision for us to get younger." McGahee was mostly a spectator this week and seemed resigned to his impending release when on Tuesday he said, "If it happens, it happens." Hours after releasing McGahee, the Broncos signed Ball, their second-round draft pick, along with cornerback Kayvon Webster, their third-round selection. "Im not here for money, honestly," Ball said shortly before heading inside team headquarters to sign his contract. "And thats what I told my agent. I told him not to bother them that much. Im just blessed to be here because its always been my favourite team." McGahee had two years and $4.5 million remaining on the four-year, $9.5 million deal he signed in 2011. By releasing him, the Broncos will take a $1 million cap hit this season. The Broncos are still deep at the position with former first-round pick Knowshon Moreno and versatile fullback Jacob Hester, among other veterans, also in the mix. McGahee was the first signing Fox and his boss, John Elway, made when they joined forces in 2011, and Fox said parting ways with the affable pro was difficult both for him and running backs coach Eric Studesville, who had worked with McGahee back in Buffalo. "Id like to thank Willis for everything he did. He did a great job for us, leading rusher. He was one of our first signees when we came here to get this thing turned around and its an unfortunate part about this business, but he did a great job for us," Fox said. Elway said, "Its never easy to part ways with a veteran player who made so many positive contributions to our team and community. I appreciate all of the competittiveness, toughness and leadership Willis brought to the Broncos.dddddddddddd He was an integral part of our teams turnaround during the past two seasons, and I wish him the best as he continues his NFL career." Even with Ball, who scored an NCAA record 83 touchdowns at Wisconsin, joining a bulked-up Hillman in the Broncos backfield, McGahee shunned the teams three weeks of voluntary workouts this spring, something Fox insisted had nothing to do with Thursdays decision to release him. Upon his return for the Broncos mandatory minicamp Tuesday, McGahee said he skipped the OTAs for family reasons, insisted he would still be the starter come September and suggested that missing those 10 workouts didnt put him at a decided disadvantage by giving the youngsters a head start. "I probably would have been behind the 8-ball either way," he said. "Younger group. Just being real, right?" Now hell be looking to carry the ball for someone else. The 11-year veteran who was set to make $2.5 million in 2013 should draw interest across the league. Although hes pushing 32, hes doesnt have the wear and tear that would be expected of a running back who has been in the league a decade because he spent much of his career sharing snaps. He played in Buffalo from 2003-06 and Baltimore from 2007-10 before joining the Broncos for an eventful two seasons in which he was an integral part of the Tim Tebow experiment and then the Peyton Manning comeback tour. McGahee, who became one of the NFLs most dependable runners despite tearing all the ligaments in his left knee during his last game for the University of Miami, tore the medial collateral ligament and suffered a compression fracture to his right knee in a game against San Diego last November and missed the rest of the year. Still, he led the team with 731 yards rushing. McGahee said this week he wasnt bothered by the Broncos selecting another running back high in the draft, suggesting, "Im a different breed. I can block, I can run, I can get the tough yards. Everybody cant do that." He also said he had been medically cleared to participate fully at practice, declaring, "Im healthy. Im clear. No problems. I can run," and he said he felt he still had plenty of football left in him, especially with the way the rules severely limit padded practices now. His teammates had figured McGahee would be back with them for some of those practices when training camp opens next month and were stunned to see his empty chair in the running backs meeting room. "I mean hes a guy that you look up to being in the league for a very long time and hes still capable of doing the things that he was doing six years ago," Hillman said. "So Im pretty sure hell get picked up again. But its a sad day for me because he was a real mentor to me." ' ' '