Basketball: Japan roars back late to beat Venezuela at World Cup

Co-host Japan came storming back late to beat Venezuela 86-77 and take a big step toward Olympic qualification Thursday at the FIBA Basketball World Cup. After going into the final quarter of their classification game trailing 62-53, Tom Hovasse's world No. 36 team outscored No. 17 Venezuela 33-15 to claim its second win of the tournament being held in Japan, the Philippines and Indonesia through Sept. 10. Makoto Hiejima scored a game-high 23 points for Japan, connecting on 6-from-7 from three-point territory at Okinawa Arena. Phoenix Suns swingman Yuta Watanabe had 21 points and eight rebound...