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COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- There were a lot of lofty expectations on the Maryland basketball team at this point last season, as the Terps were ranked in the Top 10 by several outlets.That is certainly not the case this year, though No. 25 Maryland could be a factor in the Big Ten and nationally come March.The Terps open the season at home Friday at 7 p.m. against American, a member of the Patriot League whose campus in northwest Washington, D.C., is about 12 miles southwest of College Park.American coach Mike Brennan, a former assistant at Georgetown, is well aware of the Maryland program.You always want to challenge yourselves and see where you stack up at the beginning of the year, said Brennan, a former player at Princeton in his fourth season with the Eagles. It is exciting; it is good for recruiting. The guys like it; they like the challenge.Maryland was 27-9 last season and lost to Kansas in the regional semifinals in the NCAA tournament. Terps outscored opponents by an average of 75.7-66.7 last season while AU was outscored 65.7-57.6. The Terps won the battle of the boards by an average of 35.1-32.5.But Maryland lost two key players to the NBA. Freshman center Diamond Stone was drafted by the Los Angeles Clippers and senior forward Jake Layman was taken by the Portland Trail Blazers.In addition, graduate senior Rasheed Suliamon, a transfer from Duke, exhausted his eligibility while Robert Carter Jr., a transfer from Georgia Tech, left a year early to play pro ball in Italy.The good news is that Melo Trimble, an all-conference guard, decided to return for his junior year after working out for NBA teams. He is the team leader among returnees in points (14.8), assists (4.9) and rebounds (3.9).Trimble is expected to play Friday despite hurting his ankle and playing just nine minutes in a 95-61 exhibition win against Division II Catawba on Saturday.Besides Trimble, the Terps have a strong freshman class, with point guard Anthony Cowan, 6-foot-7 forward Justin Jackson and 6-7 guard Kevin Huerter. Cowan and Jackson each had 15 points against Catawba.They are three young guys who are further along than the rest of them, Maryland coach Mark Turgeon said. Theyll all be ready to help us. Theyre ready to play.Anthonys something we really havent had since weve been here, Turgeon added. Hes fast -- probably one of the fastest guys in the league. He can really defend, pick it up full court and pressure the ball. Hes fast on the break and hes a pass-first point guard, which is great for our team right now.Maryland also has graduate transfer L.G. Gill, from Duquesne, who had 13 points against Catawba, and Dion Wiley, who missed last season with a right knee injury.Trimble and Cowan are both products of Prince Georges County, Md., and played for the same club program. Both played in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC), as Trimble starred at Bishop OConnell in Virginia and Cowan played at St. Johns College High in Washington.Hes a really good passer who can shoot, Trimble said of Cowan. But hes mostly a pass-first point guard, which is something thats good for our offense. With Anthony being here, I can play off the ball, which is something I havent (done) since I was in high school.The top player for American is Delante Jones, who averaged 12 points last season as the Patriot League Rookie of the Year. The Eagles are picked to finish fifth in the 10-team Patriot League after going 12-19 last season.The teams last met in December 2008 at Maryland; the Terps won 67-51. On Dec. 22, 2007, in College Park, the Eagles pulled a 67-59 upset against Maryland and former coach Gary Williams, who was an American University assistant early in his Hall of Fame coaching career. Swell Marble Bottle Australia .7 million, one-year contract, a raise of $2.2 million. Wieters had asked for $8.75 million and the Orioles had offered $6. Swell Water Bottle Wholesale . In the lead up - which seemed to begin the moment Mike Geiger blew the whistle in Houston last Thursday night - the Impact rumour mill went into overdrive. The speculation went into meltdown mode, of the golden nugget variety. http://www.swellbottleaustralia.com/australia-swell-water-bottle-sale.html . A lawyer for MLB, Matthew Menchel, confirmed Wednesday the league dropped its case against Biogenesis of America, its owner Anthony Bosch and several other individuals. The lawsuit had accused Biogenesis and Bosch of conspiring with players to violate their contracts by providing them with banned performance-enhancing substances. Swell Water Bottles Australia . "It doesnt get any better than that," Giambi said. "Im speechless." The Indians are roaring toward October. Giambi belted a two-run, pinch-hit homer with two outs in the ninth inning to give Cleveland a shocking 5-4 win over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night, keeping the Indians up with the lead pack in the AL wild-card race. sWell Bottle Wood Australia . The Dane followed up his first European Tour title last weekend with eight birdies and just a single dropped shot on Thursday for a one-stroke advantage over South Africas Allan Versfeld and Portugals Ricardo Santos. TORONTO -- By winning on the second night of a back-to-back, the Sacramento Kings avoided an empty road trip.DeMarcus Cousins had 22 points and 14 rebounds, Rudy Gay scored 23 against his former team and Sacramento beat the Toronto Raptors 96-91 on Sunday night before a sellout crowd of 19,800 at Air Canada Centre.It was much needed, a confidence boost, a momentum boost, Cousins said.Its a good feeling. It would have been a pretty long flight if we went home off this road trip with no wins, so it makes it a bit better. But were still finding ourselves. Weve still got a lot of growing to do.Gay had nine points in the fourth quarter as the Kings (3-5) snapped a four-game losing streak by winning the finale of their five-game trip.Matt Barnes had eight points and 10 rebounds, and Kosta Koufos added 13 points and six rebounds.DeMar DeRozan led the Raptors (4-2) with 23 points, the first time this season hes been held under 30. Kyle Lowry added 15 points and 11 assists for Toronto, which had a three-game winning streak snapped.We were out of it the entire night offensively. We were off rhythm, Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. They did a good job of sending bodies off of our young guys and onto DeMar, Kyle and our shooters.With center Jonas Valanciunas sidelined by a sore knee, rookie Jakob Poeltl started for Toronto. But he was in foul trouble all night and fouled out with six points and four rebounds in 18 minutes.Valanciunas injury and Poeltls foul trouble meant Lucas Nogueira, seeing his first action of the season, had to pick up the slack. He had seven points and five rebounds in 21 minutes.The teams swapped leads throughout the fourth quarter until Cousins layup with 2:55 to go gave the Kings a 90-88 advantage. They led the rest of the way.I think it shows what were capable of, Barnes said. Out of all the teams (on the road trip), we beat the best team after a back-to-back.We just need to stick together, start gelling and it wont be a problem.After DeRozan missed a pair of free throws that would have tied it, Gay hit two from the stripe at the other end to give the Kings a 92-88 lead with 1:54 remaining.We got a lot of great shots at the end of the game that we missed, DeRozan said. I missed two free throws. Norm (Powell) had two wide-open 3s that would have given us big momentum.It was one of those games that we are going to be able to look at and learn a lot going forward.Lowrys steal and threee-point play put Toronto up 73-72 with 9:34 to go.dddddddddddd But 3-pointers by Gay on consecutive trips staked the Kings to an 87-83 lead with 4:41 left.Lowrys 3 and DeRozans basket gave Toronto a short-lived 88-87 lead.It was a hard-fought game, Kings coach Dave Joerger said. Im really proud of our guys getting the win on a back-to-back, our third back-to-back of the season already.We played a team that was waiting for us and that is a very, very good team that I have a lot of respect for. Its been a tough road trip and its good to finish with a win.Sacramento led 68-66 going into the fourth quarter. The Kings, who trailed by 11 midway through the third, closed the period on a 7-2 run to take their first lead since early in the first.The Raptors led 50-44 at halftime.TIP-INSKings: Cousins had his 247th double-double, most in Sacramento history. ... The Kings dominated in the paint, outscoring the Raptors 52-30. ... Sacramento has defeated Toronto in three straight games.Raptors: Valanciunas was a late scratch. He bruised his left knee last week and it swelled up before the game. He is day to day. ... Toronto rookie Pascal Siakim set season highs for minutes (24) and points (10). ... The Raptors scored 13 points off 11 Kings turnovers, while Sacramento had two points off six Toronto turnovers.KINGS OF THE ROADSacramento has played an NBA-high six road games, going 2-4.SHUTDOWN DThe Kings limited the Raptors to a season-low 35.7 percent shooting from the field (30 for 84), holding them without a field goal over the final 6:42 of the third quarter.TWO-YEAR SELLOUT STREAKThe Air Canada Centre was sold out for the 96th straight game, including playoffs, dating to Nov. 11, 2014. Thats the longest streak in franchise history.HE SAID ITThey played as well as you can against a guy like DeMarcus Cousins. Hes one of the hardest matchups that you can have in the NBA. -- Casey on the play of rookies Poeltl and Siakam, who filled in for Valanciunas.UP NEXTKings: Host the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday, starting a stretch with seven of their next eight games at the new Golden 1 Center. Sacramento is 1-1 at home this season.Raptors: Visit the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday for their second road game of the season. Toronto went a franchise-best 24-17 on the road last season. ' ' '