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WEDNESDay, JULy 2, 2014 OPELIKa-aUBURN NEWS u www.oanow.com

MLBSimmons powers Braves past Mets.

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TENNISNadal bounced in 4th round of Wimbledon.

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Transfers add lot to roster

AU Hoops

By Alex Byingtonabyington@oanow.com

Antoine Mason had never planned to leave Niagara.

He was happy. And as the na-tion’s top returning scorer from a year ago after averaging 25.6 points per game, Mason was coming back to try to make a name for himself on a national stage.

Only, a new way of thinking by a second-year coach changed all that, forcing the son of for-mer NBA player Anthony Mason to entertain the idea of a new home. He was going to trans-fer from the only college he knew, one in his home state no less.

With one season of eligibility remaining as a fifth-year senior, having already graduated in early May, Mason was in the un-enviable position of figuring out the best place to help him pur-sue his dream of following in his father’s NBA footsteps.

“My goal is to make it to the next level and in order to see if I’m ready for it, I might as well step up and play in a big-ger conference,” Mason told the Opelika-Auburn News last week.

Still, the thought of reopening his recruitment was scary, es-pecially since an injury in high school negated any chance of being heavily recruited coming into college.

“It’s very unique and I wanted to take advantage of it and see my options,” Mason said. “When I cleared myself (and became) free to all schools, I got a lot of calls. That was kind of stressful, it was like a new experience. It was something that I always want-ed coming out of high school, with big schools coming after me.”

Tigers secondary could see changes with influx of new facesBy Alex Byingtonabyington@oanow.com

eDitoR’S note: For the last week and a half, the Opelika-Auburn News has taken a look at Auburn’s major positional groups

and how they’ll likely shape out for the start of fall camp in a 10-part series. The final

part will take a look at the last line of any de-fense, and a unit that left a lot to be desired

last season at Auburn — the secondary.

Auburn’s defensive backfield was by far the biggest culprit of what defensive coordinator El-lis Johnson termed “trash plays” last year as opponents threw all over the Tigers’ secondary for an

average of 257.7 passing yards per game, which ranked second-to-last in the Southeastern Con-ference, behind only the team it beat for the SEC Championship: Missouri.

The inability to keep anybody from passing the ball — de-spite what amounts to five to six defensive backs on any giv-en play — put a lot of pressure on the rest of Auburn’s defense to compensate, leading to the conference’s 12th-ranked total defense a year ago. All that, plus

the graduation of three starters in the secondary, prompted the Tigers’ coaches to focus on the cornerbacks and safeties in the 2014 recruiting class, brining in six newcomers including the na-tion’s No. 1 JUCO safety in early enrollee Derrick Moncrief from Mississippi Gulf Coast Commu-nity College.

It’s safe to say Auburn’s coaches expect wholesale improvements from its secondary.

See INFLUX, Page 5B

Auburn University Football

World CUp

ThE WorLd’S ENd

See TRANSFER, Page 5B

U.S. hopes end with overtime loss to BelgiumThe Associated Press

SALVADOR, Brazil — They captured the eyes and hearts of a suddenly awakened soccer nation, who gathered in unprec-edented numbers to watch the world’s game.

But the end of the ride came at the exact same point as four years ago: with a loss in extra time in the World Cup’s round of 16.

Belgium scored twice in extra time then held on for a 2-1 win Tuesday.

“It’s heartbreaking,” goalkeeper Tim Howard said. “I don’t think we could have given it more.”

Howard, playing the finest game of his career, stopped a dozen shots with his legs and arms to keep the Americans

even through regulation and force an ad-ditional 30 minutes. He wound up with 16 saves — the most in the World Cup since 1966.

Before exiting, the U.S. showed the spunk that captured America’s attention. Julian Green, at 19 the youngest player on

the U.S. roster, stuck out his right foot to volley in Michael Bradley’s pass over the defense in the 107th minute, two min-utes after entering the game.

See LOSS, Page 2B

THE ASSOCAITED PRESS

niagara guard Antoine Mason averaged 25.6 points per game last season.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

United States’ goalkeeper tim Howard reacts after Belgium’s Kevin De Bruyne scored the opening goal during the World Cup match at the Arena Fonte nova in Salvador, Brazil on tuesday.

Watch parties draw thousands for US-BelgiumThe Associated Press

AUSTIN, Texas — They turned out by the tens of thousands, some painted in red, white and blue, wav-ing flags and chanting “I Believe!” in city parks, stadiums and sports bars from coast to coast on Tuesday to watch the U.S. national soccer team play Belgium in the knockout round of the World Cup.

Some were die-hard soccer fans. Others were newcomers, spurred on by the rising tide of support for the national team in the world’s biggest tournament.

They left without what they want-ed: a win.

From Texas to Chicago to Califor-nia, fans watched nervously as the U.S. and Belgium played 90 scoreless minutes before Belgium scored twice in extra time.

The U.S. responded with a goal but couldn’t tie the match to send it to penalty kicks. After 120 minutes of soccer, the Americans’ World Cup was over. America, in the middle of its World Cup frenzy, got a reminder that soccer can be a cruel, cruel sport.

oNLINE» For more Auburn University news, read Alex Byington’s AUBlog at oAnoW.CoM/SPoRtS and follow him on Twitter @AUBlog.

AlBERT CESARE/OPElIkA-AUBURN NEWS

Auburn defensive back Jermaine Whitehead celebrates with teammate Robenson therezie after his second interception of the day during a game against Washington State last season.

BelgiUM 2, UniteD StAteS 1

SoccEr» For more World Cup cover-age and com-plete list of scores see Page 2B and 3B.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Josh Kerber (center) of Dallas, reacts with other fans after a missed opportunity by the United States during extra-time at a watch party in Arlington, texas on tuesday. See WATCH, Page 2B