Van Tornhout Acquires Bastians Against Season

Soccer Betting Lines

Lille, the defending Ligue 1 champion, is currently third in the standings and seven points behind first-place PSG.

 

Berlin, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hertha Berlin added defender Felix Bastians from Freiburg and signed defender Christian Lell to a contract extension, with both players inking contracts through the summer of 2016. Bastians, 23, played for Germany at various youth levels. He spent time in the youth systems of Borussia Dortmund and Nottingham Forest, where he first broke into the senior team in 2005.

 

Lorient, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lorient signed defender Lamine Gassama from Lyon on Thursday on a 4 1/2-year deal. Gassama, 22, made his debut for Lyon in 2008, and played 17 matches during his stint with the seven-time Ligue 1 champions.

 

The French-born Gassama played for France at the Under-21 level, but has spent his senior career with Senegal, making two appearances for the country so far this year.

 

Capped once by the Republic of Ireland, the midfielder was a target of rival Hibernian this winter.

 

"[Van Tornhout] is over six feet tall, he holds the ball well and will connect the top end of the pitch for us," Coach Shiels said. "He moves well with a decent understanding of the game. He's a big lad so he'll offer us a different style. We've become a little bit predictable at times so he'll give us variety in attack."

 

San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Jose Earthquakes signed forward Sercan Guvenisik on Thursday, pending receipt of his P-1 visa. Guvenisik, 31, comes to MLS from SC Preussen Muenster of the Bundesliga 3. He scored 14 goals in 56 league matches after returning for his second stint with the club in 2010.

 

The German-born Turkish striker also played for Vestel Manisaspor in Turkey, and represented his country at the youth level.

 

Per league and team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

 

San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Jose Earthquakes signed goalkeeper Jon Busch to a new contract Thursday. Busch, 35, joined the Earthquakes in March of 2010 and has 14 shutouts - seven in each of his two seasons - for the squad. He started 33 of 34 regular-season matches last year.

 

Per league and team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Mysportbook Soccer Betting Blog

<< Toronto City Edge Edge In Zusi

<< Rebounds Leaves Pierce Down Anderson

<< Portland With Clippers Contract

<< Points For Love Millsap

<< Birdie Putt At Solheim Leaderboard

Regular Season Joins Super Bowl Xlvi Over England >>

Gronkowski Beats Glenn In Skid >>

Clijsters Sparks Men From Grand >>

Career Finals At Career Slam >>

Games For Gomes Rbi >>

Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.