Weekday Morning Sports – Tuesday 3/28/17

sportsreport-180
sportsreport-180

95.7 & 1400 WSJM Sports     @wsjmsports     wsjmsports.com     Tuesday, March 28, 2017

NFL – NFL owners approve move
Another NFL time is packing up and moving. Well, not just yet.  The Oakland Raiders on Monday won the approval of the league to relocate to Las Vegas. The vote was a foregone conclusion after the league and Raiders were not satisfied with Oakland’s proposals for a new stadium, and Las Vegas stepped up with $750 million in public money. Bank of America also is giving Raiders owner Mark Davis a $650 million loan, further helping convince the owners to allow the third team relocation in just over a year. The Rams moved from St. Louis to Los Angeles in 2016, and in January the Chargers relocated from San Diego to LA. The Raiders likely will play two or three more years in the Bay Area before their $1.7 billion stadium near the Las Vegas strip is ready. Las Vegas, long taboo to the NFL because of its legalized gambling, also is getting an NHL team this fall, the Golden Knights.

NCAAWBB – Women’s NCAA Tournament – Elite 8
Last Night
Bridgeport Regional Final
(1) Connecticut 90, (10) Oregon 52

UConn 90, Oregon 52
Napheesa Collier scored 28 points, Gabby Williams had 25 and the Connecticut Huskies advanced to the national semifinals for the 10th straight year with a 90-52 victory against Oregon on Monday night. The Huskies’ 111th consecutive victory moved Auriemma past Pat Summitt for the most NCAA
Tournament wins. Auriemma now has 113 and counting.

Stockton Regional Final
(1) South Carolina 71, (3) Florida State 64

South Carolina 71, Florida State 64
Kaela Davis scored 23 points and A’ja Wilson added 16 and top-seeded South Carolina held off No. 3 seed Florida State 71-64 in a furious finish Monday night to win the Stockton Regional. Davis scored immediately off the tip and again on a timely, brilliant left-handed drive with 1:42 to go.   Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks are back in the Final Four for the first time since 2015.

NCAAMBB – New Indiana coach delivers all right words in introduction
In his first public appearance as the new coach of the Indiana Hoosiers, Archie Miller says he wants the team to be aggressive on offense, nasty on defense and, of course, win the in-state recruiting battles. He’s all for playing Kentucky and maybe Arizona, too. Miller hit all the right notes for Indiana fans who have become so disillusioned with the direction of the program that they pushed for a change.

NBA – National Basketball Association
Last Night
New York Knicks 109, Detroit Pistons 95

Knicks 109, Pistons 95 – Knicks hand Pistons 4th straight loss, 109-95
Derrick Rose scored 27 points, Kristaps Porzingis had 25 and the New York Knicks handed the Detroit Pistons another damaging defeat with a 109-95 victory Monday night. Carmelo Anthony returned from a two-game absence due to a sore left knee and added 21 as the Knicks snapped a five-game losing streak and avoided playoff elimination. Marcus Morris scored 20 points but Detroit dropped its fourth straight and fell 1 ½ games behind Miami for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Ish Smith had 15 points while former starting point guard Reggie Jackson didn’t play.  The Knicks shot 60 percent in the first half and turned it over to their defense to start the second, pitching a shutout for more than seven minutes to start the third quarter.

Tonight
Minnesota Timberwolves at Indiana Pacers, 7 p.m.
Miami Heat at Detroit Pistons, 7:30 p.m.

NHL – National Hockey League
Last Night
Detroit Red Wings 4, Carolina Hurricanes 3 – OT
Tampa Bay Lightning 5, Chicago Blackhawks 4 – OT

Red Wings 4, Hurricanes 3 – OT – Lack leaves on stretcher; Wings win in OT again
Andreas Athanasiou crashed into Eddie Lack as he scored in overtime Monday night, giving the Detroit Red Wings a 4-3 victory over Carolina on a play that left the Hurricanes goalie with a frightening injury. Lack remained down for several minutes before he was taken off on a stretcher, with both teams remaining on the ice and forming a semicircle to watch him. Lack flashed a thumbs-up sign as he was wheeled away. An official review determined that the puck was in the net before Athanasiou made contact with Lack. Lack finished with 23 saves for Carolina.  Athanasiou’s goal was his second OT winner in as many days. He beat Minnesota’s Devan Dubnyk on Sunday.

Lightning 5, Blackhawks 4 – OT – Gourde scores in OT, Lightning beat Blackhawks 5-4
Yanni Gourde had a breakaway goal 4:25 into overtime and the Tampa Bay Lightning rallied from a three-goal deficit to beat the Chicago Blackhawks 5-4 on Monday night.  Victor Hedman set up the winner with his third assist of the game. Tampa Bay, which trails Boston by a point for the second Eastern Conference wild card, also got two goals from Jonathan Drouin. Ondrej Palat and Anton Stralman also scored, and Andrei Vasilevskiy, who got pulled 14 minutes into the first after allowing three goals on eight shots, returned to the start the second and finished with 25 saves. Artemi Panarin, Patrick Kane, Tomas Jurco and Richard Panik scored for the Western Conference-leading Blackhawks, who were coming off a 7-0 loss Saturday night at Florida. Scott Darling stopped 25 shots.

Tonight
Detroit Red Wing at Carolina Hurricanes, 7:00 p.m.                   (yes they play again tonight)

MLB – Major League Baseball – Spring Training
Yesterday
Chicago White Sox 5, LA Dodgers 2
Atlanta 11, Detroit 3
Cleveland 4, Chicago Cubs 3

Today
Chicago White Sox vs. Kansas City at Surprise, Ariz., 4:05 p.m.
San Francisco vs. Chicago Cubs at Mesa, Ariz., 4:05 p.m.
Detroit vs. N.Y. Yankees at Tampa, Fla., 6:35 p.m.

MHSAA – High School Sports
Last Night
Softball
Dowagiac 10, Cassopolis 0 – Game 1
Dowagiac 15, Cassopolis 0 – Game 2
Decatur 13, Lawton 0 – Game 1
Decatur 11, Lawton 1 – Game 2

Girls Soccer
Niles 4, Dowagiac 1
Plainwell 2, Battle Creek Lakeview 1
Otsego 1, Battle Creek Harper Creek 0
Allegan 3, Zeeland West 3 – TIE

Tonight
Baseball
Eau Claire at Lake Michigan Catholic, 4:15 p.m.
Coloma at Dowagiac, 4:00 p.m. (DH)
River Valley at Brandywine, 4:15 p.m.
Three Rivers at Lawton: 4:00 p.m. (DH)
Plainwell at Portage Northern, 4:00 p.m. (DH)
Gull Lake at Harper Creek, 4:00 p.m.
Marcellus at White Pigeon, 4:30 p.m.

Softball
Buchanan at Lakeshore, 4:00 p.m.
Eau Claire at Lake Michigan Catholic, 4:15 p.m.
Bridgman at Kalamazoo Central, 4:00 p.m.
Plainwell at Portage Northern, 4:00 p.m.
Three Rivers at Lawton, 4:00 p.m.
River Valley at Brandywine, 4:15 p.m.
Marcellus at White Pigeon, 4:30 p.m.

Girls Soccer
Michigan Lutheran at Cassopolis, 5:00 p.m.
New Buffalo at Coloma, 5:00 p.m.
Bridgman at Niles, 5:00 p.m.
Marshall at Gull Lake, 6:45 p.m.
Comstock at Lawton, 6:00 p.m.