95.7 & 1400 WSJM Sports @wsjmsports wsjmsports.com Monday, January 16, 2017
NFL – National Football League Playoffs – Divisional Round
Saturday
Atlanta Falcons 36, Seattle Seahawks 20
New England Patriots 34, Houston Texans 16
Falcons 36, Seahawks 20 – Falcons whip Seahawks
The Atlanta Falcons are in the NFC championship game after Matt Ryan threw for 338 yards and three touchdowns in a 36-20 win over Seattle in the divisional round. He hooked up with Julio Jones on a 7-yard touchdown and Tevin Coleman for a 14-yard score before his 3-yard toss to Mohamed Sanu put the game out of reach with just under 4 minutes remaining. The Seahawks did little against Atlanta’s defense after Russell Wilson engineered a touchdown drive on Seattle’s opening possession.
Patriots 34, Texans 16 – Pats reach conference title game again
The New England Patriots are in the AFC title game for a record sixth straight time after Dion Lewis scored three touchdowns in a 34-16 win over Houston. Lewis grabbed a 13-yard touchdown pass, returned a kickoff 98 yards for a score later in the first quarter and ran for a one-yard TD. Tom Brady finished 18 of 38 for 287 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Sunday
Green Bay Packers 34, Dallas Cowboys 31
Pittsburgh Steelers 18, Kansas City Chiefs 16
Packers 34, Cowboys 31 – Packers knock out Dallas as time expires
The Green Bay Packers edged the NFC top seed Dallas Cowboys 34-31 to send the Packers to the NFC championship next Sunday against Atlanta. Mason Crosby boomed a 51-yard field goal at the final gun to win it. The big play in Green Bay’s game-winning drive was a 36-yard completion from Aaron Rodgers to Jared Collins on a third-and-20 situation, Collins made the catch while falling out of bounds with his feet close to being out of bounds.
Steelers 18, Chiefs 16 – Steelers moving on to conference title game
Pittsburgh’s Chris Boswell set an NFL postseason record with six field goals and the Pittsburgh Steelers eliminated the second-seeded Kansas City Chiefs 18-16 to reach next Sunday’s AFC championship at New England. The Patriots beat the Steelers 27-16 on Oct. 23 when Pittsburgh was without quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who was out with a knee injury. The Steelers have won nine straight games.
Next Sunday – Conference Championships (both games on 95.7 & 1400 WSJM Sports)
NFC Championship
Green Bay Packers at Atlanta Falcons, 3:05 p.m.
AFC Championship
Pittsburgh Steelers at New England Patriots, 6:40 p.m.
NHL – National Hockey League
Last Night
Minnesota Wild 3, Chicago Blackhawks 2
Wild 3, Blackhawks 2 – Surging Wild beat Blackhawk 3-2 for Western Conference lead
Jason Pominville scored in the third period, Devan Dubnyk made 33 saves and the Minnesota Wild beat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 on Sunday night to grab sole possession of the top spot in the Western Conference. Nino Niederreiter and Chris Stewart also scored as Minnesota earned its fourth straight win and improved to 17-1-1 since Dec. 4. The Wild also beat the Blackhawks for the eighth straight time. Minnesota (28-9-5) jumped in front for good when Marco Scandella shot the puck behind the net and it caromed right to Pominville standing all alone on the right side of the crease. He knocked it into the open net for his sixth of the season at 5:08. Minnesota defenseman Ryan Suter was sent off for tripping with 22.4 seconds left, but Chicago was unable to get a good look with a 6-on-4 advantage. Patrick Kane scored twice for the Blackhawks and Corey Crawford made 29 stops.
Today
Montreal Canadiens at Detroit Red Wings, 3:00 p.m.
NBA – National Basketball Association
Last Night
Chicago Bulls 108, Memphis Grizzlies 104
Detroit Pistons 102, Los Angeles Lakers 97
Bulls 108, Grizzlies 104 – McDermott scores career-best 31 to lead Bulls past Grizzlies
Doug McDermott scored a career-high 31 points, Jimmy Butler had a pair of key baskets in the closing minute and the Chicago Bulls beat the Memphis Grizzlies 108-104 on Sunday night. The Bulls broke a 104-all tie with 25 seconds left on a 15-footer from Butler and a pair of free throws by McDermott. Butler had 16 points to help Chicago win its second straight. Taj Gibson finished with 18 points and eight rebounds for the Bulls. Mike Conley led Memphis with 28 points and eight assists, and Marc Gasol had 24 points and 11 rebounds. Chicago was without second-leading scorer Dwyane Wade, who did not play on the second night of a back-to-back after the Bulls beat New Orleans at home Saturday. The game featured 16 lead changes and 11 ties, with neither team holding a double-digit lead.
Pistons 102, Lakers 97 – Harris hits big 3, Pistons beat Lakers 102-97 to snap skid
Tobias Harris scored 23 points and hit a decisive 3-pointer with 30.5 seconds to play, and the Detroit Pistons snapped a three-game losing streak with a 102-97 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday night. Marcus Morris scored 23 points and Andre Drummond had 15 points and 17 rebounds for the Pistons. They wrapped up their longest trip of the season by beating the Lakers at Staples Center for the first time in seven tries since Nov. 14, 2008. Detroit barely hung on down the stretch of a back-and-forth game with the Lakers, who lost their fourth straight despite 26 points from Lou Williams. D’Angelo Russell added 20 points for the Lakers. They have lost 20 of 25 since their 10-10 start to coach Luke Walton’s first season. After Lakers rookie Brandon Ingram missed a free throw that would have tied it with 1:33 left, the teams traded missed shots before Harris grabbed a deflected ball from Ingram, beat the shot clock and bailed the Pistons out of an aimless possession with his 3-pointer in front of the Lakers’ bench. The Pistons won without two injured starters, wrapping up their five-game road trip with a bounce-back performance from their 33-point loss at Utah on Friday, their worst defeat of the season.
Today
New Orleans Pelicans at Indiana Pacers, 4:00 p.m.
NCAAFB – Tim Lester Named Western Michigan University Football Coach
Former Western Michigan University quarterback Tim Lester is back in Kalamazoo as the new head football coach for the WMU Broncos. Lester was announced as the replacement for PJ Fleck on Friday after Fleck left the school to take over the program at the University of Minnesota. Lester says he will not try to be Fleck, but acknowledged the culture of success he had created over the past several seasons. WMU finished this year with a 13-and-1 record, with the only loss coming in the Cotton Bowl to Wisconsin on January 2.
NCAAMBB – Men’s College Basketball
Yesterday
Ohio State 72, Michigan State 67
Ohio State 72, Michigan State 67 – Ohio State beats Michigan State for first Big Ten win 72-67
JaQuan Lyle made 5 of 7 shots from the 3-point line and scored 22 points as Ohio State pulled away down the stretch and beat Michigan State 72-67 on Sunday for the Buckeyes’ first Big Ten win this season. Marc Loving and Jae’Sean Tate each added 12 for the Buckeyes (11-7, 1-4 Big Ten), whose season was on the verge of collapsing after a disastrous start in the conference, inconsistent play and the loss of a key player to season-ending injury. Ohio State grabbed a 59-58 lead on a Lyle 3-pointer with 7:15 left and led by as many as seven. Michigan State (12-7, 4-2) surged back in final 3 1/2 minutes but it wasn’t good enough as the Spartans had to start fouling to stop the clock. A layup by Miles Bridges pulled Michigan State to 70-67 with 20 seconds left. But Kam Williams converted a free throw for a four-point lead and Joshua Langford missed a 3-pointer. Bridges paced Michigan State with 24 points on 9-for-12 shooting.
NCAAWBB – Women’s College Basketball
Last Night
Michigan 84, Minnesota 69
Michigan 84, Minnesota 69 – Wolverines down Minnesota
Katelyn Flaherty led Michigan with 22 points to help lead Michigan to an 84-69 win over Minnesota. Hallie Thome had a double double with 20 points and 17 rebounds while Benton Harbor freshman Kysre Gondrezick had 17 points. Michigan improves to 15-4 and 4-1 in Big Ten play.
Golf – PGA – A Thomas vacation in Hawaii
Justin Thomas cruised to a wire-to-wire win in Honolulu at the PGA’s Sony Open. He ended his amazing week 26 under par, winning the tourney by seven shots over Justin Rose to win first full-field event on the PGA Tour. Thomas carded rounds of 59, 64, 65 and 65. He set the PGA Tour record with lowest 72-hole score in PGA Tour history. He finished at 253. Tommy Armour III shot 254 at the 2003 Texas Open.
Tennis – Australian Open – First tennis major under way Down Under
Venus Williams overcame 48 unforced errors to beat Kateryna Kozlova for the second consecutive time in the opening round of a major. The 13th-seeded Williams needed three sets to beat Kozlova at last year’s U.S. Open _ and she didn’t have a much easier time on Monday at Melbourne Park. The seven-time major winner rallied twice from a break down in the opening set before prevailing 7-6, 7-5 in just under two hours. Olympic gold medalist Monica Puig didn’t waste any time on the opening day of the Australian Open. The Puerto Rican player, seeded 29th, was the first player to win a match at Melbourne Park this year, defeating Romania’s Patricia Maria Tig 6-love, 6-1 in
53 minutes. Simona Halep is the first seeded women’s player to lose at the Australian Open in the first match on Rod Laver Arena. American Shelby Rogers defeated the Romanian player 6-3, 6-1.
AHL – American Hockey League
Yesterday
Manitoba Moose 4, Chicago Wolves 1
Today
Grand Rapids Griffins at Rockford IceHogs, 2:00 p.m.
ECHL – East Coast Hockey League
Yesterday
Wheeling Nailers 5, Kalamazoo Wings 2
Toledo Walleye 6, Brampton Beast 4
MHSAA – High School Sports
Yesterday
Ice Hockey
Pontiac Notre Dame Prep Fighting Irish 3, Lakeshore/St. Joseph Warriors 2
Tonight
Boys Basketball
Covert at Lake Michigan Catholic, 7:30 p.m. 95.7 & 1400 WSJM Sports
Buchanan at River Valley, 7:30 p.m.
Brandywine at Watervliet, 7:00 p.m.
Girls Basketball
Covert at Lake Michigan Catholic, 6:00 p.m. 95.7 & 1400 WSJM Sports
River Valley at White Pigeon, 7:30 p.m.
Mendon at Bronson, 7:30 p.m.
Homer at Kalamazoo Loy Norrix, 7:15 p.m.
