Weekday Morning Sports – Wednesday 2/28/18

sportsreport-383
sportsreport-383

NBA – National Basketball Association
Last Night
Charlotte Hornets 118, Chicago Bulls 103

Hornets 118, Bulls 103 – Hornets win fifth straight, top Bulls 118-103
Kemba Walker scored 31 points and Dwight Howard added 24 after returning from a first-quarter back injury as the Charlotte Hornets knocked off the Chicago Bulls 118-103 on Tuesday night to win their season-best fifth game in a row. Zach LaVine led seven Bulls players in double-digits with 21 points as Chicago (20-41) dropped its fifth consecutive game.

Tonight
Milwaukee Bucks at Detroit Pistons, 7:00 p.m.
Indiana Pacers at Atlanta Hawks, 7:30 p.m.

NBA – Cavs indefinitely ban fan from arena
The Cavaliers have indefinitely banned a fan from their arena for making racial taunts at San Antonio’s Patty Mills. Security officials reviewed videotape from Sunday’s game and identified the fan sitting near the court. He yelled at Mills while the Spurs guard was shooting free throws in the fourth quarter.

NHL – National Hockey League
Tonight
Detroit Red Wings at St. Louis Blues, 8:00 p.m.

NCAAMBB – Men’s College Basketball
Last Night
Eastern Michigan 74, Western Michigan 58
Central Michigan 75, Ball State 51

EMU 74, WMU 58 – Eastern Michigan clinches 1st-round bye in tourney with win
Paul Jackson had 21 points with eight assists to help Eastern Michigan roll to a 74-58 win over Western Michigan on Tuesday night to clinch a first-round bye in the Mid-American Conference Tournament. Eastern Michigan (19-11, 10-7) took the fourth and final first-round bye.  The Eagles had a 23-6 run to open the game to take a 35-24 lead into the break. They kept a double-digit lead for most of the second half to ease to the win. Eastern Michigan finishes regular-season play at Toledo on Friday before heading to the conference tournament in Cleveland next week. Elijah Minnie added 18 points with nine rebounds for the Eagles, who have won five in a row.  Josh Davis had 13 points to lead Western Michigan (17-13, 9-8), which completes the regular season at Central Michigan on Friday.

CMU 75, Ball St. 51 – McKay scores 23, Central Michigan runs past Ball St. 75-51
Kevin McKay scored 23 points, Cecil Williams 18 and David DiLeo poured in all 12 of his points on 3-pointers and Central Michigan parlayed long-range shooting and turnovers after halftime into a romp over Ball State, 75-51, Tuesday night.  The loss, ended a four-game win streak and kept Ball State (19-11, 10-7) one win away from nailing down top four finish in the Mid-American Conference _ and the first-round tournament bye that comes with it _ as well as a second-straight 20-win season. The Chippewas (17-13, 6-11) trailed 33-30 at the break but opened the second half on a 12-5 run. Ball State committed 13 turnovers by the midpoint of the second half and was 5 of 17 shooting with seven minutes left to play. Tahjai Teague led the Cardinals with 10 points.

Tonight
Pittsburgh at Notre Dame, 7:00 p.m.

Big Ten Tournament – Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
#13 Illinois vs. #12 Iowa, 5:30 p.m.
#14 Rutgers vs. #11 Minnesota, 8:00 p.m.

NCAAWBB – Women’s College Basketball
Tonight
Eastern Michigan at Western Michigan, 7:00 p.m.
Ball State at Central Michigan, 7:00 p.m.

Big Ten Tournament – Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
#13 Wisconsin vs. #12 Northwestern, 1:30 p.m.
#14 Illinois vs. #11 Penn State, 4:00 p.m.

MLB – Major League Baseball – Spring Training
Yesterday
Detroit Tigers 11, Philadelphia Phillies 6
Chicago Cubs 6, Chicago White Sox 5

Today
Detroit Tigers at New York Yankees, 1:05 p.m.         Tampa, FL
Oakland A’s at Chicago Cubs, 3:05 p.m.                    Mesa, AZ
Texas Rangers at Chicago White Sox, 3:05 p.m.        Glendale, AZ

MLB – Union to battle 4 teams over revenue-sharing money
The Major League Baseball Players Association has filed a grievance against the Miami Marlins, Oakland Athletics, Pittsburgh Pirates and Tampa Bay Rays.  The union accuses the four teams of failing to appropriately spend revenue-sharing money to improve their ballclubs.  The four clubs ranked 20th, 25th, 27th and 28th in team payroll for their 40-man rosters last year before three of the teams dealt major pieces of their organizations. The Pirates traded Andrew McCutchen and Gerrit Cole, The Rays moved Evan Longoria and the Marlins jettisoned NL MVP Giancarlo Stanton, Marcell Ozuna, Dee Gordon and Christian Yelich. MLB says the complaint has no merit, while Pirates president Frank Coonelly called the grievance “patently baseless.”

NFL – Lions using franchise tag on Ziggy Ansah
The Detroit Lions have designated defensive end Ziggy Ansah as their franchise player.  The Lions announced the decision Tuesday. Ansah, a first-round draft pick in 2013, has 44 sacks in five years with Detroit, including 12 this past season. Ansah hasn’t played a full 16 games since the 2015 season, but while his health has been an issue, he can still be an elite pass rusher. He had three sacks in a game three times last season, against the Giants, Bengals and Packers. The franchise tag buys the Lions and Ansah until mid-July to reach agreement on a long-term contract. Otherwise, he’ll play on a one-year deal and make the average of the top five players at his position in 2018.

Olympics – Futuristic digital characters selected as Tokyo 2020 mascots
A pair of futuristic digital characters will be the mascots for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics.  Organizers unveiled the winning designs at a school in Tokyo on Wednesday.  About 6.5 million schoolchildren took part in voting among three short-listed designs with their classes casting a single vote. The winning pair, clad in the `ichimatsu” checkered pattern of the Games’ official logo, received 109,041 votes. Their names will be decided by copywriters and other professionals and announced in July or August. The selection process involving schoolchildren was introduced to get kids enthusiastic about the games while also ensuring transparency. The original official logo was hit with plagiarism allegations and scrapped. The Tokyo Olympics are scheduled for July 24 to Aug. 9, 2020.

NJCAA – Junior College Basketball
Last Night
Women’s Basketball
Lake Michigan College at Ancilla, 5:30 p.m.

Men’s Basketball
Lake Michigan College at Ancilla, 7:30 p.m.

MHSAA – High School Sports
Yesterday
Boys Basketball – Regular Season

St. Joseph 55, Berrien Springs 33

  • St. Joe used a strong start to post a 55-33 win over Berrien Springs.  The Bears outscored the Shamrocks 19-2 in the first quarter.  They eventually extended the lead to 21.  Berrien Springs battled back in the second half to pull to within 12, but that’s as close as they could get. Izak Ruddell paced St. Joe with a game high 16 points with Ben Newland adding ten.  Sam Spaulding scored 13 points in the loss for Berrien Springs. With the win, the Bears improve to 15-4 with a trip to Portage Northern coming up Thursday to wrap up the regular season.  The Shamrocks end their regular season at 3-17. 

Lakeshore 47, Portage Central 38

  • JJ Bushu had a game high 14 points to lead Lakeshore to a 47-38 win over Portage Central.   Dylan Sing, Jon Bowman, and Dylan Clem each added 9 points as Lakeshore earned a season split with the Mustangs.  Eli Potts had 10 points for Portage Central, who have lost three straight.   Lakeshore improves to 12-7 and closes out the regular season Thursday at home in a make up game against Battle Creek Central.

Niles 56, Edwardsburg 33

  • Robert Brown was a perfect 9 of 9 from the field to score a game high 20 points, leading Niles to a 56-33 win over Edwardsburg.  Niles outscored the Eddies 28-13 in the second half.

Lawton 62, Michigan Lutheran 43

  • Lawton had three players in double figures to pick up a 62-43 road victory over Michigan Lutheran.  Alex Rueff had 14 to lead the Blue Devils, while Mitchell Mason had 12 and Cedric Birdsall added 10.  Lawton had a 30-14 lead at the half.  Michigan Lutheran got 11 points from Zeb Pappenfuss

Other Basketball Scores
Bridgman 56, Lake Michigan Catholic 46
Mattawan 45, Gull Lake 34
Battle Creek Central 64, Battle Creek Lakeview 62
Lansing Waverly 47, Kalamazoo Loy Norrix 45
Allegan 71, Gobles 52
Three Rivers 68, Constantine 63
Schoolcraft 50, Parchment 48
Centreville 67, Bloomingdale 60
Cassopolis 73, Decatur 56
Mendon 60, Eau Claire 50
Hartford 74, Bangor 55
Marcellus 55, White Pigeon 44
GR Covenant Christian 62, Fennville 38
Saugatuck 45, Wyoming Lee 40
Potters House Christian 82, Martin 45
Howardsville Christian 91, Heritage Christian 30 – Dylan Jergens (Howardsville) 50 points, 10 rebounds

Tonight
Girls Basketball – District Semifinals
Class A at Mattawan

St. Joseph vs. Lakeshore, 5:30 p.m.  WSJM Sports
Mattawan vs. Kalamazoo Central, 7:00 p.m.

Class A at Battle Creek Lakeview
Harper Creek vs. Kalamazoo Loy Norrix, 5:30 p.m.
Coldwater vs. Battle Creek Lakeview, 7:00 p.m.

Class B at Niles
South Haven vs. Berrien Springs, 5:30 p.m.
Niles vs. Coloma, 7:00 p.m.

Class B at Paw Paw
Three Rivers vs. Dowagiac, 5:30 p.m.
Edwardsburg vs. Paw Paw, 7:00 p.m.

Class B at Wayland
Allegan vs. Hopkins, 5:30 p.m.
Otsego vs. Wayland, 7:00 p.m.

Class B at Fennville
Hamilton vs. Unity Christian, 6:00 p.m.
Fennville vs. Holland Christian, 7:30 p.m.

Class C at Brandywine
Brandywine vs. Watervliet, 6:00 p.m.
Hartford vs. Cassopolis, 8:00 p.m.

Class C at Marcellus
Lawton vs. Constantine, 6:00 p.m.
Decatur vs. Schoolcraft, 7:30 p.m.

Class C at Kalamazoo Hackett
Kalamazoo Christian vs. Bangor, 6:00 p.m.
Kalamazoo Hackett vs. Bloomingdale, 8:00 p.m.

Class C at Bronson
Centreville vs. Bronson, 5:30 p.m.
Mendon vs. Union City, 7:00 p.m.

Class D at Lawrence
Michigan Lutheran vs. Covert, 6:00 p.m.  WSJM Sports
Lake Mich. Catholic vs. River Valley, 7:30 p.m. WSJM Sports

-Updates on ML/Covert during St. Joe/Lakeshore and then joined in progress then play by play of LMC/RV