Weekday Morning Sports – Wednesday 3/7/18

sportsreport-388
sportsreport-388

NCAAMBB – Men’s College Basketball
Yesterday
Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament – Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY – Round 1
#10 Notre Dame 67, #15 Pittsburgh 64

Notre Dame 67, Pitt 64 – Colson, Notre Dame hold off Pitt 67-64 in ACC Tournament
Bonzie Colson scored 19 points in 33 minutes, getting a full day’s work in his third game back from his broken left foot as Notre Dame needed the star forward to hold off Pittsburgh 67-64 in its Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament opener Tuesday.  Jared Wilson-Frame made a 3 from the left wing for last-place Pitt (8-24) with 1:34 remaining to cut the lead to 61-58, and he missed another 32 seconds later. After a couple free throws by Notre Dame’s T.J. Gibbs Jr., Marcus Carr hit another 3 to draw the 15th-seeded Panthers within 63-61.  Colson made two from the line with 22.3 seconds left after loose-ball foul on Carr that drew loud complaints from Pitt coach Kevin Stallings. Carr lost the ball on Pitt’s next possession and 10th-seeded Notre Dame managed to close it out without any more drama.   The Irish play seventh-seeded Virginia Tech on Wednesday.

Tonight (local teams only)
Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament – Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY – Round 2
#10 Notre Dame vs.  #7 Virginia Tech, 7:00 p.m.

NCAAWBB – Women’s College Basketball
Today (local teams only)
Mid American Conference Tournament – Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, OH – Quarterfinals
#9 Eastern Michigan vs. #1 Central Michigan, 12:00 p.m.
#6 Western Michigan vs. #3 Ball State, 7:30 p.m.

NHL – National Hockey League
Tonight
Boston Bruins 6, Detroit Red Wings 5 – OT
Chicago Blackhawks 2, Colorado Avalanche 1 – OT

Bruins 6, Red Wings 5 – OT – Marchand helps Bruins beat Red Wings 6-5 in OT
Brad Marchand completed his hat trick 34 seconds into overtime and the Boston Bruins, who twice squandered a two-goal lead in regulation, escaped with a 6-5 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night.  It was a team-record 11th regular-season overtime goal for Marchand, who also had two assists.  Torey Krug had two goals and two assists, and David Pastrnak had three assists for the Bruins, who won for the fourth game in a row.  Anton Khudobin made 30 saves for Boston, which led 2-0 after 52 seconds and never trailed but needed overtime after Martin Frk made it 5-5 midway through the third period. Anthony Mantha had two goals and two assists for Detroit, which has lost four straight, seven of nine and 17 of 26 since it last topped .500 on Jan. 5. Jared Coreau was beaten by the first two shots he faced and stopped just 12 of 16 shots before he was replaced 3:27 into the second period. Jimmy Howard faced 19 shots and saved 17 of them.

Blackhawks 2, Avalanche 1 – OT – Toews scores 9 seconds into OT, Blackhawks edge Avs 2-1
Jonathan Toews scored nine seconds into overtime and had an assist in regulation to lead the Chicago Blackhawks past the Colorado Avalanche, 2-1 on Tuesday night.  The game-winner was generated directly from the faceoff at center ice. Toews pulled the draw to Duncan Keith, who fed Patrick Kane on the right side. Kane fed Toews on a 2-on-1 and the Chicago captain chipped his 18th goal past Semyon Varlamov from the low edge the right circle.  Chicago’s Jean-Francois Berube stopped 33 shots, as the fading Blachawks won for the second time in five games.

NBA – National Basketball Association
Tonight
Utah Jazz at Indiana Pacers, 7:00 p.m.
Memphis Grizzlies at Chicago Bulls, 8:00 p.m.
Toronto Raptors at Detroit Pistons, 8:00 p.m.

MLB – Major League Baseball – Spring Training
Yesterday
New York Yankees 7, Detroit Tigers 2
Chicago Cubs 9, Los Angeles Dodgers 5
Chicago White Sox 6, Milwaukee Brewers 4

Today
Toronto Blue Jays at Detroit Tigers, 1:05 p.m.                   Lakeland, FL
Cincinnati Reds at Chicago White Sox, 3:05 p.m.                Glendale, AZ
Chicago Cubs at Cleveland Indians, 3:10 p.m.                      Goodyear, AZ

NFL – Bell gets exclusive franchise tag from Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell is among five NFL players who have received the franchise take before Tuesday’s deadline.  Others getting the tag were Miami wide receiver Jarvis Landry, Detroit defensive end Ezekiel Ansah, Dallas defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence, and Los Angeles Rams safety Lamarcus Joyner.   Bell is the only one to receive the exclusive tag, meaning he can’t negotiate with other teams. Both sides plan to continue negotiating a long-term contract, but the tag currently means Bell will receive the average of the top five salaries among running backs for 2018.

NFL – NFL ups salary cap by $10 million to $177.2 million for 2018
The NFL’s salary cap will be $177.2 million, more than $10 million above last season. Teams must be below that figure when the league season begins on March 14.  While the cap went up from $167 million, it did not surge the way it did the previous year, increasing by nearly $12 million. Under the current labor agreement reached in 2011, the cap steadily has gone up from $120 million that year to $120.6 million, then to $123 million, then to $133 million in 2014. It was $143.28 million in 2015. The larger increases resulted in great part from the league’s broadcast contract revenues.

NFL – Hochuli, Triplette retire; Hochuli’s son replaces him as ref
NFL referees Ed Hochuli and Jeff Triplette are retiring.  One of the replacements will be former back judge Shawn Hochuli, Ed’s son. The other is former side judge Alex Kemp. Ed Hochuli, among the most recognizable of NFL officials because of his muscular build, joined the league in 1990. Triplette came aboard in 1996. Hochuli, a lawyer by trade, originally was a back judge and moved up to referee in 1992. He worked two Super Bowls.  Triplette, a restructuring consultant, became a ref in 1999. The two new referees each joined the NFL in 2014.

Track – Russians could be stopped from competing in track
IAAF president Sebastian Coe says Russians could be stopped from competing as neutral athletes if the country fails to shows “dramatic progress” in the fight against doping. Russia has been suspended since 2015, when the World Anti-Doping Agency found evidence of widespread doping. The only Russians allowed to compete at IAAF events since then have been designated as neutral athletes. Coe says the world needs to know Russian athletes are in a “system of confidence and trust.”

Former ESPN on-air personality files sex harassment lawsuit
A former on-air personality has filed a lawsuit alleging that she was subjected to sexual harassment at ESPN and then fired in retaliation for complaining about it. Adrienne Lawrence says in the complaint filed in federal court in Connecticut that she was subjected to unwelcome advances from anchor John Buccigross. She says he sent her unsolicited shirtless photos and used inappropriate nicknames for her.

NJCAA – Junior College Sports
Yesterday
Men’s Basketball – NJCAA Regional – Round 1
Jackson College 112, Lake Michigan College 88

Women’s Basketball – NJCAA Regional – Round 1
Lake Michigan College 82, Lansing Community College 62

Women’s Softball
Gulf Coast Community College 2, Lake Michigan College 1 (8 innings)

Today
Men’s Baseball
Lake Michigan College at Chattanooga State Community College, 1:00 p.m.          (doubleheader)

Women’s Softball
Lake Michigan College at Lurleen B. Wallace Community College, 3:00 p.m.          (doubleheader)

MHSAA – High School Sports
Last Night
Girls – Regional Semifinals
Class D at Burr Oak
Martin 50, Wyoming Potter’s House 28
Athens 43, Michigan Lutheran 31

  • Michigan Lutheran’s post season run came to an end Tuesday night with a 43-31 loss to Athens. The Indians opened the game on a 14-0 run and forced Lutheran to play catch-up all night.  Athens led by as many as 17 in each half.  The Titans pulled to within eight, but that’s as close as they could get. Sarah Jackemeyer and Cali Laughlin each scored eight points in the loss for the Titans.  Corra Hamilton scored a game high 15 for the Indians. Michigan Lutheran ends the season at 20-4.  Athens improves to 20-4 and advanced to Thursday’s Regional Final against Martin.

Class A at Kalamazoo Loy Norrix
Coldwater 61, Okemos 38
East Lansing 64, Kal. Central 59

Class B at Hopkins
Edwardsburg 44, Allegan 22
Hamilton 52, Niles 37

Class C at Bridgman
Schoolcraft 47, Kal. Hackett 36
Brandywine 36, Bronson 33

Tonight
Boys Basketball – District Quarterfinals
Class B at Berrien Springs
Coloma vs. Benton Harbor, 5:30 p.m.                                 Superhits 103.7 Cosy-FM
Buchanan vs. South Haven, 7:30 p.m.                                  Superhits 103.7 Cosy-FM

Class D at River Valley
Michigan Lutheran vs. Covert, 5:30 p.m.                            95.7 & 1400 WSJM Sports
Lake Michigan Catholic vs. Dream Academy, 7:00 p.m.         95.7 & 1400 WSJM Sports

Other Districts
Class A at Kalamazoo Central
Portage Central vs. Portage Northern, 5:30 p.m.
Mattawan vs. Kalamazoo Central, 7:00 p.m.

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

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

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

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

Class C at Watervliet
Cassopolis vs. Eau Claire, 6:00 p.m.
Brandywine vs. Hartford, 7:45 p.m.

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

Class C at Gobles
Kalamazoo Christian vs. Kalamazoo Lakeside, 6:00 p.m.
Kalamazoo Hackett vs. Bloomingdale, 7:30 p.m.

Class C at GR Covenant Christian
Saugatuck vs. GR Northpointe Christian, 5:30 p.m.
Holland Black River vs. GR Covenant Chr., 7:15 p.m.

Class D at Martin
Martin vs. Howardsville Christian, 5:30 p.m.
Climax-Scotts vs. Burr Oak, 7:00 p.m.