November 17, 2020 3:49 am
UNDATED (AP) – The NCAA says it plans to hold the entire 2021 men’s college basketball tournament in one location to mitigate the risks of the coronavirus. It is in talks with Indianapolis to be the host city. The Final Four is already set to be held in Indianapolis next year. The association said it is relocating early round games that had been scheduled for 13 cities across the country. The NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee says hosting all 68 teams in one place is safer.
November 17, 2020 3:50 am
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – All-Star guard Chris Paul has been traded from the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Phoenix Suns, where he’ll play alongside one of the league’s most dynamic young scorers in fellow All-Star Devin Booker. The Thunder got Ricky Rubio, Kelly Oubre, Jalen Lecque, Ty Jerome and a 2022 first-round pick. The Suns also got Abdel Nader from the Thunder. The trade sending Paul to the Suns from Oklahoma City was completed Monday night, a blockbuster to start what could be a wild few days of NBA transactions before training camps begin next month.
November 17, 2020 3:52 am
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – Just months after winning the Stanley Cup, officials with the Tampa Bay Lightning says they’re eliminating 30 positions in a sign that even winning a championship doesn’t spare a team from the effects of the coronavirus. Team officials said Monday that the positions were across the company and effective immediately. The layoffs represent less than 10% of the team’s workforce. Because the National Hockey League’s postseason was played in bubbles in Canada, the team didn’t earn any revenue from the playoffs.
November 16, 2020 3:53 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Ben Roethlisberger threw for a season-high 333 yards and four touchdowns despite being forced to stay away from the team facility all week due to COVID-19 protocols, and the Pittsburgh Steelers stayed unbeaten with a 36-10 victory over the Bengals. Roethlisberger was one of four Steelers put on the COVID-19 list last Monday due to contact tracing after tight end Vance McDonald tested positive for the novel coronavirus. He connected with Diontae Johnson and JuJu Smith-Schuster for touchdowns in the first half and found rookie Chase Claypool twice in the second half as Pittsburgh improved to 9-0.
November 16, 2020 3:54 am
Cam Newton threw a touchdown pass and ran for another score in the Patriots’ 23-17 decision over the Ravens. Damien Harris ran for a career-high 121 yards to help the Patriots win consecutive games for the first time this season. Lamar Jackson was 24 of 34 for 249 yards and two touchdowns for Baltimore, which had won 10 straight road games before falling three games behind Pittsburgh in the AFC North.
November 16, 2020 2:34 am
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Dustin Johnson capped off a one-of-a-kind Masters with a performance never seen at Augusta National. He shook off a slow start and blew away the field to win his first green jacket. The Masters in November that had no fans also had no drama. Johnson made sure of that. His five-shot victory was the largest at the Masters since Tiger Woods won by 12 in 1997. Johnson finished at 20-under 268 to break the Masters scoring record by two shots. Along the way, he buried memories of past majors that went wrong when he was atop the leaderboard. Cameron Smith and Sungjae Im tied for second. Woods shot a septuple-bogey 10 on the 12th hole.
November 16, 2020 3:57 am
FULLERTON, Calif. (AP) – Hall of Fame manager Tom Lasorda has been hospitalized in Southern California. The Los Angeles Dodgers said Sunday that their 93-year-old former manager was in intensive care and resting comfortably at a hospital in Orange County. Lasorda lives in Fullerton. Lasorda attended the Dodgers’ Game 6 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Oct. 27 in Texas that clinched the Dodgers’ first World Series title since 1988. Lasorda had a heart attack in June 1996 and retired from managing the Dodgers the following month. Lasorda was hospitalized in New York eight years ago after having a heart attack.
November 15, 2020 7:00 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – The Steelers have announced four players have been activated from the reserve/covid-19 list: quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, offensive lineman Jerald Hawkins, running back Jaylen Samuels and linebacker Vince Williams.
November 15, 2020 5:00 am
Pine-Richland scored three times in a span of less than five minutes in the second quarter and rolled to a 35-0 shutout of Peters Township, winning the 5A WPIAL championship. The Indians had the ball deep in P-R territory three different times but failed to score against the league’s top defense. Peters Township’s season ends at 8-1. Pine-Richland advances to the PIAA semifinals next weekend to face District 3 champion Governor Mifflin.
Thomas Jefferson squandered a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter but scored in overtime to beat Aliquippa, 35-28, winning the 4A WPIAL title. It’s the school’s 10th WPIAL championship, the ninth for head coach Bill Cherpak, the most by any coach in the 100+ year history of the league. Jake Pugh threw for two scores and ran for two more, including the two-yard sneak in overtime. The Jaguars’ Flinn McClain intercepted Aliquippa quarterback Vaughn Morris on third-and-goal from the 12 on the Quips overtime possession to seal the win. The Jags will host Oil City, the District 10 titlist, next weekend in the state semifinals.
Jeannette took full advantage of Clairton miscues to cruise to a 45-14 win over the top-seeded Bears in the 1A WPIAL final. Jeannette used four first-half takeaways, six total, to advance to next week’s PIAA semifinals against District 10 champion Reynolds.
Beaver Falls powered to a 36-0 lead halfway through the third quarter, then had to hold off a frantic Sto-Rox rally despite the mercy-rule running clock as the #1 Tigers won the 2A WPIAL championship, 43-30. Beaver Falls will play District 10 champion Wilmington in the semifinals next weekend.
WPIAL football brackets PIAA football brackets
WPIAL Finals
Friday
3A #1 Central Valley over #3 Elizabeth-Forward, 35-0
Saturday
1A #3 Jeannette over #1 Clairton, 45-14
4A #2 Thomas Jefferson over #1 Aliquippa, 35-28 OT
2A #1 Beaver Falls over #3 Sto-Rox, 43-30
5A #1 Pine-Richland over #3 Peters Township, 35-0
November 14, 2020 5:00 am
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) – Four players shared the clubhouse lead when the second round of the Masters was suspended by darkness. Dustin Johnson and Justin Thomas top the leaderboard with Abraham Ancer and Cameron Smith at 9 under. Ancer moved up with a 5-under 67, one shot better than Smith. Patrick Cantlay and S.J. Im are in the clubhouse at minus-8. Hideki Matsuyama and Jon Rahm were on the back nine at 8 under when play was halted. Tiger Woods is at 4 under and was among 48 players who will have to finish their second round on Saturday. Meanwhile, 63-year-old Bernhard Langer is positioned to become the oldest player in Masters history to make the cut. Langer will break the record set by Tommy Aaron, who was 33 days younger when he made the cut in 2000.
