ARAB TIMES, TUESDAY, MARCH 16, 2021 SPORTS 15

Alabama adds another SEC crown, holding off late fl urry by LSU Illinois tops Ohio State in OT for Big Ten title INDIANAPOLIS, March 15, (AP): Kofi Cockburn and both scored 16 points, both grabbed nine rebounds and both made key plays in overtime to give No. 3 Illinois a 91-88 victory over No. 9 Ohio State for its fi rst Big Ten Tournament title since 2005. Cockburn made the go-ahead with 1:39 to play, Dosunmu made a 15-footer with 50 seconds to go and the Illini (23-6) sealed it at the free-throw line. Illinois has won seven straight overall, six in a row over top-10 foes and 14 of its last 15 overall to claim the conference’s automatic NCAA Tournament bid. At times, Illinois appeared to be in complete control, but Ohio State (21- 9) refused to give in to the weariness of playing four games in four days. In- stead, the Buckeyes constantly fought back. Alabama 80, LSU 79 In Nashville, Tenn., Herbert Jones drove for a go-ahead layup with 19.5 seconds remaining and Alabama won the Southeastern Conference Tourna- ment for the fi rst time since 1991, hold- ing off a late fl urry by LSU.

BASKETBALL

Coach Nate Oats and the Crimson Tide added to their regular-season title with a victory that should help Alabama at least match its highest seed in the NCAA Tournament - it was No. 2 in both 1987 and 2002. Alabama, the reigning national cham- pion in football, won its seventh tourna- ment title overall, second in the SEC only to Kentucky’s 31. The Crimson Tide (24-6) hadn’t even reached this game since 2002.Jones, both the SEC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, fi nished with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Jaden Shackelford led Al- abama with 21 points. Houston 91, Cincinnati 54 In Fort Worth, Texas, Quentin Grimes scored 21 points with fi ve The Illinois team celebrates with the trophy after defeating Ohio State in an NCAA championship game at the tournament, on March 14, in Indianapolis. 3-pointers, Marcus Sasser had 16 points Illinois won in overtime. (AP) and Houston beat Cincinnati in the third consecutive American Athletic Confer- Conference tournament to clinch an au- ence Tournament championship game tomatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. NHL Results/Standings between the two teams. St. Bonaventure (16-4) entered the The Cougars (24-3) were a lock for A-10 tournament as the conference’s their 22nd NCAA Tournament berth top seed after clinching the regular even before leading the entire game to season crown. The Rams (19-7) were Isles pip Devils in SO, win their fi rst conference tournament seeded No. 2 and now will have to await WASHINGTON, March 15, (AP): Results and standings from the NHL games on Sunday. title since 2010, when they were still in its NCAA Tournament fate, hoping for Minnesota 4 Arizona 1 Conference USA. an at-large bid. Carolina 2 Detroit 1 DeJon Jarreau, two days after a triple- Colgate 85, Loyola 72 Dallas 2 Columbus SO 1 double in the quarterfi nal round, hit a Colorado 4 Los Angeles 1 In Hamilton, N.Y., Tucker Richard- NY Islanders 3 New Jersey SO 2 3-pointer for the fi rst basket of the game Ottawa 4 3 to put to Cougars ahead to stay. He fi n- son scored 17 points and Jordan Burns take NHL overall lead ished with 10 points. and Jack Ferguson 16 each to lead Col- East Division gate to win over Loyola of Maryland for GP W L OT Pts GF GA St. Bonaventure 74, VCU 65 the Patriot League Tournament champi- NY Islanders 29 19 6 4 42 86 64 Washington 27 17 6 4 38 94 87 Hurricanes top Red Wings for 8th straight win In Dayton, Ohio, Kyle Lofton scored onship. Pittsburgh 27 17 9 1 35 89 79 23 points and Osun Osunniyi scored 14 Colgate (14-1) advances to its fourth Boston 25 14 7 4 32 70 60 points with 12 rebounds and St. Bon- NCAA Tournament where it’s never Philadelphia 25 13 9 3 29 83 83 NEWARK, N.J., March eljkovic made 25 saves and Carolina aventure beat VCU in the Atlantic 10 won. Its last appearance came in 2019. NY Rangers 26 11 12 3 25 72 71 beat Detroit for its eighth consecutive New Jersey 25 8 13 4 20 62 82 15, (AP): Anthony Beauvil- victory. Carolina moved into the Central Buffalo 26 6 16 4 16 58 88 lier and Oliver Wahlstrom Division lead at 20-6-1, a point ahead of Central Division scored on New York’s fi nal idle Tampa Bay and Florida. Anthony GP W L OT Pts GF GA Mantha scored his eighth of the sea- Carolina 27 20 6 1 41 95 68 two shootout attempts and Tampa Bay 26 19 5 2 40 97 60 son for Detroit with just 9.4 seconds left Florida 27 18 5 4 40 93 78 the Islanders won their ninth in regulation, spoiling Nedeljkovic’s bid Chicago 29 14 10 5 33 89 92 straight game, beating the for his second career shutout. Columbus 30 11 12 7 29 80 99 Niederreiter gave the Hurricanes a Dallas 24 9 9 6 24 69 64 3-2 to take Nashville 28 11 16 1 23 67 96 2-0 lead early in the third period, scor- Detroit 29 8 17 4 20 64 97 the NHL overall lead. ing off a pass from Sebastian Aho. West Division The Devils thought they had won Hamilton opened the scoring with GP W L OT Pts GF GA 27 seconds into overtime on a goal 4:47 left in the second period. Instead Vegas 25 18 6 1 37 83 56 by P.K. Subban, but a lengthy re- of passing to Hurrucanes scoring lead- Minnesota 26 17 8 1 35 83 64 Colorado 26 16 8 2 34 78 60 view showed Jesper Bratt was off- er Aho on a 2 on 1, Hamilton kept the St Louis 28 14 9 5 33 88 92 side. puck and beat goalie Jonathan Bernier Los Angeles 27 11 10 6 28 79 78 Beauvillier beat Scott Wedgewood from the right circle. Arizona 28 12 12 4 28 70 85 San Jose 25 11 11 3 25 75 89 on the Islanders’ third attempt to ex- Wild 4, Coyotes 1 Anaheim 29 8 15 6 22 63 95 tend the shootout, and Wahlstrom right wing Alex In St. Paul, Minn., Nick Bonino and North Division extended New Jersey’s winless run at Iafallo, front, fi ghts for control of Kevin Fiala scored in a three-goal third GP W L OT Pts GF GA home to 0-10-1. Kieffer Bellows and the puck with center Nazem Kadri in the second period and surging Minnesota beat LSU’s Trendon Watford (2) loses the ball as he drives against Alabama Toronto 30 19 9 2 40 102 79 Brock Nelson scored in the fi rst period Arizona. during the second half of the championship game at the NCAA college Winnipeg 27 17 8 2 36 91 78 for the Islanders, who pushed their period of an NHL hockey game on basketball Southeastern Conference Tournament, on March 14, in Nash- Edmonton 30 18 12 0 36 100 87 March 14, in Denver. (AP) Victor Rask and Joel Eriksson Ek Montreal 27 12 8 7 31 86 74 points streak to 11-0-1. Rookie Ilya also scored to help Minnesota move ville, Tenn. (AP) Calgary 28 13 12 3 29 76 82 Sorokin made 29 saves, allowing only Vancouver 31 13 16 2 28 86 100 overtime. within two points of West-leading Ve- Nikita Gusev to score in the shootout. gas. Minnesota is 11-2-1 in its past 14 Ottawa 31 10 20 1 21 83 124 Janne Kuokkanen and Yegor Sha- Note: Two points for a win one point for over- Hurricanes 2, Red Wings 1 games, has won four straight overall time loss. The top four teams in each division will rangovich scored for New Jersey, while and seven in a row at home. Cam Tal- Bradley women bag MVC trophy qualify for playoffs under this season’s temporary Wedgewood made 32 saves, including In Detroit, Dougie Hamilton and realignment. bot made 21 saves after shutting out an in-close stop on Casey Cizikas in scored, Alex Ned- the Coyotes 4-0 on Friday night in the Baylor wins Big 12 tourney as opener of the three-game set. Murray State beat Tennessee Tech 36-31 Senators 4, Maple Leafs 3 In Ottawa, , Drake Bather- FGCU claims A-Sun title again son scored twice in 53 seconds in the second period in Ottawa’s victory over KANSAS CITY, Mo., March 15, (AP): Valley Conference Tournament. Ellis throws 6 TDs in Austin Peay’s win slumping Toronto. Queen Egbo scored 18 points and 11 Lasha Petree and Emily Marsh both North-leading Toronto has lost two rebounds and No. 6 Baylor beat West scored 12 points for Bradley (17-11), CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo., March 15, threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to to give Eastern Illinois a 20-18 lead but Virginia 76-50 to win the Big 12 which was in its first MVC tournament (AP): Draylen Ellis threw for 262 yards LaMartez Brooks with 2:35 to play and Isaiah Green completed a 48-yard pass Tournament. championship. Mahri Petree added 11 and a school-record six touchdowns, Murray State defeated Tennessee Tech. to Cam Wyche to the Panthers 19 and It is the ninth Big 12 Championship and Nyjah White 10 off the bench. Baniko Harley also set a program mark Tennessee Tech had just scored on a one play later Zita kicked his game- in the last 10 tournaments for top-seed- Grace Berg scored 23 points and with four receiving scores, and Austin 39-yard punt return for a touchdown by winner for the Tigers (1-2 Ohio Valley ed Baylor (25-2). grabbed 10 rebounds for the Bulldogs Peay beat Southeast Missouri State 49- Jyron Gilmore to cap a three-touchdown Conference, 1-2). Dijonai Carrington added 14 and (16-11). Maggie Bair had 14 points and straight and fi ve of six to drop out of 42 in double overtime. rally that put the Eagles ahead 31-30 Jacksonville St. 37, UT Martin 20 the top overall spot in the NHL. Moon Ursin had 12 points and 10 10 rebounds and Monica Burich and Harley scored on 12-yarder for a with 5:03 to play. In Martin, Tenn., Zion Webb threw Brady Tkachuk and Ryan Dzingel rebounds as the Lady Bears won their Sarah Beth Gueldner both added 11 35-28 lead with 7:44 left in regulation Eric Samuta had a 75-yard inter- 17th straight game. points. three touchdown passes to lead Jackson- also scored for Ottawa, and Joey Dac- before Geno Hess tied it for Southeast ception return in the fi rst quarter and cord made 33 saves for his fi rst NHL Kirsten Deans scored 15 and Kysre Lehigh 64, Boston 54 ville State to a victory over UT Martin. Gondrezick had 13 for West Virginia, Missouri by capping a 21-play, 75-yard Quinaz Turner an 82-yard pick-6 in the Webb completed 11 of 20 passes for victory. Matt Murray was supposed to which was trying to win their second In Boston, Frannie Hottinger scored score with his third rushing touchdown. third for a 30-10 lead for the Racers. 215 yards for the 10th-ranked Game- start in goal, but he was injured dur- Big 12 Tournament in the last four 21 points, Megan Walker had 7 of her Hess scored on a fi ve-yard run to fi nish TSU 21, E. Illinois 20 cocks (6-1, 2-0 Ohio Valley Confer- ing pre-game warmups. Zach Hyman 10 in the fourth quarter and Lehigh a drive that took 7:21 off the clock and years. West Virginia (21-6) went 17 of In Nashville, Tenn., Antonio Zito, ence), whose only loss has been at Flor- scored twice and William Nylander 63 (27%) from the field and Baylor was earned its first trip to the NCAA came with 23 seconds to play. ida State on Oct. 3. added a goal for Toronto. Tournament since 2010 with a 64-54 Hess opened overtime with a 2-yard who booted 62- and 51-yard fi eld goals 33 for 66 (50%). earlier, kicked a 35-yarder as time ex- Webb threw a 39-yard touchdown Avalanche 4, Kings 1 win over Boston University on Sunday TD run, and Harley answered with scor- pass to Ahmad Edwards with 1:34 re- FGCU 84, Liberty 62 ing grabs of 18 and 22 yards. pired to give Tennessee State a victory In Denver, Philipp Grubauer made over Eastern Illinois. maining in the second quarter to give In Kennesaw, Ga., Kierstan Bell Murray St 36, Tenn. Tech 31 the Gamecocks a 20-10 halftime lead. 27 saves, Andre Burakovsky and scored 30 points and Florida Gulf Coast BASKETBALL Stone Galloway booted a 37-yard Nazem Kadri each had a goal and an continued its dominance of the Atlantic In Cookville, Tenn., Preston Rice fi eld goal with 41 seconds remaining Sacred Heart 35, LIU 7 and Colorado beat Los Angeles. Sun Conference with a win over Liberty In Fairfi eld, Conn., Julius Chestnut Nathan MacKinnon and Joonas in the tournament championship game, in the Patriot League championship ran 24 times for a career-tying 203 yards Donskoi also scored for Colorado. The sending the Eagles to the NCAA game. The Mountain Hawks head to the and four touchdowns and Sacred Heart Avalanche swept the two-game series Tournament for the seventh time. NCAAs for the third time, all in the 26 beat Long Island University. with Los Angeles and allowed fewer FGCU (26-2), established in 1991 year reign of coach Sue Troyan and they than 30 shots on goal for the 16th and a Division I member since 2011, go with just a 10-5 record. FOOTBALL straight game, extending a franchise won its 25th straight game, its 11th Sydney Johnson scored 16 points for record set Friday night. league title and seventh tournament the second-seeded Terriers (12-3). Grubauer nearly had another shutout championship, improving to 8-0 against Emily Esposito added 11 points and Chestnut also caught two passes for before Kurtis MacDermid ended the Liberty. Maren Durant had 14 rebounds. bid early in the third period. Bell, a sophomore transfer from Ohio SFA 56, Sam Houston St 45 46 yards. His 249 total yards and four State is a big reason why. The first TD runs were career highs. His rushing Stars 2, Blue Jackets 1, SO In Katy, Texas, Aaliyah Johnson had player to win A-Sun Newcomer and total matched the mark he sent against In Columbus, Ohio, Alexander Player of the Year, the three-time Ohio 16 points and eight rebounds, Zya Bryant in a 24-17 win on Nov. 2, 2019. Nugent added 13 points and six boards, Radulov returned after missing 15 high school player of the year became Bryant 14, Merrimack 7 games and scored in the third round the first Eagle to surpass 600 points in a and top-seeded Stephen F. Austin beat Sam Houston State in the Southland In North Andover, Mass., Shai Young of the shootout to lift Dallas past Co- season in the second half, well after lumbus. they had wrapped up the game. Conference championship to return to had a touchdown run, Jihad Edmond re- the NCAA Tournament for the first time covered a fumble in the end zone, and The victory came a day after Dallas Bradley 78, Drake 70 since 2006. Stephen F. Austin (24-2) Bryant held off Merrimack for a victory. lost to Columbus in the closing seconds In Moline, Ill., Gabi Haack hit six won its 19th straight games to claim its Daniel Adeboboye carried the ball 21 of overtime. Radulov had been sidelined 3-pointers and scored 22 points to lead 16th Southland title, while denying Sam West Virginia’s Jayla Hemingway (right), passes the ball under pressure times for 141 yards rushing for Bryant (1- with a lower-body injury. Jake Oettinger Bradley to its first NCAA Tournament Houston State, and player of the year from Baylor’s DiJonai Carrington during the fi rst half of an NCAA college 1). He fumbled the ball into the end zone, made 29 saves, and Joe Pavelski scored with a win over Drake in the champion- Amber Leggett, their first champion- basketball game in the fi nal round of the Big 12 Conference tournament in but Edmond recovered it to cap the scor- for Dallas in regulation. Zach Werenski ship game of the reconfigured Missouri ship. Kansas City, Mo, on March 14. (AP) ing with 9:45 to play in the third quarter. scored for Columbus.