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Bassi’s PK goal sparks Houston to 2-0 victory over Austin

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:50:24 GMT

HOUSTON (AP) — Amine Bassi scored on a penalty kick in the 71st minute to break a scoreless tie and lead the Houston Dynamo to a 2-0 victory over Austin FC on Saturday night.Bassi’s goal came after Austin’s Adam Lundkvist was charged with a hand-ball foul. Héctor Herrera took a pass from Griffin Dorsey and added an insurance goal in the 86th minute.Houston (1-2-0), which lost its first two matches to open a season for the first time in club history, snapped a three-match skid against Austin and picked up its second win in the last six match-ups.Austin (2-2-0), which lost to first-year member St. Louis City in its opener, had won two straight matches for the first time since a four-match win streak spanning June and July last season. Austin’s four wins over the Dynamo are its most against any team.Houston has managed at least two points through its first three matches in every season but 2009, when it started 0-2-1.The Dynamo outshot Austin 15-13 with a 7-5 edge in ...

Markkanen’s scoring, Kessler’s block lifts Jazz past Celtics

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:50:24 GMT

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Lauri Markkanen scored 28 points and Walker Kessler had a game-saving block to help the Utah Jazz to a 118-117 comeback win over the Boston Celtics on Saturday night.Grant Williams, who had 23 points and a career-high seven 3-pointers, was driving for a potential game-winner but ran into Kessler, who blocked his shot just before the final buzzer.“I figured he was going to shot fake so I stayed down and tried to time it as best as I could and I got a hand on it,” Kessler said about his rejection at the rim.The play was designed to go to Jayson Tatum on a dribble handoff, but Williams had 12 points in the fourth quarter and took it to the hoop.“I’m not frustrated at Grant. If he made it, everybody would be happy. It’s not why we lost, that last play,” Tatum said.Talen Horton-Tucker had 19 points and Ochai Agbaji added 16 for the Jazz, who overcame a 19-point deficit to win and stay in the thick of the Western Conference playoff race.“We want to make the playoffs,...

MIAA state finals: Girls hockey preview and picks

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:50:24 GMT

It’s only fitting that a member from each of arguably the two toughest leagues are set to face off for the Div. 1 girls hockey state final at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday at TD Garden.It’s only more compelling that it’s a private school versus a public co-op, and that it’s the nightcap of a wild day.Top-seeded St. Mary’s of Lynn (25-1) has been the consensus choice all year to reach this stage, returning for the first time since winning in 2013. Jenna Chaplain (200-point scorer), Maggie Pierce (100-point scorer) and Amanda Forziati form an electric attack further bolstered by Gabbi Oakes and Tia Picardi, while depth across the board is a huge strength. Head coach Frank Pagliuca preaches defense, which is even better: senior goalie Angelina Catino has allowed just 18 goals through 25 games.The Spartans are the favorite, but No. 3 Shrewsbury (20-2-2) is as fit as any to challenge for the title within a different storyline.Having never reached this stage before, coach Frank Panarelli’s Colonial...

Recapping the Chicago Bulls: Hot 3-point shooting leads to 113-99 win against the Miami Heat

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:50:24 GMT

Sustained energy has been hard to find for the Chicago Bulls.The season has followed the same script — building a lead in the first half only to let it slip away. So when the Miami Heat began to chip away at a lead in the second half Saturday — carving a 27-point deficit down to only three points — it seemed the Bulls were set to once again repeat their greatest weakness.Instead, the Bulls absorbed the pressure to preserve a 113-99 victory at the United Center. DeMar DeRozan scorched from midrange for a team-high 24 points. Patrick Beverley threw himself from one touchline to the other and scored 17 points while Coby White led a barrage of shots from the 3-point line and finished with 18 points.The result came on the heels of a double-overtime win Friday against the Minnesota Timberwolves, giving the Bulls a rare pair of consecutive wins. And as they stretch out a 9-7 record following the All-Star break, the Bulls have found a small lift in their race for play-in c...

Heat unable to sustain, wilt in 113-99 loss to weary Bulls

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:50:24 GMT

The good news for the Miami Heat is that to advance out of the play-in round, you only have to win one game in a row.Because anything extended at the moment appears to be out of the reach of Erik Spoelstra’s team.Failing for the second time in 10 days to produce the team’s first three-game winning streak in a month, the Heat instead fell 113-99 Saturday night to the Chicago Bulls at the United Center.And in a season of bad losses in good spots, this one was right up there.Not only were the Heat coming off two days’ rest, idle since Wednesday night’s home blowout victory over the Memphis Grizzlies, but the Bulls were coming off a double-overtime home victory a night earlier.“This is a disappointing loss for sure, without a doubt,” Spoelstra said. “We have to take the L. That’s 0-3 against this team. They have our number this year. I don’t like to do this, but we got to move on.”Until late, it was as if the Heat were the team...

Winderman’s view: As Heat stumble, is the Omer Yurtseven era flaming out?

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:50:24 GMT

Observations and other notes of interest from Saturday night’s 113-99 loss to the Chicago Bulls:– It’s almost as if Heat coach Erik Spoelstra merely is looking to buy time in the absence of sidelined center Cody Zeller, who is recovering from a procedure for the nasal fracture sustained last Saturday in Orlando.– This time, after three ineffective minutes in his initial stint, second-year Omer Yurtseven did not return in the first half, with Kevin Love instead shifted to center when Adebayo took his second break of the game.– Then, when starting center Bam Adebayo took his first break of the second half, it was Haywood Highsmith entering for the first time, instead of Yurtseven.– Even with Love also out of the game at the time.– In other words, Spoelstra was more willing to go with a front line of Highsmith, Jimmy Butler and Caleb Martin than tempt the fates with Yurtseven.– With Zeller, there was immediate trust from Spoelstra from hi...

San Jose Sharks reassigning top prospect to AHL’s Barracuda

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:50:24 GMT

SAN JOSE – William Eklund is going to Loveland, Colorado next week, not Edmonton, Alberta.The San Jose Sharks are reassigning Eklund to the AHL, coach David Quinn said Saturday after his team’s 4-1 loss to New York Islanders at SAP Center.Just minutes after the game ended, and after player interviews had been completed inside the Sharks’ dressing room, Eklund was seen walking out of Quinn’s office, as he received the disappointing news, at least from his perspective, from Quinn and general manager Mike Grier.Eklund, considered the Sharks’ top prospect, was recalled from the Barracuda on March 3 and had two goals and an assist in eight games, as he played exclusively inside the Sharks’ top-six forward group.But the decision to reassign Eklund now prevents him from playing a 10th NHL game this season. Had that happened, the first year of his three-year entry-level contract would have kicked in, and expired after the 2024-25 season.Per the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agree...

Long-serving Montenegro president seeks re-election

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:50:24 GMT

PODGORICA, Montenegro (AP) — Voters in Montenegro are casting ballots Sunday in a presidential election marked by political turmoil and uncertainty over whether the small NATO member state in the Balkans will unblock its bid to join the European Union or seek to improve ties with Serbia and Russia.Analysts predict that Montenegro’s presidential election will not produce a clear winner and that incumbent Milo Djukanovic, 61, will face one of several challengers in a runoff vote in two weeks. Though the presidency is largely ceremonial in Montenegro, the ballot is seen as a key indicator of popular sentiments ahead of an early parliamentary election set for June 11.Djukanovic’s opponents include a leader of the staunchly pro-Serbia and pro-Russia Popular Front party, Andrija Mandic, economist Jakov Milatovic of the newly-formed Europe Now group and former parliament speaker Aleksa Becic.Observers say Milatovic, who served in the government elected after the 2020 parliamentary vo...

UCLA women roll to 67-45 win over Sacramento State

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:50:24 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kiki Rice had 15 points, Emily Bessoir added 14 and fourth-seeded UCLA rolled to a 67-45 victory over No. 13 seed Sacramento State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday night.Charisma Osborne had 11 points, 12 rebounds and five assists for the Bruins (26-9), who will face fifth-seeded Oklahoma on Monday with the winner advancing to the Greenville 1 Regional.Isnelle Natabou had 16 points and eight rebounds for Sacramento State (25-8). Kahlaijah Dean scored 11 points, but was 3 of 19 from the field.UCLA jumped out to a 16-2 lead midway through the first quarter on the strength of a 14-0 run. Rice had seven points in the first four minutes and 10 at the end of the first quarter, including a 3-pointer with 2:40 remaining that extended the Bruins’ advantage to 23-6.UCLA also had a 17-point lead at halftime and was up by as many as 24 late in the fourth quarter.Neither team shot well: UCLA was 29 of 70 while Sacramento State went 17 for 50. The Bru...

US Soccer again fails to make president position a paid job

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:50:24 GMT

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The U.S. Soccer Federation failed for the second straight year to approve a by-law amendment that would have given its president a $125,000 annual salary instead of remaining an unpaid position.The proposal received 62.87% approval at this week’s USSF annual general meeting, falling short of the two-third vote necessary for adoption, the federation said Saturday.Last year, the proposal received 58.91% approval.Former women’s player Cindy Parlow Cone became president in 2020 and is starting the second year of a four-year term. JT Batson took over as CEO last September.___More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_SportsSource