WSJM Sports

NHL – National Hockey League
Last Night
New York Rangers 5, Detroit Red Wings 4 – OT

Rangers 5, Red Wings 4 – OT – Copp lifts Rangers over Red Wings in OT for 4th straight win
Andrew Copp scored 1:34 into overtime and the New York Rangers extended their winning streak to four games by beating the Detroit Red Wings 5-4. Artemi Panarin had a goal and assisted on two others, including Copp’s winner, as New York swept back-to-back road games beginning with Tuesday night’s big victory over division rival Pittsburgh. Chris Kreider scored his 46th goal overall and NHL-high 24th on the power play. Ryan Reaves and Filip Chytil also scored for the Rangers, while Alexandar Georgiev made 22 saves. Michael Rasmussen, Jakub Vrana, Tyler Bertuzzi and Adam Erne scored for Detroit, and Moritz Seider added two assists. Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 29 shots, but the Red Wings lost their fourth straight.

NBA – National Basketball Association
Last Night
Denver Nuggets 125, Indiana Pacers 118

Nuggets 125, Pacers 118 – Jokic has 37 points to lead Nuggets past Pacers 125-118
Nikola Jokic flirted with another triple-double with 37 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists, helping the Denver Nuggets hold off the Indiana Pacers 125-118. Jokic fell one assist shy of his 20th triple-double of the season after getting one Monday night at Charlotte. The Nuggets led by as many as 31 points in the second quarter before the Pacers stormed back. Indiana led 102-100 with 7:40 left in the fourth quarter before the Nuggets scored seven straight points to regain control. Seven of the nine Pacers who played scored in double figures, led by Buddy Hield with 20 points.

Tonight
Philadelphia 76ers at Detroit Pistons, 7:00 p.m.
Los Angeles Clippers at Chicago Bulls, 8:00 p.m.

MLB – Major League Baseball – Spring Training
Yesterday
Detroit Tigers 7, Philadelphia Phillies 1
Chicago White Sox 7, Texas Rangers 0
Chicago Cubs 8, Seattle Mariners 5

Today
Detroit Tigers at Toronto Blue Jays, 1:07 p.m.
Chicago White Sox at Cincinnati Reds, 9:05 p.m.
Cubs are off

MLB – White Sox slugger Andrew Vaughn recovering from hip pointer
Andrew Vaughn feared the worst when he got hurt making a diving catch for the Chicago White Sox on Sunday. Same for his team, which is looking for the slugger to play a key role this year. They’re all feeling much better now. Vaughn was diagnosed with a hip pointer and could return to game action in one to two weeks. The No. 3 overall pick in the 2019 amateur draft ditched his crutches Tuesday and already is swinging a bat again. But the team is planning to be cautious with when he returns to the field.

NFL – Arians retires as Bucs’ coach, Bowles promoted to top spot
Bruce Arians has decided to retire as coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and move into a front-office role with the team, a stunning move announced Wednesday night. Arians, who will turn 70 this coming season, coached the Bucs to the Super Bowl title in the 2020 season which was Tom Brady’s first with Tampa Bay. The Bucs were 31-18 in Arians’ three seasons there and he was 80-48-1 in eight seasons as a head coach overall when adding in his five seasons with the Arizona Cardinals. Defensive coordinator Todd Bowles will replace Arians as coach.

WNBA – WNBA players break silence on Brittney Griner
Two of Brittney Griner’s USA Basketball teammates have broken their silence on the star player’s imprisonment in Russia. Most WNBA players have been hesitant to talk about Griner’s detention on apparent drug charges in Russia, hoping to avoid potentially hurting her case. Players have been keeping discussions about how to best help Griner within their community. WNBA players have been very cohesive in the past when rallying behind issues such as voter registration or the Black Lives Matters movement. For the first few weeks, it was decided that it was clearly better for them to say less.

NCAA – Emmert claims progress in women’s NCAAs, not close on pay
A year after glaring inequities were revealed at the women’s NCAA Tournament and less than two weeks after sharp criticism from Congress, NCAA President Mark Emmert says he is happy with the institution’s progress but said there had only been “preliminary discussions” about distributing tournament revenues to women’s programs. Emmert said the work ahead improving conditions for women’s basketball includes negotiating a new television contract for the women’s tournament and potentially having a similar revenue distribution protocol as the men’s event. Emmert was careful not to call for specific changes ahead of discussions by the NCAA’s hundreds of member schools, and he declined to offer his own viewpoint.

NCAA – March Madness paying off for players under mishmash of rules
This week, Kansas, Villanova, North Carolina and Duke will play in the first Final Four to take place under the new world of “name, image and likeness” endorsements in college sports. It allows college players to earn money through endorsements. This new world is comprised of a loosely regulated mishmash of state laws and university-written rules that set different standards across the nation with little transparency about who gets what or where it comes from. On the one hand, it’s seen as a long-overdue development that will forever change the landscape of what has been widely disparaged as among the most unfair labor markets in America. On the other, trouble could be looming for an industry with few rules that doles out big bucks to teenagers with big dreams.

NCAA – Women’s Final Four can be a financial windfall for players
Women’s basketball is ranked second, behind only college football and ahead of men’s basketball, when it comes to the amount of income generated by name, image and likeness deals. That is according to Blake Lawrence, the chief executive of Opendorse. His company helps colleges and athletes navigate the celebrity endorsement landscape, which was opened last summer by the NCAA and now has millions of dollars flowing through it. He says making it to the Final Four will only increase the deals coming to social-media influencers such as Stanford’s Cameron Brink and UConn’s Paige Bueckers.

Soccer – CONCACAR – US returns to World Cup despite 2-0 loss at Costa Rica
The United States men are returning to the World Cup after the trauma of missing the 2018 tournament, clinching a berth for this year’s championship in Qatar despite a 2-0 loss to Costa Rica on the final night of qualifying. Juan Pablo Vargas got behind Walker Zimmerman and headed Brandon Aguilera’s corner kick past goalkeeper Zack Steffen in the 51st minute, and Anthony Contreras knocked in a cross off a scramble in the 59th after Steffen couldn’t hold onto a free kick. A sellout crowd of about 35,000 in National Stadium came to life, but the Americans’ 5-1 rout of Panama at home last weekend gave them a huge goal-difference margin over Costa Rica.

Soccer – World Cup – FIFA, Qatar prepare for unprecedented World Cup finals draw
A World Cup like no other in its 92-year history will take shape this week at an unprecedented tournament draw. When FIFA and host nation Qatar stage the draw ceremony show Friday three of the 32 entries will be placeholders. That’s because the three-year qualifying program has been delayed by the pandemic and war in Ukraine. It means 37 nations will be involved Friday. Five of those ultimately won’t play in November when the first “winter” World Cup kicks off. Qatar is in the draw pot of top-seeded teams with the world’s best: Brazil, Belgium, France, Argentina, England, Spain and Portugal.

ECHL – ECHL Hockey League
Last Night
Kalamazoo Wings 4, Iowa Heartlanders 3 – OT

MCCAA – Junior College Athletics
Today
Softball
Lake Michigan College at Kellogg Community College, Postponed

MHSAA – High School Sports
Yesterday
Girls Soccer
St. Joseph 5, Edwardsburg 0
Bridgman 3, Constantine 1
Saugatuck 1, Allegan 0
Coldwater 2, Three Rivers 1

Today
Girls Soccer
Hartford at Berrien Springs, 5:30 p.m.

Baseball
Hartford at Paw Paw, 4:00 p.m. (DH)
Gary Calumet (IN) at River Valley, 5:00 p.m.

Softball
Hartford at Paw Paw, 4:00 p.m. (DH)

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

NBA – National Basketball Association
Last Night
Chicago Bulls 107, Washington Wizards 94
Brooklyn Nets 130, Detroit Pistons 123

Bulls 107, Wizards 94 – Bulls alone in 5th place after 107-94 win over Wizards
DeMar DeRozan scored 14 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter, and the Chicago Bulls pulled away for a 107-94 victory over the Washington Wizards. Nikola Vucevic scored 27 points for Chicago, which is trying to stay in the top six in the Eastern Conference and avoid the play-in round of the postseason. The Bulls took a half-game lead on Toronto for fifth place in the East, and they lead seventh-place Cleveland by 1 1/2 games. Chicago has played 12 of its last 15 on the road, but the Bulls now have only six games remaining in the regular season — and the next five are at home.

Nets 130, Pistons 123 – Durant scores 41, Nets rally past Pistons 130-123
Kevin Durant scored 41 points and the Brooklyn Nets rallied past the Detroit Pistons 130-123. Kyrie Irving added 24 points in his second home appearance since New York exempted athletes from a private employer mandate for COVID-19 vaccinations last week. Andre Drummond had 14 points and 13 rebounds as Brooklyn overcame a double-digit deficit in the second quarter. Cade Cunningham led the Pistons with 34 points. Isaiah Stewart and Saddiq Bey each had 15. The Pistons went ahead 55-43 following Frank Johnson’s short jumper with 5:54 left in the second quarter. Durant followed with a four-point play and the Nets pulled within 64-58 at halftime.

Tonight
Denver Nuggets at Indiana Pacers, 7:00 p.m.

NHL – National Hockey League
Tonight
New York Rangers at Detroit Red Wings, 7:30 p.m.

NHL – NHL GMs discuss playoff salary cap at Florida meetings
Stretching the salary cap into the playoffs was one of the subjects touched on by the NHL’s 32 general managers at their annual meetings in Florida. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman says the system has worked well since the league’s hard cap was introduced in 2005. Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly outlined how the league approaches players on long-term injured reserve when their expected date of return falls around the start of the playoffs to ensure everything is above board. He called it a thorough process without problems. Any change would have to be collectively bargained with the NHL Players’ Association.

MLB – Major League Baseball – Spring Training
Yesterday
Chicago Cubs 3, Arizona Diamondbacks 2
Tigers and White Sox were off

Today
Detroit Tigers at Philadelphia Phillies, 1:05 p.m.
Texas Rangers at Chicago White Sox, 4:05 p.m.
Seattle Mariners at Chicago Cubs, 4:05 p.m.

NFL – NFL owners approve rule change for OT in playoffs
The NFL is changing its sometimes controversial overtime rules to guarantee each side gets the ball in the playoffs. Concerned that the coin toss to begin the extra period has too much impact on postseason game results, the owners voted Tuesday to approve a proposal presented by the Colts and Eagles. Beginning this season, if the team possessing the ball first in overtime scores a touchdown on that series, the opponent still gets a possession. In recent seasons, that touchdown would have ended the game.

NFL – Bears sign veteran quarterback Siemian to back up Fields
The Chicago Bears have signed veteran quarterback Trevor Siemian to a two-year contract to back up Justin Fields. Siemian has appeared in 33 games and started 29 while throwing for 6,843 yards, 41 touchdowns and 27 interceptions for the Denver Broncos, New York Jets and New Orleans Saints. He starred at Northwestern before getting drafted by Denver in the seventh round in 2015. Fields is coming off a shaky rookie season after Chicago traded up to draft him with the No. 11 overall pick. The Bears also have Super Bowl 52 MVP Nick Foles on their roster.

Golf – Woods arrives at Augusta National as Masters talk mounts
Tiger Woods is at Augusta National and the golf world is wondering: Will he play in the Masters? Various plane-tracking websites showed a Gulfstream registered to Woods leaving South Florida for Augusta on Tuesday, and a Twitter account showed the private jet on the runway. That ramped up speculation Woods might play the Masters just 14 months after he shattered his right leg in a car crash. Woods doesn’t have to decide whether to play until the tournament starts next week. He has said the key will be whether he can play and walk. He played with his son in December while riding in a cart.

MCCAA – Junior College Athletics
Today
Baseball
Lake Michigan College at Kellogg Community College, PPD

Softball
Glen Oaks Community College 8, Lake Michigan College 0 – Game 1
Glen Oaks Community College 3, Lake Michigan College 2 – Game 2

MHSAA – Lakeshore’s Bittenbender to retire after 52 years
Lakeshore high school’s longtime wrestling coach Bruce Bittenbender has announced his retirement from the post he’s held since the 1970-71 season.  Bittenbender’s record with Lakeshore for dual meets is 981-270-2, which ranks him 1st in the state of Michigan and 2nd nationally.   The Lancer wrestling program has claimed 28 district and 13 regional titles during his time, Lakeshore has won 33 conference championships, including the SMAC regular season championship this past season.  The Lancers also have finished as state runner up twice.  While the Lancers have not won a team state championship, 26 individual Lakeshore wrestlers have won state titles, including three this season.  Lakeshore has already announced that Ryan Quinn will be the next head coach for the Lancer program, Quinn is the 4th head coach in Lakeshore program history, which began in 1965.

MHSAA – High School Sports
Yesterday
Baseball
Coloma 10, South Haven 3 – Game 1
Coloma 3, South Haven 0 – Game 2
Grand Rapids Union 11, Martin 2 – Game 1
Grand Rapids Union 9, Martin 0 – Game 2

Girls Soccer
Hastings 6, Delton-Kellogg 0

Today
Girls Soccer
Edwardsburg at St. Joseph, 5:30 p.m.
Lakeshore at Plainwell, 6:00 p.m.
Coloma at Buchanan, 5:00 p.m.
Bridgman at Constantine, 5:00 p.m.
Brandywine at Hartford, 5:00 p.m.
Saugatuck at Allegan, 6:00 p.m.
Three Rivers at Coldwater, 4:30 p.m.
Fennville at Hamilton, 5:30 p.m.

Baseball
Dowagiac at Bridgman, 4:00 p.m. (DH)
Constantine at Brandywine, 4:30 p.m. (DH)
Gobles at Decatur, 4:30 p.m. (DH)
Bloomingdale at Lawton, 4:00 p.m. (DH)
Fennville at Holland Black River, 4:00 p.m. (DH)
Saugatuck at Allegan, 4:15 p.m. (DH)

Softball
Dowagiac at Bridgman, 4:00 p.m. (DH)
Constantine at Brandywine, 4:30 p.m. (DH)
Coloma at South Haven, 4:15 p.m. (DH)
Gobles at Decatur, 4:30 p.m. (DH)
Bloomingdale at Lawton, 4:00 p.m. (DH)
Fennville at Hamilton, 4:15 p.m. (DH)
Saugatuck at Allegan, 4:15 p.m. (DH)

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Host Tim Dunaj chats with “The Average Joes” robotics team #3620 from St. Joe.

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.