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Sharks fall to Hurricanes 5-3

Published on December 6, 2013December 7, 2013 by philliptorres2013Leave a comment

RALEIGH, NC - DECEMBER 06: Jiri Tlusty #19 of the Carolina Hurricanes and Marc-Edouard Vlasic #44 of the San Jose Sharks watch a shot deflect away from Alex Stalock #32 during their NHL game at PNC Arena on December 6, 2013 in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images) — RALEIGH, NC – DECEMBER 06: Jiri Tlusty #19 of the Carolina Hurricanes and Marc-Edouard Vlasic #44 of the San Jose Sharks watch a shot deflect away from Alex Stalock #32 during their NHL game at PNC Arena on December 6, 2013 in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images)

By Phillip Torres

RALEIGH, N.C-The San Jose Sharks (19-5-5) fell to the Carolina Hurricanes (13-12-5) 5-3 on Friday as they hosted the San Jose Sharks. The victory for Carolina gave them the all-time series lead, 15-14, against the Sharks. The Hurricanes rallied to score four goals in the final period to earn the victory.

The Sharks lead 2-0 for the first half of the game. Tommy Wingels and Marc-Edouard Vlasic put San Jose on the board to give them the early advantage. Jason Demers earned the assist on the first goal and Joe Thornton and Tomas Hertl earned the assists on the Vlasic snap shot goal.

Jay Harrison scored his second goal of the season at 11:36 in the second period to cut the lead in half to make it 2-1. Zach Boychuk and Riley Nash earned the assists on the play. The score remained 2-1 Sharks until the start of the third period.

The final frame was dominated by Carolina as they exploded for four goals. Nash scored his second goal of the game and third on the year to tie the game at 2-2. Jordan Staal gave the Hurricanes the 3-2 advantage and first lead of the game at 6:42. Nathan Gerbe and Elias Lindholm were credited with the assists.

Justin Braun tied the game for the Sharks with a slapshot at 9:35 with assists from Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski. This was the last goal that San Jose scored in the contest. Elias Lindholm scored what proved to be the game winning goal at 14:00. Eric Staal tacked on an an insurance goal late in period to cap off the four goal period.

San Jose will be back on the ice Tuesday December 10 as they will be hosting the New York Islanders. The puck will drop at 7:30 PM.

Who Will Be Going to the Rose Bowl?

Published on December 6, 2013 by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

by Jerry Feitelberg

Who will Represent the Pac-12 in the Rose Bowl?

The championship of the Pac-12 will be decided Saturday afternoon at 4:45pm. The game will be played at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona, the home of Arizona State University. Both the Cardinal and the Sun Devils have identical season records of 10-2. ASU , even though they lost to Stanford in the third game of the season had the better record in conference play and thereby gained the right to host the Pac-12 championship game.ASU’s was 8-1 in conference play and their only loss came at the hands of Stanford. Stanford, on the other hand had a 7-2 record and both losses came on the road. The Cardinal fell to Utah and USC.

Should be an interesting game. Stanford really creamed ASU earlier in the season by a score of 42-28 and the game wasn’t really that close. Stanford controlled every facet of the game before ASU scored three touchdowns late in the fourth quarter when the game was well in hand.. ASU coach Todd Graham “apologized to the players for not having them ready.” Rest assure that Coach Graham will have his troops ready for Saturday’s game. It will be a home game and the fans will be the 12th man on the field for the Sun Devils.

ASU’s offense is led by Taylor Kelly. In he first game against Stanford, Kelly threw for 367 yards and three touchdowns. Jaelen Strong caught 12 passes for 168 yards. Notre Dame and Stanford beat ASU early in the season and the Sun Devils have been on a roll having won seven straight games.

Stanford will be led by quarterback Kevin Hogan as well as running backs Tyler Gaffney and Anthony Wilkerson. TY Montgomery is the ace of the receiving corps. The Cardinal’s defense has been outstanding all season long. They shut down three top quarterbacks so far this season. The Qbs at UCLA,Oregon State and Oregon all know what the Stanford defense can do. So it’s up the front three

and the great linebackers, Shayne Skov, Trent Murphy and A.J.Tarpley plus the outstanding corners

and safeties, especially Ed Reynolds to shut down the ASU offense.

The Cardinal players had a great time last year at the Rose Bowl. They want to go back again and

Coach David Shaw will have his troops ready for the game. Should be a war out there Saturday. Don’t miss it.

Can rejuvenated Sun Devils earn trip to Pasadena?

Published on December 6, 2013 by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

PAC-12 FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW
By DANIEL DULLUM
Sports Radio Service
Friday, December 6, 2013

TEMPE, Ariz. – It’s no surprise that Stanford is in the Pac-12 football championship game. The surprise, honestly, is the host team in Saturday’s showdown – Arizona State.

The preseason consensus figured the No. 11 Sun Devils (10-2 overall, 8-1 Pac-12) would improve significantly enough to be bowl-eligible, and, perhaps, land in one of the weedeater bowls at season’s end. Who knew the Devils would go on a seven-game tear that included a rousing win over UCLA to clinch the Pac-12 South and follow that with a merciless pounding of arch-rival Arizona to claim home field for the title match.

Now, the resurgent Sun Devils are looking at a trip to the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1997, and their third-ever New Year’s Day trip to Pasadena since joining the Pac-12 in 1978.

No. 7 Stanford, meanwhile, has stumbled a bit of late, but this is still a solid Cardinal team that has the talent and discipline to beat ASU again, but maybe not by the 42-28 margin recorded on Sept. 21 at Stanford.

Remember, Stanford has become accustomed to big games like this. The Cardinal have won their last nine games against Top 25 opponents, including last year’s victories in the Pac-12 title game and Rose Bowl. While the national spotlight is fairly new to Arizona State’s program, it’s nothing new to Stanford.

Though the Cardinal aren’t known as road warriors, they figure to do fine at Sun Devil Stadium. Stanford is one of three FBS schools to win 10 games in each of the last four seasons, along with Alabama and Oregon.

ASU will be without Marion Grice – the Sun Devils’ leading rusher and scorer – who has been sidelined since suffering a leg injury against UCLA. Backup D.J. Foster, who ran for 124 yards and two touchdowns in the rout against Arizona, will be asked to step in again against a much tougher opponent.

One thing that could plague Stanford again is the turnover bug. The Cardinal have turned the ball over 17 times this season (nine interceptions and eight fumbles). That could be a huge factor on the road against an ASU defense that has converted 23 of its 30 league-leading forced turnovers into points.

The home logos may be covered up and the Pac-12 logo may be painted on the field, but it’s still going to be a partisan crowd Saturday at Sun Devil Stadium. Stanford wants to prove it’s still a big-game program, while ASU wants to prove it can be one too.

Kickoff is at 4:45 p.m. PST.

Kings McLemore Named Western Conference Rookie of the Month

Published on December 4, 2013 by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

Photo credit: NBA.com

By Charlie O. Mallonee

Guard Ben McLemore of the Sacramento Kings has been named Western Conference Rookie of the Month for November.

In November, McLemore averaged 9.1 points (.378 FG%, .350 3-PT%, .810 FT%), 2.9 rebounds, 0.9 assists and 22.8 minutes in 14 games. In six of those games, he scored in double figures. McLemore scored a career high 19 points at Golden State on November 2. Of all rookies in the NBA, he is ranked third in scoring, second in 3-Point field goal percentage, third in free throw percentage and fourth in minutes per game.

McLemore is the fifth Kings player to win the monthly rookie award. Isaiah Thomas was the last Sacramento player to earn the rookie of the month honor in March of 2012.

McLemore has been moved into the starting line-up by Head Coach Michael Malone. He scored 14 points, pulled down 3 rebounds and had one steal in 28 minutes of playing time against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night.

A’s Make More Changes Via Trades

Published on December 3, 2013 by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

Photo Credit: Getty Images

By Charlie O. Mallonee

The Oakland Athletics are being very active in the “hot stove” market. Not all the names involved are household names, but they are the pieces that Billy Beane and staff are putting together to make up the 2014 version of the Oakland A’s.

On Tuesday, the A’s announced a trade that brings right-handed relief pitcher Luke Gregerson from the San Diego Padres to Oakland. In exchange, the A’s sent outfielder Seth Smith to the Padres.

Gregerson was 6-8 with four saves and a 2.71 ERA in 73 relief appearances for the Padres in 2013. He held opposing hitters to a .203 batting average and right-hand hitters to just a .192 mark.

Gregerson made his Major League debut with San Diego in 2009 and has appeared in at least 60 games in each of his five seasons with the Padres. He has a career 2.88 ERA in 363 relief appearances.

Gregerson is the second major change to the relief staff that A’s have made over the last two days. Oakland also traded for Orioles closer Jim Johnson.

Seth Smith batted .253 with eight home runs and 40 RBI in 117 games for Oakland in 2013. The left-handed hitter made 84 of his 97 starts versus right-handed pitching. Smith is a .265 career hitter.

Also on Tuesday, the A’s acquired outfielder Craig Gentry and right-handed pitcher Josh Lindblom from the Texas Rangers in exchange for outfielder Michael Choice and minor league infielder Chris Bostick.

Gentry hit .280 with two home runs and 22 RBI in 106 games for the Rangers last season. He was 24 for 27 (88.9%) in stolen bases which was the third best percentage in the American League. The right-handed hitting Gentry started 49 games in center field and 20 games in left field for Texas in 2013.

Lindblom was 1-3 with a 5.46 ERA in eight games (five starts) in three call ups to the Rangers last season. He also went 8-4 with a 3.08 ERA in 20 games (18 starts) with Triple-A Round Rock.

Choice made his Major League debut with the A’s in the September call-up last year. He hit .278 with a double and a walk in nine games. Choice was the A’s first round draft pick in 2010.

Bostick spent the entire 2013 season with Single-A Beloit. He batted .282 with 14 home runs and 89 RBI in 129 games.

A’s Trade for Closer Jim Johnson

Published on December 3, 2013 by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

By Charlie O. Mallonee

The Oakland Athletics have addressed their need for a closer by acquiring Jim Johnson from the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for infielder Jemile Weeks and a player to be named later.

The 6-6, 240 pound right-handed Johnson has saved a Major League leading 101 games over the past two seasons. In 2013, he was 3-8 with 50 saves in 59 appearances and a 2.94 ERA. It was nine blown saves in the second half of the 2013 season and the fact that Johnson is arbitration eligible that made him available on the trading block.

In 2012, Johnson posted a record of 2-1 with 51 saves in 54 opportunities and a 2.49 ERA for Baltimore. He was an All-Star selection and the AL Rolaids Relief Man of the Year.

Johnson pitched parts of six seasons in Baltimore compiling a record of 18-26 with a 3.11 ERA. He recorded 122 saves in 150 save situations.

The acquisition of Johnson likely means the A’s will abandon their attempts to bring back Grant Balfour.

Jemile Weeks, a former first round draft pick in 2008, batted .271 with 19 doubles, 10 triples, four home runs, 40 RBI and 17 stolen bases in 130 games for Triple-A Sacramento in 2013. During the season, Weeks was used as an infielder and outfielder. He was a September call-up in 2013. Weeks hit .111 in eight games for Oakland.

A’s Come to Terms with Fernando Rodriguez

The Athletics have signed RHP Fernando Rodriguez to a one year contract for the 2014 season. Rodriguez was arbitration eligible.

Rodriguez was acquired by the A’s from Houston in the Jed Lowrie trade. He recorded a 10.13 ERA in four spring training appearances before going on the disabled list March 23 with a sprained right elbow. Rodriguez underwent successful ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) or “Tommy John” surgery.

Rodriguez has posted a career record of 4-13 with a 4.89 ERA in 119 relief appearances for the Angels and Houston.

Kings Lose Heartbreaker to Warriors 115-113

Published on December 1, 2013 by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

By Charlie O. Mallonee

No matter who won the game, the opening paragraph was going to be the same. For one team it would be a well-deserved, hard fought victory and for the other team it would be a heartbreaking loss.

It was a well-deserved, hard fought 115-113 victory for the Golden State Warriors and a heartbreaking loss for the Sacramento Kings. The game literally came down to the final second on Sunday in Sacramento.

The fact that the game came down to last moment was a testament to the Sacramento Kings bench who did everything they were asked to do and more. With 2:08 left to play in the third quarter, the Kings trailed Golden State 88-72. Kings Head Coach Michael Malone said his team could have lost by 30 or fought back in attempt to win the game. The Kings fought back and Malone seemed very proud of his players.

The fourth quarter began with the Kings down by 10 points (GSW 90-SAC 80). Malone went with Patterson, Salmons, Thomas, Thornton and Hayes to start the period. That group closed the gap to six points. Green hit a 3-Pointer for the Warriors to make it a nine point lead as time was called with 8:13 to go in the game.

Coming out of the timeout, Cousins entered the game for Hayes. Cousins had an immediate impact with an assist and driving dunk that cut the Warrior lead to six.

Following an Isaiah Thomas steal and a Marcus Thornton 25 foot jump shot, the Warrior lead was down to one.

The Kings took the lead on a Thomas 3-Pointer off an assist from Cousins 104-102.

The game continued to see-saw back and forth. With 47.8 seconds to play, the game was tied at 111-111. Draymond Green put the Warriors back on top with a put-back of a Curry missed jumper.

After a 20 second timeout, Cousins hit a five foot jump hook to re-tie the game at 113-113. Salmons fouled Curry who hit both of his free throws to put the Warriors back in front 115-113.

Isaiah Thomas missed a lay-up with 1.8 seconds left to play. Bogut grabbed the rebound and the game was over. Golden State had defeated the Kings 115-113.

After the game Head Coach Michael Malone said, “Our guys have a ‘no quit’ attitude. I challenge them a lot. I never want them to be a team that just rolls over. What I like about our guys is that it could’ve been a 16 point deficit that turned into 30 but it turned into a two point lead and giving ourselves a chance. We were only one defensive rebound away from winning that game. The challenge that we have as a team is to stay together and find ways to close things out. Yes, we play the toughest schedule in the NBA but the reality is that we have another team coming in Tuesday night that’s not going to feel sorry for us. We have to do a better job at taking care of the ball and defending at a much higher level.”

The Kings came into the needing to shoot better on offense and to do a better job of defending the other team especially from beyond the 3-Point line. They accomplished one of those two goals on Sunday.

The Kings took advantage of a Warriors team that does not play great defense. Sacramento shot 52.6% (40/76) from the field and shot an impressive 47.4% (9/19) for 3-Pointers. As a team, they shot 85.7% (24/28) from the Free Throw Line. On offense, the Kings did a great job.

Their defense however let them down. The Kings allowed Golden State to shoot 51.2% (42/82) overall and an incredible 60.0% (15/25) from 3-Point land. Stephen Curry scored 38 points with 15 of those points coming from beyond the arc. Klay Thompson scored 28 points and 24 of his points came off of eight 3-Point goals.

DeMarcus Cousins led all Sacramento scorers with 24 points. Marcus Thornton scored 21 coming off the bench including five 3-Point goals. Patrick Patterson shot 100.0% (8/8) scoring 18 points in his off the bench role. Isaiah Thomas scored 19 points. The Kings bench scored 65 points on Sunday night against the Warriors.

POST GAME NOTES:

The Kings fall to 4-11 overall and 3-7 at home. It was the fourth consecutive loss for the Kings.

DeMarcus Cousins 24 point game was his ninth 20 point plus game of the season.

The Warriors are now 10-6 overall and 5-6 on the road.

Golden State has won both games with the Kings this season.

The Warriors and Kings will play again on Wednesday 2/19/14 in Sacramento.

Stanford eases into finals break

Published on December 1, 2013 by jeremy2878Leave a comment

By Jeremy Harness

STANFORD – Stanford athletics had quite a bit to be thankful for on this holiday weekend. But now it’s time for the hard stuff.

A day after the football team edged out a win over a very good Notre Dame team in preparation for next Saturday’s Pac-12 championship game, the basketball team shook off a disheartening loss to blow out an overmatched South Dakota State squad, 92-60, in a regional round game of the seventh-annual Progressive Legends Classic at Maples Pavilion Sunday night.

The win ran Stanford’s record to 6-2 and was much needed after suffering a 88-67 loss to Pittsburgh in the Progressive Legends Classic’s championship game in Brooklyn, during which the Cardinal shot 50 percent from the field but nonetheless had its four-game winning streak snapped.

Simply put, Stanford had it pretty easy all night and were never really challenged. The Cardinal were frequently able to get whatever shot they wanted while as South Dakota State really struggled from the field against what figures to be one of the better defensive teams in the Pac-12.

The Jackrabbits, on the other hand, did not present a similar defense. The Cardinal went to the basket early and often with minimal resistance and racked up plenty of foul calls and continuation plays.

Stanford scored the first 13 points of the game and jumped out to a 58-24 halftime lead, and in the second half, the Cardinal led by as many as 39 and had all of its starters resting peacefully by the midway point of the second half.

The fact that the game was such a blowout from the outset allowed Stanford to get more guys into the action. In addition, Dwight Powell, one of the main cogs of the Stanford machine, wasn’t one of the top scorers on Sunday with only nine points on 4-of-8 shooting.

Chasson Randle, on the other hand, didn’t miss a beat, scoring 21 points while making seven of his 10 shots, including three of his five 3-point shots. Anthony Brown, who has had his role on offense expand a lot this year, was 7-of-11 from the floor and had 19 points to go along with eight rebounds.

For South Dakota State, the leading scorer was Jordan Dykstra, who had 20 points while making seven of his 14 field-goal attempts, including two of his three 3-point attempts, while Brayden Carlson scored 16.

It’s a good thing that the Cardinal didn’t have much stress on Sunday, because they figure to have plenty of that for the next two weeks. See, up next for the student-athletes (more emphasis on the student part here) are the dreaded final exams, for which they will be off the court for 12 days and are not scheduled to play again until Dec. 14 at home against UC Davis.

Bulls rally falls short, lose to Utah 5-2

Published on November 30, 2013 by kahlilnajar7Leave a comment

Photo Credit: Josie Vimahi/Utah Grizzlies

By Kahlil Najar

West Valley City, Utah – The Utah Grizzlies (6-8-1-1) scored two goals in the second and three in the third and gave them a convincing 5-2 victory over the San Francisco Bulls (6-12-1-1). Tyler Gron, Jordan Morrison and Brett Findlay extended their four-game point streaks and J.P. Anderson stopped 35 of 39 shots on the night. The Utah defense was able to slow down the usually high shooting Bulls to only 25 shots on the night.

After a scoreless first, Kyle Bodie got the Bulls on the board when he beat Utah goalkeeper Igor Bobkov with a power play goal 4:21 into the second. Utah responded with a goal by Vinny Scarsella and a power play goal by Mathieu Aubin in the closing seconds of the second to make it 2-1 in favor of Utah.

In the third, Utah struck first when Aubin scored his second goal of the game with just 7:17 left in the third to give the Grizzlies a 2 point lead. The Bulls Brett Findlay scored a mere 26 seconds later to make it a one-goal deficit but then Utah scored two unanswered goals and made it a final of 5-2. The Bulls were out-shot by Utah 40-25.

The Bulls head to Ontario for a pair of games on Friday and Saturday.

Notes: Tyler Gron, Jordan Morrison and Brett Findlay have combined for 17 points over their four-game points-streak.The Bulls went 1-for-5 on the power play, while Utah was 1-for-4. J.P. Anderson’s 35 saves are a professional career high.