San Jose State edges Fresno State 17-16 on Senior Night to win Valley Trophy

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Photo credit: @SanJoseStateFB

By Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE, Calif. — For the San Jose State football team, Saturday night was a little bit more about celebrating 18 seniors on Senior Night. Those seniors were Chandler Hawkins, Zamore Zigler, Sailosi Latu, Jesse Osuna, Brandon Ezell, Josh Love, DeJon Packer, Ethan Aguayo, Christian Webb, Lionell Wiggins, Korey Mariboho, Deano Motes, Troy Kowalski, Bailey Gaither, Brett Foley, Duane Tuatasi, Alex Galland, and Quinn Oseland.

With that said, SJSU had their game faces on when the Fresno State Bulldogs were in town. Senior quarterback Josh Love and the Spartan offense opened the game with the ball. But the Bulldogs struck first as senior quarterback Jorge Reyna threw a 38-yard pass to tight end Jared Rice, who ran for the opening touchdown, and Cesar Silva kicked in the extra point. It was 7-0 Bulldogs with 7:49 left in the first quarter.

Fresno State made it a 14-0 game just 2:41 later. Ronnie Rivers rushed for a 5-yard rushing touchdown and Silva kicked in the extra point.

Junior center Kyle Hoppe suffered an injury and didn’t return. However, SJSU got on the board first as Matt Mercurio kicked a 22-yard field goal to reduce the deficit to 14-3 with 1:13 left in the first. The Bulldogs led 14-3 at the end of the first.

The second quarter looked better for the Spartans. Jay Lenard snagged an interception–his second interception of the season–for the first turnover of the game late in the second.

Just minutes after Cade Hall showed some moves with the strip sack, Justin Rice kicked a 10-yard field goal to extend the Bulldogs’ lead to 16-3 with 5:27 left in the second. The Bulldogs led 16-3 at halftime.

SJSU pulled within six to cut the deficit to 16-10 with 9:43 left in the third quarter. Love rushed for a 2-yard rushing touchdown and Mercurio kicked in the extra point. The Spartans continued to trail 16-10 after the third.

DeJon Packer saved the night for the Spartans. Packer rushed for a 10-yard rushing touchdown to put the Spartans up 17-16 with 2:11 left in the fourth quarter. Packer’s touchdown was all the Spartans needed to beat Fresno State 17-16 and keep the Valley Trophy for the first time since 2016.

With the win, SJSU finished the regular season 5-7, 2-6 Mountain West. Fresno State wrapped up the season 4-8, 2-6 Mountain West.

Follow me on Twitter @AnaKieu for San Jose State football offseason updates.

Penalty kill unit key to Sharks’ 4-2 win over Coyotes

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Saturday, November 30, 2019

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Killing penalties is an unglamorous, but necessary part of success in hockey. San Jose has one of the best penalty-kill units in the NHL and proved it again Saturday.

The Sharks overcame an early deficit on Timo Meier’s go-ahead goal, killed off back-to-back power plays in the third period, and defeated Arizona 4-2 in a key Pacific Division contest.

Both teams were playing the second game of back-to-backs — the Sharks beat the Kings 4-1 in Los Angeles on Friday, while the Coyotes lost in Las Vegas in an overtime shootout with the Golden Knights.

“Big resiliency,” is how Sharks coach Peter DeBoer described his team’s effort. “In a back-to-back game, it could have been 4 or 5-0 in the first five minutes. Then we settled down and got to our game. I thought the next 50 minutes was some of the best hockey we’ve played this year.

“We talked about these games (against Los Angeles and Arizona) being four-point games. These are opportunities to close the gap (in the division standings) of which you don’t get very many. So, we wanted to take advantage of both of these games.”

With San Jose leading 3-2 in the third period, San Jose’s Erik Karlsson was cited for tripping at 6:55 and Radim Simek got the gate for delay of game at 9:11, essentially giving the Coyotes a four-minute power play.

Arizona, which finished November with 19 points (8-5-3), was unable to put together an effective power play, and did not capitalize.

“Our PK has been big all year,” DeBoer said. “Not only do we do a good job on it, it really grabs the momentum for us and saps it from the other team. Those are big momentum moments there in the third, and we got a lot of energy from those kills.”

Logan Couture, who scored the first and fourth San Jose goals, said the penalty kill has “won us many games. I was saying the other day, imagine our kill was at 85 percent with all the penalties that we’re taking. We would have lost a lot of these games that we were able to win. Credit to the killers, the system has been great and our goaltenders have been spectacular on the kill.”

The Coyotes wasted little time getting on the board. Nick Schmaltz beat Sharks goaltender Martin Jones at 1:33 for his fifth goal of the season. Less than a minute later, Derek Stepan also scored his fifth goal, giving Arizona a quick 2-0 lead.

Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet said, ‘For seven or eight minutes, I think it was our best hockey of the year and the crowd was in it. For whatever reason, after a couple of breakaways, we slowed it down again, a couple of blown coverages, and then it just kind of unraveled.

“You could tell guys were getting tight and I’m not sure why. San Jose is a veteran team and they’ve been in tough games before … 2-0, they weren’t going to panic and they didn’t.”

Logan Couture’s seventh tally of the season cut the Sharks’ deficit to 2-1 at 11:01 of the first period. Couture’s shot from the slot just outside the right circle beat a screened Antti Raanta, with assists going to Erik Karlsson and Evander Kane.

San Jose got the equalizer at 2:55 of the second period when Dylan Gambrell circled around from behind the net and flipped a low shot at a sharp angle from the bottom of the right circle, beating Raanta to the stick side.

Moments later, the Sharks took their first lead of the game on Timo Meier’s redirection at 8:52. From the faceoff in the left circle, Marc-Edouard Vlasic won the draw, passed to Tomas Hertl at the left point, whose shot was steered in by Meier, who was parked to the left of the crease.

With the Coyotes employing a sixth attacker in the final minute, Couture popped in an empty-net goal at 19:31.

After a shaky start, Jones settled down at stopped 21 of 23 shots. Raanta finished with 26 saves, as the Sharks outshot Arizona 30-23.

“Martin’s been big here lately,” DeBoer said. “I think his season has mirrored our team’s season, getting off to a slow start and then finding our game. I think he’s done the same thing.”

The Sharks return home for a Tuesday game against Washington, then embark on an eastern road trip to Carolina, Tampa Bay, Florida and Nashville.

Attendance at Gila River Arena was 15,485.

Kings come back to beat Denver 100-97 in OT

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Photo credit: @SacramentoKings

By Jeremiah Salmonson

SACRAMENTO — Saturday marked the return home for the Sacramento Kings after a long road trip. The trip took the Kings through the cities of New York, Washington D.C., Boston, and Philadelphia. It was a tough trip for the Kings who went 1-3 beating the Washington Wizards. The Kings were looking to continue their climb back to .500 against a formidable opponent in the Denver Nuggets on Saturday afternoon. The tip-off was set for 2 PM PST.

In the first quarter, the Kings struggled early. No one on the Kings could seem to hit a shot and Denver began knocking down their’s after struggling in the opening minutes as well. With 2:00 minutes remaining in the first quarter, the Kings were already down 27-13. The rest of the quarter the Kings were able to put up a few more points to cut the deficit to 27-17 going into the second quarter.

In the second quarter, Yogi Ferrell ran the point, the Kings offense seemed to show life in the early minutes for the second. In the opening 2 minutes of time, the Kings managed to cut the lead to 5 points. However, the Nuggets starting piling on again after that. The Nuggets would put up a total of 57 first-half points compared to the Kings’ 40. This obviously wasn’t what Luke Walton and Co. planned for the first half. The King’s fans let out a subtle chorus of boos as the team headed into the locker room. Garry Harris led all scorers in the first half putting up 20 points. The leading scorer for the Kings was Harrison Barnes, who had 8 points for the Kings. If the Kings hoped to come back they needed to shoot better. Specifically, be better from long range.

In the third quarter, the Kings played better than they had all game. That’s not to say there wasn’t room for improvement. The Kings outscored the Nuggets 27-18, which was a marked improvement on both ends of the floor. Led by Harrison Barnes (12 points in the 3rd), the Kings managed to cut the deficit 67-75. The Kings would need to make a big ground in the fourth quarter to have a chance.

In the fourth quarter, the Kings still struggled to hit open shots. Namely, Buddy Hield really struggled. Buddy had a considerable number of open shots that he was unable to knockdown. Regardless of the shooting struggles, the Kings managed to hang tough. With 3:20 left in the game, the score was 87-80 and the Kings had a chance to execute. The Kings managed to do just that. The Kings were able to come back and tie the game with a Buddy Hield layup with 22.9 seconds left. The Kings then got the defense stop with a Rashaan Holmes block and it sent the Kings to overtime. In overtime, the Kings and Nuggets would battle and trade baskets. The game would come down to the final 14 seconds with the score 98 to 97 Kings up. Buddy Hield would be fouled on the inbound and make both his free throws. From there, the Kings got a stop and would go on to win 100-97.

The Kings stay home to host the Chicago Bulls on Monday at 7 PM PST.

No. 15 Notre Dame crushes Stanford 45-24

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Photo credit: @StanfordFball

By Jerry Feitelberg

STANFORD — On a cold, windy, rainy day, the Stanford Cardinal met the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the final game of the 2019 season.

The 15-ranked Irish fell behind early in the game 17-7. The Cardinal dominated in all phases of the game for the first 26 minutes of the game. They led in time of possession. They led in yards passing and yards rushing. It appeared that Stanford quarterback Davis Mills would lead his squad to an upset. Everything changed late in the first half when the Irish blocked a Ryan Sanborn punt. Notre Dame scored, and from that point on until late in the fourth quarter, the dominated the Cardinal. They scored 31 unanswered points to lead 38-17. The Cardinal scored with just 1:54 left in the game. With 41 seconds left to play, the Irish stripped Davis Mills of the ball in the end zone. The Irish recovered for the score to win 45-24.

The Cardinal dominated play until late in the first half. Stanford scored a touchdown on their first drive of the game. They went on a 75-yard drive in 3 minutes and 34 seconds to go-ahead 7-0. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish responded with a touchdown of their own.  The Irish went 80 yards in five plays to tie the game 7-7. The essential play was a 16-yard pass from Ian Book to Micah Jones for the score.

Stanford went on a long 82-yard drive that consumed 8 minutes and 15 seconds, and all they could come up with was a field goal. They had first, and goal from the two-yard line but could not get the ball across the goal line. Ryan Sanborn made the field goal, and the Cardinal led 17-7. Things were looking good for Stanford until late in the first half. The Irish defense forced the Cardinal to kick, and Notre Dame’s Isaiah Foskey blocked Sanborn’s put. The ball was recovered on the one-yard line. The ball was moved back to the sixth when the Irish were called for a false start. Quarterback Ian Book connected with tight end Tommy Tremble for the score. The Irish now trailed by three 17-14 with 3:01 left to play in the half.

The momentum had shifted to Notre Dame. The Irish forced Stanford to punt again. They got the ball on their own 24-yard line. Notre Dame went 76-yards in just 21 seconds to score their third touchdown of the game and now led the Cardinal 21-17. The key play was a 41-yard throw from Book to Chase Claypool for the score.

In the second half, the Irish dominated. With the ball on the 7-yard line, they went on a 93-yard drive to up the lead to 28-17. The essential play was a 43-yard pass play from Book to Braden Lenzy. The score came on an 8-yard pass from Book to Claypoole for the score. That was the only score in the third quarter. Just before the quarter ended, Stanford forced the Irish to punt from deep in their territory. Michael Wilson fumbled the catch, and Notre Dame recovered. They cashed in to start the fourth quarter with a 42-yard field goal to go ahead 31-17.

The Irish continued to pour it on. The Irish put another 7 points on the board with a 10-play 72-yard drive to lead 38-17. The Cardinal finally scored when Cameron Scarlett scored on a 9-yard run with 1:54 left in the game. The Irish added another touchdown when they stripped Davis Mills of the ball in the end zone and recovered the fumble for the score. The Irish won 45-24.

Game Notes: With the loss, Stanford drops to 4-8 for the year. It was the first losing season for head coach David Shaw. Notre Dame improved to 10-2.

Total yardage for Notre Dame was 455 yards. Ian Book was 17-for-30 good for 255 yards and four touchdowns. They rushed for 190 yards. Stanford produced 394 yards of total offense. Quarterback Davis Mills was 28-for 46 good for 276 yards and 2 touchdowns. The Cardinal rushed for 118 yards.

Attendance at Stanford Stadium was sparse due to the weather. The stadium was about half full with Stanford fans. There was a large contingent of rabid and noisy Notre Dame fans in the north end of the stadium. They went home very happy as their team will be playing in a bowl game again this year.

San Jose State stops by UCLA on Sunday

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Photo credit: sjsuspartans.com

By Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose State men’s basketball team will meet their second straight Pac-12 foe on Sunday when SJSU and UCLA tip at 5 pm PST in Pauley Pavilion on the Pac-12 Network.

Here’s what you need to know about Sunday’s game.

SAN JOSE STATE SPARTANS (3-4, 0-0 Mountain West)
PPG: 66.7 | FG%: 40.1 | 3FG%: 25.3 | FT%: 63.4

NOTES: The Spartans will face their third Pac-12 foe of the young season on Sunday evening at UCLA. SJSU played Arizona on Nov. 14 in Tucson and Oregon State last Wednesday in Las Vegas. Guards Seneca Knight (11.9 PPG) and Richard Washington (10.1 PPG) are also getting after it on the glass, combing for 11.6 rebounds per game. Guard Zach Chappell is averaging 11.8 PPG off the bench over the Spartans’ last four contests.

UCLA BRUINS (5-3, 0-0 Pac-12)
PPG: 71.2 | FG%: 45.1 | 3FG%: 32.3 | FT%: 69.6

SERIES: SJSU is 1-8 all-time vs. UCLA (0-5 in LA)

LAST: SJSU lost, 94-71, on Dec. 11, 1982 in LA

NOTES: UCLA went 1-2 last week at the Maui Invitational, with a win over Chaminade and losses to BYU (78-63) and Michigan State (75-62). The Bruins feature four players averaging double figures in scoring led by Chris Smith’s 12.0 points per game. The Bruins lost to Hofstra, 88-78, while SJSU knocked them off on the road in their season opener 79-71.

BROADCASTS
TV: Pac-12 Network

STREAM: pac-12.com/live with a cable login

RADIO: Justin Allegri on the call through TuneIn.com and the TuneIn app. Search for “San Jose St. Basketball”.

ZEALOUS ZACH
A constant in the Spartans’ last four games has been the play of reserve guard Zach Chappell … Chappell posted a season-high 17 points, including 3-of-3 shooting from deep, iu Saturday’s loss to Portland State … Chappell tallied 14 points in a win over Simpson on Nov. 17, going 5-of-7 from the field including a pair of 3-pointers … The Spartans are shooting just 25.3% from 3 on the season but Chappell is shooting 43.8% from deep.

SAN JOSE STATE STYMIES GRAMBLING STATE
Grambling State entered the game on Nov. 20 with the nation’s No. 1 scoring offense, averaging 114 points over its first 3 games … The Spartans held the Tigers 38 points under their average in an 83-76 win at the Provident Credit Union Event Center … Grambling State was 1-of-10 shooting on 3s.

BEAUTIFUL BALANCE OVER SIMPSON
The Spartans had 13 different players score in an 85-60 win over Simpson on Nov. 17 … Guard Zach Chappell came off the bench to score a season-high 14 points, including a pair of 3s … Guard Seneca Knight was 6-of-8 shooting for 15 points … Forward Craig LeCesne added 13 points in 19 minutes … Forward Ralph Agee posted 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting … Freshman walk-on Harminder Dhaliwal made his collegiate debut and had 2 points and 2 rebounds in 6 minutes.

SAN JOSE STATE STUNS HOFSTRA
SJSU opened the 2019-20 season with a bang, defeating Hofstra on the road, 79-71, on Nov. 6 … Hofstra won 27 games last year, SJSU lost 27 games … In his Spartan debut, JUCO transfer and former Wake Forest guard, Richard Washington, posted a team-high 23 points off the bench on 8-of-13 shooting. He scored 12 of his 23 points in the final 4 minutes, including a stretch of 3 straight 3s to put the game away … Senior forward Craig LeCesne had his first career double-double with a career-high 19 points plus 11 rebounds … It was SJSU’s first win in a road opener since 2010-11 when the Spartans topped Eastern Washington, 67-60 … The Spartans snapped a 21-game road losing streak dating back to 2017-18 … SJSU won on the East Coast for the first time since 2001-02, when the Spartans defeated Fairleigh Dickinson at the BCA Tournament hosted by NC State in Raleigh, N.C.

STARTERS TO STAY 
The Spartans return seven players who started at least 1 game a season ago … Guard Seneca Knight is the most experienced, as the sophomore started 17 games, including the final 12, of his rookie season … Point guard Brae Ivey was just behind Knight, as the former junior college transfer started 16 games last season … Forward Craig LeCesne and guard Zach Chappell both started 15 games last year … Forward Christian Anigwe, guard Isaiah Nichols and walk-on guard Trey Smith started 1 game apiece.

SIX NEWCOMERS
Spartans head coach Jean Prioleau will have the help of 6 newcomers on the roster in 2019-20 … The Spartans have three new junior college transfers in Richard Washington (Tallahassee CC), Eduardo Lane (Marshalltown CC) and Ralph Agee (East LA College). Washington started his collegiate career at Wake Forest, where he played eight games as a freshman before an injury caused him to miss the entire 2017-18 season … Another Wake Forest transfer will join the Spartans on the floor this season, as center Samuel Japhet-Mathias will be eligible after a redshirt season last year. The former 4-star recruit appeared in 17 games off the bench at Wake Forest as a freshman in 2016-17. He posted 6 points and 4 rebounds at No. 17 Xavier … Prioleau added two freshmen this season in guard Omari Moore and walk-on center Harminder Dhaliwal.

TELEVISION SCHEDULE
SJSU will play 10 games on TV this season, including three at home … SJSU hosts an ESPN networks game this year for the first time since 2010-11, when either ESPN2 or ESPNU will carry the SJSU tip against Utah State on Dec. 4. SJSU will also be on ESPN2 or ESPNU when visiting Utah State on Feb. 26 … SJSU will have four non-conference games on TV, all against Pac-12 competition. The Spartans will be on CBS Sports Network when hosting Stanford at the Provident Credit Union Event Center on Dec. 14. SJSU will battle both UCLA and Arizona on Pac-12 Networks … The Spartans will also have four Mountain West contests on AT&T SportsNet this season — Jan. 15 at UNLV, Jan. 21 at New Mexico, Feb. 8 at Nevada and Feb. 29 vs. UNLV.

NHL podcast with Matt Harrington: CBJs Nyquist scores hat trick in win over Pens; Knights get game winner from Tuch beat Yotes; plus more

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photo from fresnobee.com: Columbus Blue Jackets forward Gustav Nyquist, left, of Sweden, celebrates his third goal of an NHL hockey game against the Pittsburgh Penguins with teammate forward Nick Foligno during the third period in Columbus, Ohio, Friday, Nov. 29, 2019.

On the NHL podcast with Matt:

#1 Gustav Nyquist scored a hat trick and Nick Foligno scored two goals as the Columbus Blue Jackets defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2

#2 Vegas Golden Knights edged out the visiting Arizona Coyotes 2-1 as Alex Tuch scored a regulation goal and later scored a shootout goal for the win.

#3 The Washington Capitals’ Dmitry Orlov scored the game winning at 3:03 in the overtime stanza that defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 on Saturday night

#4 David Krejci got a game winner for the Boston Bruins scoring an overtime goal at 1:40 and David Pastrnak scored his 24 goal of the season the league leading goal scorer in the NHL as the B’s beat the New York Rangers 3-2 Saturday night.

#5 The San Jose Sharks have won 9 of their last 11 and have been a house on fire on Saturday they defeated the Los Angeles Kings behind a key goal from rookie Noah Gregor his first goal with San Jose and defensive goaltending by Martin Jones who stopped 33 shots.

Matt does the Shark podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Condors’ two-goal third period sinks Barracuda 4-3

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose Barracuda are becoming a broken record. Get off to a fast start, but allow the opposition to come back. This bad habit once again reared its ugly head as the Bakersfield Condors scored the final two goals of the game en route to a 4-3 victory on Friday evening at SAP Center.

San Jose had their two-game winning streak snapped. With the victory, Bakersfield also snapped their four-game losing streak.

Condors forward Cooper Marody scored what proved to be the game winning goal at the 7:33 mark of the third period when William Lagesson centered a pass over to Marody, who was camped out in front of the crease. After a battle with ‘Cuda goalie Josef Korenar, Marody took possession of the puck and slammed it home for his fourth goal of the season.

San Jose (7-10-0-1) drew first blood at the end of the first period. Lean Bergmann fed a pass over to Sasha Chmelevski then showed off his skating skills coming down the right wing and into the crease where his backhander sneaked past a confused Condors goalie Stuart Skinner for his second goal of the season at the 17:11 mark. Thomas Gregoire received the secondary assist.

“I feel like I’m a different player since my injury,” said Chmelevski. “I feel like I’ve been playing with confidence, been playing hard and just want to contribute to the team anyway I can.”

Bakersfield (7-9-2-1) had a golden opportunity to break through earlier when they have a 5-on-3 power play for 1:41 of ice time when Nick DeSimone went off for a delay of game penalty. Maxim Letunov was already in the sinbin for interference 19 seconds earlier.

However, thanks to some key saves by Korenar and some luck from his best friend in the goal post, San Jose killed off both power plays gaining momentum off the kill.

San Jose dominated play in the opening 20 minutes, outshooting Bakersfield 13-6.

The ‘Cuda doubled their lead on the power play less than five minutes into the second period. Jonny Brodzinski fired a shot behind the net where Joel Kellman received the puck. After a bit of a delay, he banked the puck off Skinner for his second goal of the season at the 4:27 mark. The goal snapped a 15 game goalless drought for the Swedish forward.

It didn’t take the Condors to cut the lead in half. Kirill Maksimov fed a pass over to the Dmitri Samorukov at the right point. The Russian defenseman skated into the slot and wired a quick wrist shot beating Korenar to the short side in the lower right corner for his first professional goal of his career just 27 seconds later at the 4:54 mark.

“It went south was right when we make it 2-0 and they scored on their next shift to make it 2-1,” said Barracuda head coach Roy Sommer. “Then with 50 seconds left in the second period, they win the draw and the puck bounces over our head and goes in the net, 2-2.

Just when it looked like the San Jose was going to head into the second intermission with a lead, an innocent looking wrist shot from the point by Evan Bouchard hit off the arm of Korenar and floated up in the air behind him where Ryan McLeod cashed in the rebound for his third goal of the season with 50 seconds left in the middle frame.

“You work for your breaks and I thought the compete was there but I don’t know how many pucks we turned over through the neutral zone…at least 15 where we could have had it in behind him and maybe created something and that’s something we’ve got to look at,” said Sommer.

The ‘Cuda regained the lead in the opening minutes of the third period when Letunov had control of the puck near the right board. He made some nifty puck-handling moves around two Condors defenders before firing a shot on net that was initially saved by Skinner. The puck jumped out to Evan Weinger just to the left of the crease and he tapped home his sixth goal of the season at the 1:57 mark.

However, as we have seen of late, San Jose once again weren’t able to hold on to their lead and close out the game. Just under two minutes later Brad Malone centered a pass out in to the left faceoff circle where Lagesson’s shot was stopped by Korenar, but couldn’t control the rebound. Lagesson was able to get the puck back on his stick and fired it past Korenar, who was out of position, for the equalizer, his second goal of the season, at the 3:28 mark.

“We had a great first period, we got the lead,” said Kellman. “We’re up 2-0 and then something happened when they scored the first goal, I don’t know what, it was 2-2.  Our second period was not that good but I don’t think we got the momentum back in the third. We got up 3-2 and then I don’t know what happened.”

Skinner finished the evening 34 saves on 37 shots to earn his seventh victory of the season. Korenar allowed four goals on 31 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 1/4 on the power play. Bakersfield was 0/3.

FISTICUFFS! Jeffery Viel and Joe Gambardella squared off in a spirited fight 63 seconds into the third period. Each player successfully landed haymakers on one another.

Letunov extended his points streak to six games with the assist on Weinger’s goal.

San Jose is now 6-6-0-0 on home ice. They lead the all-time series against Bakersfield 25-17-2-4.

Three stars of the game:
1. Marody
2. Lagesson
3. Weinger

UP NEXT: The Barracuda travel down to Ontario for a weekend series with the Reign starting on Friday, December 7 at 7:00 pm at Toyota Arena.

Heat burn the Warriors 122-105

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Photo credit: @warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Golden State Warriors traveled to South Florida to face the Miami Heat Friday night at the American Airlines Arena.

The Heat–with a rebuilt roster–started the season with a 12-5 record. Also, they were 7-0 at home this season. The Heat’s main rivals in the East are the Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers, Toronto Raptors, and Milwaukee Bucks. The Heat acquired Jimmy Butler from the 76ers, and Meyers Leonard came to Miami from the Portland Trailblazers. Duncan Robinson, who was a teammate of the Warriors’ Jordan Poole at Michigan, was a two-way player last season. Kendrick Nunn played for the Santa Cruz Warriors last year.

The Heat’s bench listed Kelly Olynyk, Goran Dragic, and Tyler Herro. These were the players that led the Heat to an easy 122-105 win over the Warriors.

The Heat thoroughly outplayed the Warriors in the first quarter. They outscored the Warriors 41-21. They were led by Duncan Robinson’s 12 points. Robinson made four threes in four tries.  The Warriors trailed 21-6 with 6:06 left in the quarter. Warriors head coach Steve Kerr inserted Ky Bowman, Omari Spelman, and Marquese Chriss. The Warriors played better, but still finished the quarter trailing by 20 points. They knew that it would be difficult to overcome a 20-point deficit.

The second quarter was a showcase for Jordan Poole, Omari Spellman, Marquese Chriss, and Willie Cauley-Stein. Poole connected on three consecutive threes. These players won the quarter 37-30 and finished the half 71-58.

The Warriors continued to play well. At one point, they cut the deficit to seven. The Heat refused to let the Warriors back into the game. They won the quarter 24-21 to finish the third quarter with a 16-point advantage.

The Heat increased the lead to 27 early in the fourth quarter. The Warriors fought back, but they could not catch the Heat. They outscored them late in the period, but it was not enough.

Game Notes: With the loss, the Warriors drop to 4-16. The Heat improved to 13-5.

Jordan Poole had a career-high 30 points to lead the Warriors. Jordan made 5 threes in six tries. Eric Paschall, who scored just one point in the first half, finished with 17. Alec Burks had 16, Cauley-Stein had 14, Omari Spellman had 12, and Marquese Chriss had 10.

The Heat had six players in double figures. Goran Dragic led Miami with 20. Tyler Herro had 19, Duncan Robinson had 17, Jimmy Butler had 16, Kelly Olynyk had 15, and Kendrick Nunn had 15.

The Warriors shot 39% from the floor and were 10-for 28 from 3-point range. Miami shot 54% from the floor, and they made 13 threes. The Heat made 14 more buckets than the Warriors. The Warriors outscored the Heat 35-21 at the free-throw line.

The Warriors turned the ball over just nine tries.

Up Next: The Warriors play the Magic in Orlando Sunday afternoon. The game will start at 3 pm PST.

The Warriors meet the Atlanta Hawks Monday night in Atlanta. That game will begin at 4:30 pm PST.

Fantasy Football Doctors Podcast: NFL Week 13 – The Final Playoff Push!

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Your hosts: Dr. Vasu Vaddiparty & Dr. Charlie O

This is the final week before your playoffs begin. If you are on the outside looking in, it’s time for a “Hail Mary”! This week’s podcast is all about the Wavier Wire. We want to find you big point producers to get you over the top and into the action for Week 14!

Niners Face Biggest Test Yet in Jackson, Ravens

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Photo credit: theringer.com

By: Joe Lami

The Niners continue to pass every test sent their way with flying colors, but Sunday’s will no doubt be their toughest one yet. Flying cross-country to take on MVP front-runner Lamar Jackson and the 9-2 Ravens for a 10 a.m. kick-off will reveal how elite this team is.

Baltimore looks like a runaway freight train with Jackson at the helm, winners of seven-straight. The NFL hasn’t seen a quarterback as electric as Jackson since Mike Vick. Jackson is currently on pace to crush Vick’s single-season rushing yards record. Containing him will be San Francisco’s top priority.

His ability to both run and pass makes him a nightmare matchup. He’s averaging nearly 80 yards per game on the ground at a staggering 7.1 yards per attempt. Not only can he gash on the ground, but he can tear it up through the air. Jackson has 23 passing touchdowns, one behind the league lead, while throwing for 2,427 yards. He’s only thrown five interceptions and been sacked 20 times. He’s simply not making many mistakes this season.

San Francisco’s elite defense will be put to the test. The Niners lead the league in getting to the quarterback on 13.33% of all plays, but their front four won’t be able to pin their ears back and rush the quarterback. Robert Saleh will need to be more conservative on the edge, making sure to contain Jackson as much as possible. The Niners have the top pass defense in the league, giving up only 136 yards per game. However, they struggle on the ground, giving up 111 yards per game, good enough for 19th in the league.

Jackson isn’t the first scrambling QB they’ve faced so far; he’s just the best. Kyler Murray gave the Niners a bit of difficulty in the two wins over the Cardinals. Throwing for 391 yards, four touchdowns, no interceptions, he kept the Cardinals within striking distance in both games. The Niners did an excellent job of keeping him from running all over, averaging 60 rush yards per game. They also tallied seven sacks.

Kyler gives a similar taste as to what the red and gold might do to contain the scrambling quarterback. But comparing a rookie to the MVP front-runner makes the challenge much more difficult. However, San Francisco is forcing the second-worst opponent passer rating in the NFL at 72.7.

Jackson has been doing an excellent job of spreading the ball around; five receivers have at least 20 receptions. But Mark Andrews and rookie, Hollywood Brown have been his top two targets, combining for 85 receptions, 1,162 yards, and 12 touchdowns.

Sunday’s game features the top two scoring offenses in the NFL. Baltimore leads the league with 47, while the Niners are second with 39. The Ravens also lead the league on third-down conversion, 50.4%, while the Niners come in third at 46.6%.

It’s not just Jackson though; the Ravens have one of the best defense’s in the NFL too. While the Niners are the #1 yards defense and #3 scoring defense, it’s flipped for Baltimore. They prance into Sunday’s matchup sporting the #3 yards defense and the #1 scoring defense.

Baltimore might be the only team more complete than the Niners and will provide a pivotal test as this team eyes a long playoff run. It’s just a shame that it’s not a primetime game for the nation to witness.