Sports briefs
The Rock eliminated in D-II semifinals
Nate Gunn ran for three touchdowns and Ryan Schlichte and JD Ekowa each threw for one and Minnesota State demolished Slippery Rock 58-15 in a Division II semifinal game on Saturday.
Minnesota (14-0) advances to the championship to play West Florida.
Gunn scored from 5 yards out, and the two-point conversion put the Mavericks up 8-0. Roland Rivers responded and thew a 19-yard touchdown pass to Henry Litwin, and The Rock’s two-point conversion tied it.
From there it was all Minnesota State.
Gunn scored from 12 yards with 3:36 left to play in the first quarter. Early in the second, Ekowa threw a 27-yard TD pass to Shane Zylstra for 23-8 lead. And with 1:59 left before halftime, Justin Arnold’s 20-yard run made it 30-8.
The Mavericks outgained Slippery Rock 463-310 in total offense despite running 35 fewer plays. Slippery Rock converted just 4 of 19 third-down attempts.
In the NHL
Jakob Silfverberg and Ondrej Kase scored in the shootout after Hampus Lindholm tied the game on the power play with 1:46 remaining in the third period and the Anaheim Ducks rallied for a 4-3 win over the New York Rangers on Saturday.
Silfverberg also had a power-play goal for the Ducks. Erik Gudbranson also scored, and John Gibson stopped three shots in the shootout after making 29 saves through overtime.
Mika Zibanejad had two goals for the second straight game and Artemi Panarin scored for the fourth consecutive game, but the Rangers ended up going 2-1-1 on their four-game road trip.
- Anthony Duclair finished off quite the ending against his former team.
Duclair scored on the power play in overtime to complete the hat trick and give the Ottawa Senators a 4-3 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Duclair, who played in Columbus last season, has eight goals in his past five games and 18 overall on the season.
- Though it took a few extra minutes, the New York Islanders earned yet another victory at home.
Anthony Beauvillier scored in overtime to lift the Islanders to a 3-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres, extending New York’s home winning streak to six games and snapping the Sabres’ win streak at three.
- James Reimer made 32 stops and Warren Foegele scored twice and the Carolina Hurricanes ended Calgary’s seven-game winning streak with a 4-0 victory over the Flames.
It’s the second shutout of the season for Reimer, who has won five of his past six starts and improved to 7-5-0 on the season.
In the NBA
Patty Mills made a jumper from the free throw line with 0.3 seconds left and the San Antonio Spurs outlasted the Phoenix Suns 121-119 in overtime Saturday.
DeMar DeRozan pulled the Spurs even with a drive and fling – after a foul by Mikal Bridges – down the right side of the lane, but missed the free throw. The ball went out of bounds on a scramble after the missed free throw, and San Antonio kept the ball after a replay review.
USC receives notice
Southern California’s basketball program has received a notice of allegations from the NCAA following a federal investigation into corruption and bribery in the sport.
The school said in a statement Friday night it has “cooperated with the NCAA since it first became aware of the issues” raised in the notice, and it “looks forward to an expeditious resolution of this matter.”
The notice had been expected, but the NCAA’s timeline for ruling on USC’s case is uncertain. The NCAA opened similar cases against North Carolina State, Kansas, and Oklahoma State this year.
The university statement referred to a “former coach in the men’s basketball program,” which presumably is former assistant Tony Bland. He was fired by USC in January 2018. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery last January. As part of his plea, Bland acknowledged accepting a $4,100 bribe and received two years’ probation.
Bland said in court he received payments for directing USC players to retain the services of certain financial advisers and business managers.