NBA:
In the NBA, Toronto beat Dallas 103-99, Memphis topped Philadelphia 104-90, Detroit defeated Miami 93-92, and it was the Lakers over Denver 111-107.
Bulls center Joakim Noah will miss at least two weeks because of a sprained left shoulder suffered in last night's loss to Brooklyn. He was on defense when a leaping Andrea Bargnani (bahrn-YAH'-nee) came down hard on Noah's left arm, bending it back awkwardly. Noah is averaging 4.5 points and 8.8 rebounds this season.
NHL:
In the NHL, the Rangers won against Anaheim in overtime 3-2, St. Louis blanked Boston 2-0, New Jersey edged Detroit 4-3, Minnesota skated past Montreal 2-1, Florida slid past Ottawa in a shootout 2-1, Vancouver bested Tampa Bay 2-1, Dallas shut out Chicago 4-0, Arizona edged Toronto 3-2, Calgary bested Winnipeg 4-1, and it was San Jose over Los Angeles 5-3.
NFL:
Odell Beckham Jr. is going to have his appeal of his one-game suspension heard by a former NFL receiver. The NFL says former Washington and Philadelphia wide out James Thrash will be the hearing officer for the appeal by the New York Giants receiver. The hearing will be held at an undisclosed time and place.
Meanwhile a frustrated Ron Rivera will no longer allow Carolina players to bring baseball bats on the field before games, even though he says the Panthers have done nothing wrong. The Panthers coach says he's upset about what he says are untrue reports that some players taunted Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. with physical threats and homophobic slurs before Sunday's game.
Joe Anderson's outside-the-box thinking has finally paid off. The wide receiver was signed to the New York Jets' practice squad yesterday, about six weeks after he stood outside the Houston Texans' stadium for a few days with a sign asking for an NFL job.
The New England Patriots have officially signed veteran free agent running back Steven Jackson. The 32-year-old hasn't played an NFL game all season and participated in his first practice with the team yesterday. Jackson helps to bolster a depleted backfield after season-ending injuries to LeGarrette Blount and Dion Lewis.
NCAA:
In college men's basketball, Hartford beat Widener 69-46 yesterday. Evan Cooper hit five 3-pointers and scored 17 points. Justin Graham added 11 points, and Jalen Ross handed out seven assists for the Hawks, who never trailed. Sardayah Sambo had 13 points for the Division III Pride.
Connecticut junior center Amida Brimah broke the third finger on his right hand during practice on Monday and will have to undergo surgery. The diagnosis and treatment came from an examination yesterday. The 7-footer from Ghana is expected to miss the next 6 to 8 weeks.
Fairfield beat Loyola (MD) 94-88 in overtime last night. Marcus Gilbert scored 27 points, with four clutch free throws at the end of overtime. Tyler Nelson finished with 19 points, and Jerry Johnson Jr. added 13 off the bench for Fairfield. Chancellor Barnard led Loyola with 17 points, and Jared Jones and Cam Gregory each had 14.
College Bowls:
The Akron Zips have earned their first bowl victory.
Robert Stein drilled three field goals, including a 46-yard field goal with 8:15 remaining in the fourth quarter as the Zips downed Utah State 23-21 in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl in Boise.
Jatavis Brown was a beast on defense, recording eight tackles along with 1 1/2 sacks, 2 1/2 tackles for loss and a critical forced fumble.
The Zips have their first eight-win season since moving up to FBS in 1987.
Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey is The Associated Press college football player of the year. He's the first non-Heisman Trophy winner to earn the honor in six years.
McCaffrey was the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy to Derrick Henry, but received 29 of 60 votes from the AP Top 25 media panel to edge the Alabama running back.
Henry received 16 votes and Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson was third with 11.
McCaffrey is the first Stanford player to win the award since it was first handed out in 1998.
He ran for 1,847 yards and eight touchdowns, caught a team-best 41 passes for 540 yards and four scores and averaged 28.9 yards per kickoff return with another score. He also threw two touchdown passes.
Locally:
Brett Bisping gave Siena the lead on a layup with 40 seconds left and Lavon Long and Marquis Wright added three key free throws in the final 22 seconds as the Saints knocked off St. Bonaventure 73-70 Tuesday night.
Wright hit a jumper to tie the game at 68-68 with 1:23 left, Bisping got to the rim for a layup with 40 seconds left to make it 70-68 and Long hit the second of two free throws to make it 71-68.
Jaylen Adams hit a pair from the line to cut the Siena lead to one, 71-70, but Wright converted two from the line to create the final score.
Wright finished with 18 points and 10 assists to lead Siena and Javion Ogunyemi added 15 points and 10 rebounds. Marcus Posley and Adams each scored 18 points to lead the Bonnies and Dion Wright added 14 points.
Rock Climbing:
They have popular names like Dome Rock, Yosemite, Rocky Mountain National Park and Joshua Tree, and they all have one problem in common that seasoned rock climbers call a "ticking time-bomb" — aging climbing anchors.
The anchors, drilled and pounded into the sides of mountains, are rusting and starting to fail, and some climbers and parks are trying to replace them. Funds, however, are sparse.
Some of them are made of iron and were installed in the 1960s. Others hide dangerous secrets — they are bolted in rocks that have loosened because of freezing and thawing, and there are bolts that look new on the outside, but have rotten cores. Some bolts are so bad climbers can pull them out with their fingers.
Concussions:
More than 60 Michigan high schools are participating this year in a unique sideline concussion testing program for athletes in football and other sports.
The Michigan High School Athletic Association says the two-year pilot program includes baseline testing and is having an impact after its first fall season.
Executive Director Jack Roberts says schools in the program, such as Birmingham Groves in the Detroit suburb of Beverly Hills, are removing players for possible concussions at a higher rate than schools that are not.
While all states have laws that address preventing concussions in youth sports, none require baseline testing.
Cash-strapped districts often say the cost is prohibitive. Michigan made it happen, taking $10,000 this year primarily from playoff gate profits.
FIFA:
FIFA has told presidential hopeful Michel Platini that he cannot bypass its appeals process by challenging his eight-year ban directly at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Platini had been hoping to cut out the required FIFA appeals procedure as he races to try to overturn his ban before the Feb. 26 presidential election.
Platini was banned on Monday for eight years along with Sepp Blatter over a 2011 payment of $2 million from FIFA that the president authorized for the former France captain.
MLB:
A person familiar with the negotiations says outfielder Alejandro De Aza and the New York Mets have agreed to a $5.75 million, one-year contract, pending a physical.
The person spoke Tuesday on condition of anonymity because the agreement had not been announced. The deal contains an additional $1.25 million in performance bonuses.
The 31-year-old De Aza bats left-handed and could platoon in center field with right-handed-hitting Juan Lagares.
De Aza batted .262 this year with seven homers — all off right-handers — and 35 RBIs in 365 plate appearances for Baltimore, Boston and San Francisco.
New York has been seeking an outfielder in place of Yoenis Cespedes, who became a free agent after helping the Mets reach the World Series for the first time since 2000.
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