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#SportsReport: Patriots Defeat Rams In Super Bowl

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It's a six-pack for Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots. The Pats are Super Bowl champions for the sixth time following a 13-3 win over the Los Angeles Rams. It was the lowest-scoring Super Bowl in the 53-year history of the game, and the first in which neither team reached the end zone until the fourth quarter.

The Patriots didn't go ahead to stay until a five-play, 69-yard drive that ended with Sony Michel's two-yard touchdown run with seven minutes remaining. Brady threw for 67 yards on the drive, including passes of 18 and 29 yards to Rob Gronkowski. Brady was intercepted on his first pass before finishing 21 of 35 for 262 yards. Super Bowl MVP Julian Edelman was his primary target, grabbing 10 passes for 141 yards. Michel had 94 yards on 18 carries for the Patriots, who join the Steelers as the only teams with six Super Bowl titles.

The Rams had a chance to tie it shortly after Michel's go-ahead TD. They advanced to the New England 27 before Jared Goff was picked off at the 4 with about f 4 ½ minutes to play. The Patriots turned the miscue into a game-clinching field goal by Stephen Gostkowski. The Rams managed just 260 net yards, most of it coming after the midway mark of the third quarter. Los Angeles didn't score until Todd Zuerlein drilled a 53-yard field goal with 2:11 left in the third period. Goff was 19 of 38 for 229 yards for the Rams, who managed just 62 yards on the ground despite the presence of Todd Gurley.

The Patriots tied a Super Bowl record for fewest points allowed, matching the mark set by the Cowboys in a 24-3 win over the Dolphins in Super Bowl 6. New England is also the first team since the 1972 Dolphins to win a Super Bowl the year after losing one.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL 

Florida State says quarterback Deondre Francois is no longer a member of the team. FSU head coach Willie Taggart said in a statement that he recently notified Francois of his decision, which comes a day after the quarterback's girlfriend posted a video to Instagram alleging abuse by Francois. The Tallahassee Democrat reports that the video shows neither Francois nor the girlfriend, but a woman can be heard begging a man to stop hitting her. The player hasn't been charged with a crime.

NBA

The Thunder's seven-game winning streak is over after Kyrie Irving delivered 30 points and 11 assists in the Celtics' 134-129 victory against Oklahoma City. Marcus Morris added 19 points and Marcus Smart had 18 with seven assists in the Celtics' ninth win in 10 games. Paul George scored 37 points and Russell Westbrook notched his 19th triple-double of the season with 22 points, 16 assists and 12 rebounds for the Thunder.

Mike Conley scored 25 points and Marc Gasol contributed 24 as the Grizzlies beat the Knicks, 96-84 in New York to end a nine-game road losing streak. Conley added eight rebounds and seven assists, while Gasol had nine boards in what could have been their final road game as Grizzlies. The Knicks dropped their 13th straight despite DeAndre Jordan's 12 points and 12 boards in his team debut.

Checking out the NBA's other action, the Toronto Raptors hit the road for a three-game trip after winning at Air Canada Centre for the 11th time in their last 12 games. The Raptors used balanced scoring and a big second quarter to beat the Clippers, 121-103. Kawhi Leonard dropped in 18 points for Toronto, which improved to 38-16 and opened a 3 1/2-game lead over Boston and Philadelphia in the Atlantic Division. Serge Ibaka had 16 points and 12 rebounds for his sixth straight double-double, Toronto's longest such streak since Chris Bosh had eight in a row in November 2009. Pascal Siakam and C.J. Miles each had 15 points to help the Raptors win without All-Star guard Kyle Lowry, who sat out because of a sore back. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had a game-high 19 points for the Clippers, who have dropped three of four.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

In men's basketball, UConn took down East Carolina, 76-52. And in women's basketball, Manhattan defeated Siena, 52-48. 

In top-25 basketball, Villanova and Purdue won Sunday's only games involving ranked teams. Collin Gillespie nailed six 3-pointers and scored a career-high 30 points as the 14th-ranked Wildcats knocked off Georgetown, 77-65. Eric Paschall had 24 points for the Wildcats, who earned their 10th straight win overall and improved to 32-3 at Wells Fargo Center since 2012-13. Phil Booth scored on a driving layup, then buried a 3-pointer to snap a tie and give Villanova a 58-53 lead with 5:41 left. Carsen Edwards scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half to lead the 17th-ranked Boilermakers to a 73-63 victory over Minnesota. Trevion Williams added 16 points and Matt Haarms had 15 with eight rebounds to help the Boilermakers moved into a three-way tie with Michigan and Michigan State for the Big Ten lead.

NHL

David Krejci and Tuukka Rask have helped the Boston Bruins beat the Washington Capitals for the first time in their last 15 meetings. Rask stopped 24 shots and made Krejci's second-period goal stand up in a 1-0 win over the Capitals in Washington. Rask made 11 saves in the third period to secure his 253rd career win with Boston, breaking Tiny Thompson's team record. It was Boston's first victory over Washington since March 29, 2014. The Bruins also ended a three-game skid and dealt the Caps their eighth loss in nine games.

In other NHL action, former Hurricanes Derek Ryan, Elias Lindholm and Noah Hanifin all scored in their first game back in Carolina to lead the Flames to a 4-3 victory. Ryan scored the go-ahead goal in the second and assisted on Garnet Hathaway's goal later in the period, helping coach Bill Peters win his return to Raleigh. Calgary leads the Pacific Division by six points over San Jose and is three points in front of Winnipeg for first place in the Western Conference.

The Canadiens pulled out a 4-3 win over the Oilers on Jonathan Drouin's goal 58 seconds into overtime. Drouin scored seconds after Canadiens goalie Carey Price made back-to-back saves on Leon Draisaitl and Darnell Nurse. Montreal won for the sixth time in eight games and dealt Edmonton its fifth loss in a row.

MLB

Former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Bob Friend has died at 88. The three-time All-Star is the Pirates' all-time leader with 3,480 1/3 innings pitched, 477 starts and 1,682 strikeouts. Friend was 18-12 with a 3.00 ERA in 1960 to help the Bucs reach the World Series. Friend was 197-230 with a 3.58 ERA in his career.

PGA

Rickie Fowler overcame a bizarre triple bogey with birdies on two of his last four holes to win the PGA's Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale. Fowler closed with a 3-over 74 for a 17 under total, two strokes ahead of Branden Grace. Fowler was up by five until he took a 7 on the par-4 11th. A chip shot skipped across the green and into the water before his second ball rolled into the water on its own. Grace took the lead with consecutive birdies, but hit his tee shot into the water on the drivable par-4 17th for a bogey.

© The Associated Press 2019. All Rights Reserved. 

Jesse King is the host of WAMC's national program on women's issues, "51%," and the station's bureau chief in the Hudson Valley. She has also produced episodes of the WAMC podcast "A New York Minute In History."
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