NBA:
Los Angeles Lakers guard and 17-time All-Star Kobe Bryant says he will retire after the season, making the announcement in a post on The Players' Tribune on Sunday. He says his heart and mind can handle another season, but his body knows it's time to say goodbye. The 37-year-old Bryant ranks third on the NBA's career scoring list with more than 32,000 points and has won five NBA titles and two Olympic gold medals.
In the NBA, Brooklyn beat Detroit 87-83, Houston defeated New York in overtime 116-111, Orlando bested Boston 110-91, Indiana beat the Lakers 107-103, Phoenix won against Toronto 107-102, Memphis trumped Philadelphia 92-84, the Clippers defeated Minnesota 107-99, and it was Charlotte over Milwaukee 87-82.
NFL:
In the NFL, Denver defeated New England in overtime to bring an end to the Pats winning streak 30-24. The outcome leaves the 11-0 Carolina Panthers as the NFL's last unbeaten squad. The Jets bested Miami 38-20, Kansas City topped Buffalo 30-22, and Washington beat the Giants 20-14. Elsewhere Houston won against New Orleans 24-6, Oakland beat Tennessee 24-21, San Diego won against Jacksonville, Cincinnati crushed St. Louis 31-7, Indianapolis beat Tampa Bay 25-12, Arizona bested San Francisco 19-13, and Seattle topped Pittsburgh 39-30.
NHL:
In the NHL, Florida beat Detroit in overtime 2-1.
MLB:
The Detroit Tigers reportedly have landed one of the top free agent starting pitchers, getting right-hander Jordan Zimmermann. The 29-year-old Zimmermann went 13-10 with a 3.66 ERA last season for the Washington Nationals, striking out 164 with 39 walks. He went 14-5 with a 2.66 ERA in 2014. CBS Sports first reported the deal, which was pending a physical. ESPN.com reported the financial terms at $110 million over five years.
MLS:
The Columbus Crew earned only their second trip to the MLS Cup final in the 20-year history of Major League Soccer and their first since 2008 last night, losing 1-0 to the New York Red Bulls but advancing with a two-leg 2-1 aggregate victory. Columbus will host the championship game at Mapfre Stadium on December 6th against the Portland Timbers.
Tennis:
Andy Murray has given Britain its first Davis Cup title in 79 years. Murray beat Belgium's David Goffin 6-3, 7-5, 6-3 in the first of reverse singles to give Britain an insurmountable 3-1 lead. It was the first Davis Cup win since Fred Perry led Britain to victory in 1936.
NCAA:
In college men's basketball, UAlbany rolled to an 88-54 rout of Yale yesterday. Evan Singletary scored 21 points. Singletary was 7 of 9 from the floor with four 3-pointers. Travis Charles scored 16 points, and Ray Sanders added 15 for Albany. Brandon Sherrod had 13 points to lead Yale, which scored its fewest points of the season and has lost three straight.
Vermont cruised to an 86-60 win over Marist yesterday. Kurt Steidl scored 17 points, and Dre Wills had 10 points with 11 rebounds. Steidl made 7 of 10 shots, including 3 of 6 3-pointers as the Catamounts shot 57 percent. They also had a 46-20 advantage on the boards, 17-4 on the offensive end.
St. Francis Brooklyn beat Hartford 74-67 yesterday. Yunus Hopkinson and Tyreek Jewell scored 20 points apiece to lift St. Francis Brooklyn to a victory. Hartford got 24 points from George Blagojevic, and J.R. Lynch added 20.
Maine picked up its first road win of the season, holding off Central Connecticut State, 81-74 yesterday. Kevin Little scored 19 points, and Ilija Stojiljkovic grabbed 11 rebounds. After beating Longwood, 92-82 on Wednesday, the Black Bears now have their first two-game win streak since February 1st, 2014.
NJIT had little trouble with Maine-Fort Kent, knocking off the USCAA member 89-60 yesterday. Tim Coleman scored 21 points. Coleman was 7 of 11 from the floor, 7 of 8 from the line and grabbed nine rebounds. Damon Lynn had 15 points — on five 3-pointers — while Emmanuel Tselentakis and Rob Ukawuba added 10 points apiece for NJIT.
Santa Clara beat Boston College 62-45 last night. Nate Kratch scored 12 points to go with 10 rebounds, and Kai Healy finished with 14 points to lead Santa Clara to its first victory of the season. Eli Carter led Boston College with 16 points.
Number 3 Michigan State rallied past Providence 77-64 last night in the championship game of the DirecTV Wooden Legacy. Bryn Forbes scored 18 points, and Deyonta Davis had six of his 12 points in a game-ending spurt for Michigan State. Kris Dunn had 21 points, five rebounds and seven assists, and Ben Bentil had 20 points and seven rebounds for Providence.
Dartmouth cruised past LIU Brooklyn 79-56 yesterday. Miles Wright set a career high for points, made baskets and made 3-pointers, scoring 39 points. Wright finished 13-of-22 shooting with seven 3s and went 6 of 7 from the line on his career day, adding six rebounds and three steals. Evan Boudreaux had 13 points for Dartmouth, while Connor Boehm added 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Holy Cross beat Harvard 50-49 yesterday. Malachi Alexander scored 17 points, and Anthony Thompson made two key free throws with 35 seconds left. Robert Champion hit a 3-pointer with 2:45 left to extend Holy Cross' lead to 48-42. Corey Johnson answered with a 3-point shot, and Zena Edosomwan's free throw pulled Harvard within 48-46 with 1:22 remaining. But Thompson made two free throws for a 50-46 lead.
In other news:
Longtime Georgia coach Mark Richt is out of a job as the fallout from unfulfilled expectations begins in college football. He has stepped down in what Richt calls a mutual decision. The Bulldogs are 9-3 and bowl bound, but the losses to Tennessee, Alabama and Florida ruined any chances for the goal of winning an SEC title. Georgia was picked to win the SEC East. Richt was 145-51 in 15 seasons.
Virginia Tech has hired Memphis' Justin Fuente as its next football coach. He will replace Frank Beamer who's departing after 29 years. The 39-year-old Fuente has spent the past four seasons turning a struggling program into a winner. The Tigers went 10-3 last season and are heading to a bowl game with a 9-3 mark this season.
Rutgers has fired coach Kyle Flood and athletic director Julie Hermann. The Scarlet Knights just finished a 4-8 season that was a mess on and off the field. Flood was suspended for three games for making inappropriate contact with a professor regarding a player's academics, and seven players have been arrested since August.
Toledo's Matt Campbell will be Iowa State's new football coach, a person briefed on the decision has told The Associated Press. Campbell will replace Paul Rhoads, who was fired a week ago after seven seasons leading the Cyclones.
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