NFL:
In the NFL, Green Bay beat Dallas 34-31 and it was Pittsburgh over Kansas City 18-16. On Saturday, Atlanta topped Seattle 36-20 and New England bested Houston 34-16. Green Bay next sees Atlanta in the NFC Championship in Georgia at 3:05 p.m. Sunday. The AFC Championship features Pittsburgh and New England in Foxborough at 6:40 p.m.
The father of Buffalo Bills starting safety Aaron Williams tells The Associated Press that his son is leaning toward resuming his career after sustaining his second season-ending neck injury in consecutive years. Anthony Williams told The AP by phone yesterday that his son will announce his decision soon and intends to slowly ease his way back to playing football.
NBA:
In the NBA, Toronto topped the Knicks 116-101, Houston beat Brooklyn 137-112, Atlanta bested Milwaukee 111-98, Dallas defeated Minnesota 98-87, Oklahoma City won against Sacramento 122-118, Chicago trumped Memphis 108-104, and it was Detroit over the Lakers 102-97.
NHL:
In the NHL, New Jersey beat Vancouver in overtime 2-1, St. Louis topped Anaheim 2-1, Minnesota edged Chicago 3-2, and it was Washington over Philadelphia 5-0.
Tennis:
Venus Williams overcame 48 unforced errors to beat Kateryna Kozlova for the second consecutive time in the opening round of a major. The 13th-seeded Williams needed three sets to beat Kozlova at last year's U.S. Open — and she didn't have a much easier time on Monday at Melbourne Park. The seven-time major winner rallied twice from a break down in the opening set before prevailing 7-6, 7-5 in just under two hours.
Olympic gold medalist Monica Puig didn't waste any time on the opening day of the Australian Open. The Puerto Rican player, seeded 29th, was the first player to win a match at Melbourne Park this year, defeating Romania's Patricia Maria Tig 6-love, 6-1 in 53 minutes. Simona Halep is the first seeded women's player to lose at the Australian Open — in the first match on Rod Laver Arena. American Shelby Rogers defeated the Romanian player 6-3, 6-1.
NCAA:
Alabama athletic director Bill Battle plans to step down from his job. Battle announced Sunday night that he will assume a new role as special assistant to the president. The 75-year-old has run the athletic department since March 2013. University President Stuart R. Bell says Battle will continue running the department until a successor takes over.
In college men's basketball, Indiana beat Rutgers 76-57 yesterday. James Blackmon Jr. scored 16 points, and OG Anunoby had 11 points and seven steals for Indiana. It was the Hoosiers second win in six games. Corey Sanders scored 15 of his 17 points in the first half, and C.J. Gettys added 12 points and seven rebounds for Rutgers, which has lost seven straight overall and five in a row to Indiana.
St. Peter's held on to beat Rider 71-65 yesterday. Trevis Wyche had 20 points and a career-high five steals, and Chazz Patterson scored 13 and tied his career-best with four steals for St. Peter's. Quadir Welton added 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Cavon Baker also scored 10 on 4-of-4 shooting.
Siena won its first road game of the season with a 63-54 victory over Fairfield yesterday. Siena held Fairfield, which came in averaging 78 points, to its lowest scoring total of the season. Jerry Johnson Jr. scored 14 points and Tyler Nelson added 13 for Fairfield. Amadou Sidibe had 10 points and 14 rebounds.
PGA:
Justin Thomas cruised to a wire-to-wire win in Honolulu at the PGA's Sony Open. He ended his amazing week 26 under par, winning the tourney by seven shots over Justin Rose to win first full-field event on the PGA Tour. Thomas carded rounds of 59, 64, 65 and 65. He set the PGA Tour record with lowest 72-hole score in PGA Tour history. He finished at 253. Tommy Armour III shot 254 at the 2003 Texas Open.
Obit:
Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka, a former professional wrestler who earlier this month was found not competent to stand trial in the 1983 death of his girlfriend, has died. He was 73. A lawyer representing Snuka said family members told him that Snuka died Sunday afternoon at his son-in-law's home near Pompano Beach, Florida. A Lehigh County judge on Jan. 3 dismissed the murder case against the retired WWE star in the death of Nancy Argentino, whose body was found in their Whitehall Township hotel room. Prosecutors allege she was beaten. Snuka maintained she died from a fall. Snuka, a native of Fiji, previously lived in New Jersey. He was known on the wrestling circuit for diving from the ropes. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 1996.
Boston Marathon Film:
Peter Berg's Boston Marathon bombing docudrama, "Patriots Day," took in a so-so $12 million in its first week of nationwide wide release. The CBS Films and Lionsgate joint release cost about $40 million to produce. But the film, starring Mark Wahlberg, earned an A-plus CinemaScore from audiences, suggesting it could have legs in the coming weeks.
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