OLYMPICS-DAY 3
The United States has come away with a bronze medal in team figure skating during Day 3 of the Winter Games.
The Americans led Italy by four points heading into the ice dancing finale. The Italian dancers did not score well enough to win, turning the performance by Maia and Alex Shibutani into an exhibition.
Mirai Nagasu has become the first American woman and third overall to land a triple axel in the Olympics, accomplishing the rare feat in the women's free skate at the team competition.
Canada clinched the gold before the final discipline. The Russians took silver.
Also at the Winter Games:
Born in Pittsfield, current Saranac Lake native Chris Mazdzer won silver in singles luge on Sunday, becoming the first American man ever to medal in the event. He matched the best finish ever for USA Luge in any event at the Olympics. Mazdzer told the associated press “It's 16 years in the making, what you dream about as a young child and 20 years later you're finally on the podium," Mazdzer said. "I still don't know how to describe it. All I know is that I have my friends and family here celebrating with me and this is validation. Everything I've done, all the sacrifices, it's worth it.”
American Jamie Anderson won her country's second gold medal at the Pyeongchang Games, taking the women's slopestyle snowboarding amid blustery conditions. Anderson is the first woman to win multiple gold medals in women's snowboarding at the Olympics. The win comes a day after teenager Red Gerard won the men's slopestyle for the first U.S. gold medal.
The women's giant slalom has been postponed and rescheduled for Thursday because of strong wind. The event was set to be U.S. star Mikaela Shiffrin's first event of these Olympics.
Due to gusty conditions, only 34 of 55 ski jumpers have participated in training for the individual Gunderson normal hill event at the Pyeongchang Olympics, part of Nordic combined. Two of three scheduled practice runs were canceled.
NBA-SCHEDULE
There's a new leader in the NBA's Eastern Conference after the revamped Cleveland Cavaliers knocked the Boston Celtics out of the top spot.
LeBron James delivered 24 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds as the Cavs crushed the Celtics, 121-99 in Boston. James overcame an early leg injury to score 13 points in the second quarter, eight coming in a 13-2 run that put Cleveland ahead by 10.
Jordan Clarkson scored 17 and George Hill had 12 in their first appearances since being acquired by the Cavs at the trade deadline last week.
Terry Rozier scored 21 with nine assists, for the Celtics, who have lost three of four to fall a half-game behind Toronto. Kyrie Irving provided 18 against his former team before sitting out the fourth quarter with the outcome long settled.
The Raptors took over the conference and Atlantic Division leads by winning their fifth in a row, a 123-103 rout of the Hornets. DeMar DeRozan had 25 points and eight assists for Toronto, while C.J. Miles chipped in 24 points on 6-for-9 shooting from 3-point range.
The Raptors were 18-for-37 from beyond the arc in improving to 39-16.
In Sunday's other NBA action:
James Harden poured in 27 points and Chris Paul added 25 in the Rockets' eighth straight win, 104-97 against Dallas. Paul also had nine assists and eight rebounds for Houston, which is a half-game behind Golden State for the league's best record.
Karl-Anthony Towns scored 29 points and the Timberwolves overcame 17 turnovers to beat the Kings, 111-106. Jeff Teague added 12 points and 10 assists, while Jimmy Butler contributed 18 points to Minnesota's 13th consecutive home win.
The Jazz picked up their 10th straight win as Donovan Mitchell delivered 27 points and Joe Ingles added 24 in a 115-96 rout of Portland. Jae Crowder had 15 points in his first game since being acquired from Cleveland, helping Utah end the Trail Blazers' nine-game home winning streak.
The Pacers were 121-113 winners against the Knicks as Victor Oladipo contributed 30 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. Bojan Bogdanovic made four 3-pointers and finished with 20 points in Indiana's sixth win in eight games.
Oklahoma City managed to win without Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony as Paul George pumped in 33 points and Alex Abrines added 16 in the Thunder's 110-92 whipping of the Grizzlies. Jerami Grant and Patrick Patterson each added 14 points while Westbrook and Anthony sat out with ankle injuries.
Dewayne Dedmon matched his career high with 20 points and had 13 boards to lead the Hawks past the Pistons, 118-115 in Detroit. Dedmon gave Atlanta the lead with a three-point play and then padded the margin with a 3-pointer to make it 112-107 with about a minute left.
TOP 25 MEN'S BASKETBALL-SCHEDULE
Sixth-ranked Cincinnati could jump into the top five when The Associated Press men's basketball poll is released Monday.
The Bearcats ran their winning streak to 16 games and improved to 12-0 in the American Athletic Conference by drubbing SMU, 76-51. Kyle Washington had 17 points and eight rebounds for the Bearcats, who took the lead for good with a 9-0 run that put them ahead 11-5. Cincinnati opened the game by missing its first seven shots before shooting 50 percent the rest of the way.
Checking out Sunday's other top-25 finals:
Grayson Allen scored 23 points and No. 9 Duke ended a two-game skid by beating Georgia Tech, 80-69. The 20-5 Blue Devils were without ACC leading scorer and rebounder Marvin Bagley, who sat out with a mild right knee sprain.
Moe Wagner scored 20 points on 8 of 14 shooting and grabbed 11 rebounds as No. 20 Michigan knocked off Wisconsin, 83-72. Duncan Robinson scored 16 points for the 20-7 Wolverines, who hit 12 of their first 16 shots in taking a 22-point halftime lead.
T25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL-SELECTION PREVIEW
Virginia is the first overall seed in preliminary NCAA Tournament rankings, with Villanova, Xavier and Purdue earning the other top seeds.
The Cavaliers are ranked second in the AP poll and are currently slotted as the South Region's top seed in rankings released by the NCAA on Sunday. Villanova is No. 1 in the East, Xavier tops the Midwest Region and Purdue heads the West Region.
NCAA
Yesterday in men’s college basketball UAlbany topped Hartford 69-63, UMBC won 68-59 against New Hampshire and Stony Brook beat Maine 64-61. Vermont also continued its winning streak with its 14th straight win over UMass Lowell 81-69 and Syracuse topped Wake Forest in a 78-70 win at home.
In women’s college basketball, New Hampshire topped UMBC 51-46. UAlbany won 66-53 over Hartford, Stony Brook topped Maine 76-68 and UMass Lowell edged Vermont 65-60. The Siena women’s basketball lost at home to Quinnipiac 83-72 and the Syracuse women’s beat Wake Forest 71-61 on the road.
The Siena men's team hosts Iona at 7 p.m. Monday.
NHL-SCHEDULE
Sidney Crosby reached a milestone as he broke out of a goal-scoring slump while leading the Pittsburgh Penguins to their 12th victory in 17 games.
Crosby had gone 10 games without a goal before netting his 400th and 401st in a 4-1 win at St. Louis. He became the 95th player in league history with 400 goals when he beat Jake Allen early in the second period, 21 seconds after Kyle Brodziak scored to put the Blues ahead.
Bryan Rust snapped a 1-1 tie in the third period and Riley Sheahan added an insurance goal before Crosby scored into an empty net.
The outcome puts the Penguins within four points of the Metropolitan Division-leading Capitals and keeps the Blues four points behind first-place Nashville in the Central Division.
The Capitals erased a 4-2 deficit in the third period before Tomas Tatar scored 2:47 into overtime to give Detroit at 5-4 triumph at Washington. Tatar tallied twice for the Red Wings, who squandered a 5-2 lead in the third period of Friday's 7-6 overtime loss to the Islanders.
Alex Ovechkin scored his NHL-best 33rd goal for Washington.
Elsewhere on NHL ice:
Sean Couturier had a goal and two assists as the Flyers beat the Golden Knights, 4-1 in Vegas. Couturier tied it late in the first period and set up goals by Andrew MacDonald and Claude Giroux 2:46 apart late in the second. The Knights dropped to 19-4-2 at home, cutting their lead in the Pacific Division to eight points over San Jose.
Logan Couture scored in the third period and added the deciding shootout goal as the Sharks turned a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 win at Anaheim. Timo Meier forced overtime by scoring with 54 seconds remaining.
Torey Krug scored twice and Adam McQuaid's first goal of the season was the game-winner with 8:05 remaining in the Bruins' 5-3 victory at New Jersey. Anton Khudobin stopped a penalty shot in the first period and finished with 35 saves to help Boston move within three points of the Atlantic Division-leading Lightning.
Matthew Tkachuk scored the tying and winning goals in the third period as the Flames rallied from 2-0 down to beat the Islanders, 3-2. Tkachuk's 20th goal of the season broke a 2-2 deadlock with 65 seconds left and sent Calgary to its fourth win in five games.
Henrik Lundqvist was brilliant at times while stopping 37 shots as the Rangers knocked off the Jets, 3-1 at Winnipeg. Jimmy Vesey scored the tiebreaking goal with 3:53 left in the third period after missing New York's previous three games with a concussion.
Reid Boucher collected his first two goals of the season and Jacob Markstrom made 30 saves as the Canucks blew out Dallas, 6-0 to end the Stars' five-game winning streak. Boucher and Jake Virtanen had unassisted goals to open the scoring before Thomas Vanek made it 3-0 13 ½ minutes into the game.
Tyson Jost and Gabriel Bourque scored off rebounds less than four minutes apart in the third period of Colorado's 5-4 win at Buffalo. Colin Wilson had a goal and assist for the Avalanche, who led 5-2 before holding on for their third victory in nine games.
NHL-SABRES-EICHEL
Sabres scoring leader Jack Eichel is out indefinitely after being diagnosed with a sprained right ankle suffered in Saturday's win at Boston.
Eichel has scored 22 goals and 53 points in 55 games in his third season since being selected with the No. 2 pick in the 2015 draft.
NFL-COLTS-REICH
The Indianapolis Colts finally have a head coach in place, and this one actually signed his contract.
The Colts have hired Frank Reich, who spent the past season as offensive coordinator of the Super Bowl-champion Eagles. The hiring came five days after Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels accepted the job, only to back out hours later. This time, Colts officials posted a photo on the team's website of Reich inking the deal.
Reich first became an offensive coordinator with the 2014 Chargers and stayed in San Diego before joining Doug Pederson's staff in Philadelphia two years ago.
NASCAR-DAYTONA 500
Alex Bowman puts No. 88 on the pole at Daytona
Alex Bowman will start from the pole in the Daytona 500 next Sunday.
Bowman won Sunday's qualifier in his debut as the official driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet, talking over for the just-retired Dale Earnhardt Jr. Bowman will be competing in NASCAR's season-opening race for just the second time.
Denny Hamlin qualified second in a Toyota from Joe Gibbs Racing. The rest of the field will be decided later this week.
PGA-PEBBLE BEACH
Ted Potter Jr. has earned his first PGA victory since a broken ankle threatened to end his career.
Potter outplayed world No. 1 Dustin Johnson while closing with a 3-under 69 to capture the Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Potter finished at 17-under and earned $1,332,000, nearly half of his career earnings going into the week.
Johnson shot a 72 that left him in a second-place tie with Phil Mickelson, Jason Day and Chez Reavie, three shots off the lead.
PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS
Mark Calcavecchia took advantage of Bernhard Langer's messy finish to complete a wire-to-wire victory in the PGA Tour Champions' Boca Raton Championship.
The 57-year-old Calcavecchia closed with a 2-under 70 to finish 16 under for his fourth senior title. Langer finished two strokes back and one ahead of Fred Funk.
TENNIS-FED CUP
Venus Williams defeated Richel Hogenkamp 7-5, 6-1 as the United States clinched a Fed Cup victory against the Netherlands.
Williams gave the Americans an insurmountable 3-0 lead, one day after she and Coco Vandeweghe won singles matches.
Serena Williams was a loser in her first competitive tennis match since winning the Australian Open 13 months ago. Williams and her sister lost their doubles match.
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