Weekday Morning Sports – Thursday 11/12/15

sportsreport

Sports Radio 1400 WSJM     @wsjmsports     wsjmsports.com     Thursday, November 12, 2015

NCAA Football – MAC
Last Night
Bowling Green 41, Western Michigan 27

Falcons 41, Broncos 27 – Johnson, Greene lead Bowling Green by Western Michigan 41-27
Matt Johnson threw three touchdown passes, Travis Greene ran for three scores and Bowling Green beat Western Michigan 41-27 on Wednesday night to wrap up its third consecutive Mid-American Conference East Division title.  The Falcons (8-2, 6-0) have won seven straight. Johnson had touchdown passes of 31, 35 and 42 yards in the first half, but his interception with 35 seconds left set up Western Michigan’s short field goal to make it 27-20 at halftime. Western Michigan’s Zach Terrell tied it at 27 on the first drive of the third quarter with a sneak of 10 yards. Greene put Bowling Green ahead for good with rushing TDs of 5 and 26 yards on its next two possessions.  Johnson threw for 269 yards with one interception for Bowling Green. Greene had 24 carries for 170 yards, which put him 5 yards shy of breaking Bowling Green’s career rushing record of 3,423.     Corey Davis caught 13 passes for 158 yards for Western Michigan (6-4, 5-1).

NCAA Football – Notre Dame WR Fuller says he will be back for senior season
Notre Dame wide receiver Will Fuller says he plans to return to school for his senior season. The 6-foot, 184-pound junior said after practice Wednesday he plans to return so he can earn his psychology degree. He had previously said he would decide after the season whether to leave early for the NFL.  When asked if the game against Wake Forest (3-6) could be his last home game for the sixth-ranked Fighting Irish (8-1, 4th CFP) Fuller said, “No. I need to graduate. That’s what I came here for.” Fuller ranks fourth in the nation with 12 receiving touchdowns, and moved into second place in school history last week with 28 career touchdown catches His 900 receiving yards rank 14th and his 100 yards receiving a game ranks 13th.

NFL – National Football League – Week 10
Tonight
Buffalo Bills at New York Jets, 8:25 p.m.                 WSJM-AM 8:00 p.m.

NFL – Bears’ Matt Forte practices on limited basis
Chicago Bears running back Matt Forte practiced Wednesday on a limited basis after being sidelined by a knee injury. Forte sat out Monday’s 22-19 win at San Diego because of a right knee injury he suffered against Minnesota the previous week. Coach John Fox says Forte is “not full-go yet” but is “making progress.” Rookie Jeremy Langford carried the load with Forte sidelined against the Chargers and ran for 72 yards and a fourth-quarter touchdown. He added 70 yards receiving. The Bears (3-5) visit St. Louis this week.

NBA – National Basketball Association
Last Night
Sacramento Kings 101, Detroit Pistons 92

Kings 101, Pistons 92 – Cousins, Rondo help Kings beat Pistons to stop 6-game skid
DeMarcus Cousins had 33 points and nine rebounds, Rajon Rondo had a triple-double, and the Sacramento Kings snapped a six-game losing streak with a 101-92 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night. Rudy Gay scored 12 of his 25 points in the first quarter for the Kings. Rondo had his 24th regular-season triple-double, finishing with 14 points, 15 assists and 11 rebounds. Following a day of drama around the team, the Kings got a much-needed victory following a 1-7 start that was their worst since going 1-13 in 1990-91. Reggie Jackson and Marcus Morris both had 16 points for Detroit, which dropped its second straight game on a six-game road trip. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 15 points and Andre Drummond had 14 points and 17 rebounds.

NBA – Benton Harbor’s Chandler will miss regular season
The season is coming to an early end for Nuggets forward Wilson Chandler.  According to Yahoo! Sports, Chandler will miss the rest of the season due to hip surgery.  Chandler has a labral tear he suffered in the preseason.  It’s expected to take six months of rehab for a full recovery.  Chandler averaged 13.9 points and 6.1 rebounds for Denver last season, leading to him getting a four-year contract extension this past summer.

NHL – National Hockey League
Tonight
New Jersey Devils at Chicago Blackhawks, 8:30 p.m.

NCAA Basketball – Spartans announce Bridges, Winston among basketball signees
Michigan State men’s basketball has received signed national letters-of-intent from Flint native Miles Bridges and three other players during the early signing period.  The school says Wednesday that according to ESPN.com, the class is ranked No. 2 in the nation. The 6-foot-7 Bridges averaged 15.7 points, 10.6 rebounds and 3.5 assists at West Virginia’s Huntington Prep. He is joined by 6-foot-6 guard Joshua Langford who averaged 24.8 points, 8.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists as a junior for Madison Academy in Alabama. Six-foot-9 forward Nick Ward averaged 18 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks last season for Gahanna Lincoln High School in Ohio. The Spartans class is rounded out by 6-foot guard Cassius Winston of the University of Detroit Jesuit. Winston averaged 22.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 7.1 assists last season.

NCAA Basketball – Wolverines sign 4 to men’s basketball team
Michigan men’s basketball team has signed four players to national letters-of-intent during the early signing period.  The school says Wednesday that 7-foot center Jon Teske will join 6-foot-10 center Austin Davis, 6-foot-5 forward Ibi Watson and 6-foot guard Xavier Simpson on the Wolverines team in 2016-17. Davis averaged 26.2 points, 17.3 rebounds and 4.8 blocks per game last season for Onsted High School in Onsted, Michigan. Teske of Medina, Ohio, averaged 12.1 points, 9 rebounds and 5.3 blocks per game. Simpson of Lima, Ohio, averaged 19.8 points, 8 assists and 3 steals per game at Lima Senior High School. Watson averaged 19 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists as a junior for Pickerington Central in Ohio.

OHL – Firebirds coach felt like Billy Martin, getting fired, hired
Flint Firebirds coach John Gruden says he felt like Billy Martin. Fired one day. Hired the next.  Gruden and his Ontario Hockey League team were back on the ice Wednesday, trying to regain a sense of normalcy.  Firebirds owner Rolf Nilsen fired Gruden on Sunday night following a win. The players responded by marching up the team’s front office and throwing their jerseys on the floor in a unified protest. The next day, Gruden got his job back and the team released a statement in which Nilsen said he made an irresponsible mistake. Former New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner fired Martin five times between 1975 and 1987, fired him four times and let him resign once.

Olympics – LA bid gets some Magic
Hall of Famer and former Olympian Magic Johnson has been named vice chair of the group trying to lure the 2024 Olympic Games to Los Angeles. The winner of five NBA titles with the Lakers says in a statement that Los Angeles is “the best sports town in America.” The International Olympic Committee will select the 2024 host in 2017. Los Angeles is competing against Paris, Rome, Hamburg, Germany, and Budapest, Hungary.
 
Olympics – Putin orders probe into doping allegations
Russian President Vladimir Putin has called on sports officials to carry out an internal investigation, in the wake of allegations of extensive state sponsored doping. Putin added that that clean athletes shouldn’t be punished for the actions of those who take banned drugs. Putin’s comments reflected concerns that Russia’s track and field athletes could be hit with a blanket ban for next year’s summer Games in Rio de Janeiro. Putin has ordered the investigation to be conducted with full cooperation with international anti-doping bodies.

AHL – American Hockey League
Last Night
Grand Rapids Griffins 5, Iowa Wild 2

MHSAA – High School Volleyball Regionals
Tonight
Class A:       Mattawan vs. DeWitt, 7:00 p.m.                              at Portage Central
Class B:       Paw Paw vs. Battle Creek Harper Creek, 7:00 p.m.    at Hopkins