Weekday Morning Sports – Tuesday 4/4/17

sportsreport

95.7 & 1400 WSJM Sports     @wsjmsports     wsjmsports.com     Tuesday, April 04, 2017

NCAAMBB – Men’s College Basketball – 2017 National Championship
Last Night
University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, AZ
(1) North Carolina 71, (1) Gonzaga 65

North Carolina 71, Gonzaga 65 – Tar Heels take NCAA title, 71-65, over Gonzaga
Justin Jackson delivered the go-ahead three-point play and North Carolina scored the last eight points for a 71-65 win over Gonzaga and a title that heartbreakingly eluded the Tar Heels last year.  It was an ugly affair, filled with 44 fouls and 52 free throws but, ultimately, the contest with the result the Tar Heels (33-7) simply had to have.  This was their redemption season, and they closed the deal a year after losing on a 3-pointer at the buzzer to Villanova.  Carolina was down 2 with 1:40 left when Jackson took a pass under the bucket from Theo Pinson, made a layup and got fouled.  The free throw made it 66-65, and after a Gonzaga miss on the other end, Isaiah Hicks made a shot to help North Carolina start pulling away to the school’s sixth title.

MLB – Major League Baseball – Opening Day 2017
Last Night
Detroit Tigers at Chicago White Sox, PPD Rain to today

Tigers at White Sox, PPD – Tigers-White Sox opener in Chicago postponed because of rain
The Chicago White Sox paraded onto the field in convertible Mustangs with the tops down for the pregame introductions prior to their season opener against the Detroit Tigers on Monday. There was plenty of pomp and circumstance. There was also too much rain and _ because of that _ no game. The White Sox postponed the opener against Detroit because of the downpour. The game has been rescheduled for today, with the Tigers’ Justin Verlander and White Sox’s Jose Quintana starting.

Today
Detroit (Justin Verlander 0-0) at Chi. White Sox (Jose Quintana 0-0), 2:10 p.m.      WSJM Sports/Cosy-FM 1:45
Chicago Cubs (Jake Arrieta 0-0) at St. Louis (Adam Wainwright 0-0), 8:15 p.m.

NHL – National Hockey League
Last Night
Detroit Red Wings 5, Ottawa Senators 4 – Shootout

Red Wings 5, Senators 4 – SO – Svechnikov gets SO winner in debut, Red Wings beat Senators
Evgeni Svechnikov (svech-nik-ov) scored the only goal of the shootout in his NHL debut, lifting the Detroit Red Wings to a 5-4 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Monday night. In the seventh round of the tiebreaker, Svechnikov went to his backhand and slid the puck between the pads of Ottawa goalie Craig Anderson. Tomas Tatar had a goal and an assist, and Frans Nielsen, Gustav Nyquist and Dylan Larkin scored in regulation for Detroit, Nick Jensen had two assists and Petr Mrazek stopped 41 shots. Kyle Turris and Fredrik Claesson scored 4:09 apart in the third period to tie the score for the Senators, who pulled into a tie with Boston for third place in the Atlantic Division. Ottawa is technically ahead at the moment with a game in hand on the Bruins. Erik Karlsson had a goal and an assist, Alexandre Burows also scored and Turris also had two assists for the Senators.

Tonight
Detroit Red Wings at Ottawa Senators, 7:30 p.m.
Chicago Blackhawks at Colorado Avalanche, 9:00 p.m.

NHL/Olympics – NHL not going to 2018 Olympics in South Korea
The NHL has announced that it won’t participate in the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea, saying it sees no tangible benefit in halting the season for three weeks. The league made the decision despite clear signs from the world’s best players that they want to go. The league ended weeks of speculation and said the matter was “officially closed.” Commissioner Gary Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly told NHL Players Association officials of the move yesterday.

NBA – National Basketball Association
Tonight
Toronto Raptors at Indiana Pacers, 7:00 p.m.
Chicago Bulls at New York Knicks, 8:00 p.m.

NFL – Detroit Lions sign linebacker Nick Bellore
The Detroit Lions have signed linebacker Nick Bellore.  The team announced the move Monday and did not disclose terms. Bellore spent the past two seasons with the San Francisco 49ers. He appeared in 14 games last season, starting 10. He had 77 tackles (55 solo) last season, along with one sack, one interception, five pass defenses, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. Bellore played his first four seasons with the New York Jets are going undrafted out of Central Michigan.

NFL – Patriots owner presents Brady with stolen Super Bowl jerseys
Tom Brady’s purloined Super Bowl jerseys are back in the hands of their rightful owner. The New England Patriots tweeted a short video on Monday showing team owner Robert Kraft presenting his star quarterback with the jerseys at Kraft’s home.  Kraft quipped that the jerseys “took an international trip.”  Brady’s 2017 jersey went missing from the Patriots’ locker room after the team’s win over the Atlanta Falcons on Feb. 5. Mexican authorities later found it while searching the property of Mexican media executive Martin Mauricio Ortega. They also recovered a Brady jersey that had disappeared after the 2015 Super Bowl. Ortega hasn’t been charged. Houston police and the FBI assisted in the investigation, and Kraft thanked them anew. Brady grinned as he held the jerseys, saying: “Pretty cool. That’s awesome.”

NFL – Prosecutors rest in Aaron Hernandez’s double-murder trial
Prosecutors have wrapped up their case in the double-murder trial of former Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez.  The prosecution formally rested its case today after more than a month of testimony, and the defense has begun calling witnesses. Hernandez is charged with first-degree murder in the shootings of two men in 2012.

IIHF – US women remain unbeaten at worlds, beat Finland 5-3
Hannah Brandt scored with 7:35 remaining in the third period, and the United States held off Finland 5-3 on Monday night to secure the top seed for the knockout round of the women’s hockey world championship. Hilary Knight scored twice for the Americans, who won all three of their games in group play and will advance straight to Thursday’s semifinals. Canada received the other bye into the semis and will take on the winner of a Finland-Sweden quarterfinal. Finland upset Canada 4-3 on Saturday, and the Finns would have received one of the two byes if they’d been able to earn a point against the U.S. They rallied from a two-goal deficit to tie the game at 3 in the third period, but Brandt put the Americans back ahead, redirecting a nice pass from Gigi Marvin. Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson added an empty-net goal for the U.S.

Olympics – IOC denies covering up 2008 Olympic doping cases
The IOC denies it covered up doping cases from the 2008 Beijing Olympics after a German TV program revealed that positive tests by Jamaican sprinters were not prosecuted. German documentary maker Hajo Seppelt says “several” of the Caribbean island’s athletes had traces of clenbuterol, a banned muscle-building substance, in recent re-tests of 8-year-old urine samples.  No athletes were identified. Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt won three gold medals in world-record times and was the star of the Beijing Games.  The IOC says it concluded there was no pattern of organized cheating, after consulting the World Anti-Doping Agency.

AHL – American Hockey League
Tonight
Grand Rapids Griffins at Manitoba Moose, 8:00 p.m.

MCCAA – Junior College Baseball
Yesterday
Kellogg Community College at Lake Michigan College, PPD