The Charlotte Hornets beat the Detroit Pistons 87-77 on Wednesday night.  Andre Drummond turned in a 26-point, 20-rebound game, and Tobias Harris chipped in with 14, but there was little offense from elsewhere.  The Pistons held the Hornets to 38 points in the first half on 27 percent shooting.  But the Pistons were 5 of 8 in free throws, while Charlotte went 21 of 29 from the stripe.  Marco Belinelli erupted for nine in the fourth quarter, and hit a 3 with 4:26 left that snapped an 8-0 Pistons run and put the game away for good.  Kemba Walker scored 14 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter. Nic Batum posted his third straight double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds for the Hornets. Detroit heads to Minnesota for a game on Friday.

College Basketball

Cleveland State beat Western Michigan 85-62. The Broncos grabbed an early lead by trailed by six at the half.  Cleveland State went up by 20 and Western Michigan coach Steve Hawkins sat most of the starters in favor of younger players. Thirteen Broncos played and 11 scored.  Cleveland State blocked six shots, made 10 steals and forced 16 turnovers. Thomas Wilder led Western Michigan with 12 points.

WMU is home Saturday to play James Madison.

The MSU Spartans host Tennessee Tech on Saturday….1pm on WBCK.  Called in and won tickets on WBCK.

The Wolverines play at UCLA on Saturday night.

Red Wings

The Detroit Red Wings play the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday at the Joe.   The Wings activated goaltender Jimmy Howard from injured reserve and he’ll be available for Friday’s game if needed.  Howard missed six games with a groin injury.  Petr Mrazek is expected to start in goal for the Red Wings.   The Red Wings reassigned goalie Jared Coreau and center Tomas Nosek to the Grand Rapids Griffins.   The Wings have played well, despite a rash of injuries.  Andreas Athanasiou, Alexey Marchenko, Ryan Sproul, Darren Helm, Justin Abdelkader, Tyler Bertuzzi and Brendan Smith are all out.

MLB Winter Meetings

The Cubbies have decided not to sign free-agent closer Aroldis Chapman and have picked up right-hander Wade Davis from the Royals for outfielder Jorge Soler.  Davis was a key piece in Kansas City's World Series run last year but is coming off a forearm injury that limited him to 43 1/3 innings this year.    Reports say the New York Yankees agreed to pony up $86 million over five years to reunite with Aroldis Chapman, a lefty and the game’s hardest throwing pitcher.

Meanwhile, the White Sox have shipped Adam Eaton to the Nationals for three pitching prospects, including highly-touted Lucas Giolito.  Eaton is a lifetime .284 hitter who compiled a .284 average with 59 RBIs, 14 steals and a major league-leading 18 outfield assists this year.

John Scott Retires from Hockey

John Scott, the NHL enforcer who made an unlikely run to the NHL's All-Star weekend last season, has retired.  The 34 year old Scott, who played four seasons at Michigan Tech, made headlines last season when he was voted into the All-Star tournament.   He was one of the All-Star team captains, even after being traded and demoted to the AHL.  The NHL has since taken steps to avoid a similar situation with new fan voting rules.  The 6-foot-8 Edmonton native had five goals, 11 assists and 544 penalty minutes in 285 regular-season games in eight seasons with Minnesota, Chicago, the New York Rangers, Buffalo, San Jose, Arizona and Montreal.

Lions
The 8-4 Lions still have four games left and host the Bears at home this Sunday.

Detroit has a two-game lead in the NFC North over the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers

In Division II Football

The Ferris State Bulldogs play defending champion Northwest Missouri State this Saturday in their first trip to the Division II Semi-finals since 1995.

Friday night, WBCK will broadcast the game between Battle Creek Central and Kalamazoo Central.

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