Sports: Red Wings beat Montreal 2-1 in Overtime

The Red Wings beat Montreal 2-1 in overtime on Tuesday.    Anthony Mantha scored at 4:10 of overtime to give the Wings the win.  Mantha scored his 15th of the season on a wrist shot from close range to give the Red Wings their third win in four games.  Justin Abdelkader scored in the first period for Detroit.  Artturi Lehkonen tied it for Montreal late in the third.  The Red Wings led 1-0 for almost 56 minutes until Lehkonen tied the game at 17:31 of the third period.   Jimmy Howard stopped 35 shots for the win.  Detroit heads home to play the Lightning Friday and the Wild on Sunday at Joe Louis Arena.

Pistons

The Pistons lost to the Nets, 98-96.   Brook Lopez made a jumper as time expired to give the Brooklyn Nets the win.  The Pistons, fighting for a playoff spot, wiped out a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter to tie it at 96 on Tobias Harris' follow shot with 2.4 seconds left.  Harris had 24 points for the Pistons, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope finished with 19. Andre Drummond had 13 points and 17 rebounds, but he left midway through the fourth quarter after appearing to injure his knee.  The Pistons travel to Chicago to play the Bulls tonight.  They play at Orlando on Friday, at the Knicks on Monday and finally head home Tuesday against the Miami Heat.

High School Basketball

Grand Rapids Christian beat Kalamazoo Central 66-46 in a Class A State Quarterfinal game last night.   The game featured two of the state’s best in Isaiah Livers of Kalamazoo Central, who was just named Mr. Basketball for the state of Michigan and Xavier Tillman of Grand Rapids Christian.   The next time those two meet, Livers will play for Michigan, and Tillman for Michigan State.  Benton Harbor beat Spring lake in Class B.  Kalamazoo Christian lost to Grand Rapids Covenant Christian, 49-40 in Class C.  Lansing Christian beat Benton Harbor Dream Academy in Class D.  Boy’s semi-finals and finals are Friday and Saturday at the Breslin Center.

World Baseball Classic

Brandon Crawford scored the tiebreaking run when Nobuhiro Matsuda bobbled Adam Jones' grounder to third in the eighth inning, and the United States reached the championship game of the World Baseball Classic for the first time by beating Japan 2-1 on Tuesday night at rainy Dodger Stadium.  Andrew McCutchen drove in an early run for Manager Jim Leyland’s team,  which will play Puerto Rico for the title Wednesday night.  Puerto Rico beat the Netherlands 4-3 in 11 innings Monday.

Tigers

The Tigers were off Tuesday.  They play the Blue Jays today in Dunedin.  They are 11-13 in Spring Training, with 11 games to play before opening day.  The 18-7 Yankees have the best spring record.

Lions Re-Sign Bryant

The Detroit Lions have re-signed defensive end Armonty Bryant.  Bryant joined the Lions via waivers during the 2016 season. He spent his first three seasons in the NFL with Cleveland.

MSU Hockey Coach Steps Down

Michigan State hockey coach Tom Anastos is stepping down. Spartans assistant Tom Newton will serve as interim coach. Michigan State went 7-24-4 this season and was 78-122-24 in six seasons under Anastos.

NCAA Tournament

Three Big Ten teams are still in the NCAA Tournament.  Michigan is a 1-point favorite against Oregon in the Sweet 16 on Thursday in Kansas City.  Wisconsin plays Florida at 10pm Friday.  Purdue plays Kansas at 9:40pm on Thursday.

Women’s College Basketball

The Michigan women's basketball team plays St. John’s in the NIT Thursday at Crisler Center.

WMU Hockey
WMU and Michigan Tech’s hockey teams will be among 16 teams to make it to the NCAA tournament this weekend.  The Broncos will face Air Force on Friday in Providence.   If they win, they play Saturday night.  The Huskies play against #1 seed Denver in Cincinnati this Saturday at 1 PM.