(Portland, OR)  --  The Portland Trail Blazers have a playoff berth in the bag, following last night's 109-86 win over the Phoenix Suns.  Damian Lillard led Portland with 19 points and seven assists.  LaMarcus Aldridge added 17 points and collected seven rebounds.  The Blazers will host the Los Angeles Clippers tomorrow night.
 

(Peoria, AZ)  --  Seattle Mariners left-handed pitcher Roenis Elias is being optioned to Triple-A Tacoma.  The "Seattle Times" reports Elias, who had a solid rookie season last year, lost a battle for the final spot in the 2015 starting rotation with Taijuan [[ TIE-wahn ]] Walker.  Elias started five games during the pre-season, going oh-and-two with a six-point-75 ERA.

(Salt Lake City, UT)  --  The losing streak is over for the Portland Trail Blazers.  Damian Lillard had a solid fourth quarter as the Blazers battled from a ten-point deficit to beat Utah, 92-89.  Lillard finished with 23 points and 12 assists, while LaMarcus Aldridge added 19 points and nine rebounds.  Portland will visit the Phoenix Suns tomorrow night.

(Renton, WA)  --  The Seattle Seahawks will be getting additional picks in this year's NFL Draft.  The league has awarded four extra draft choices to the Seahawks as compensation for the losses of Golden Tate, Clinton McDonald, Breno Giacomini [[ BRENN-oh JAH-co-MEE-nee ]], and Brandon Browner to free agency in 2014.  That means Seattle will have a total of eleven picks in the 2015 Draft.  The Hawks will receive one additional pick each in the fourth and fifth rounds, and two extra picks in the sixth round.
 

(Omaha, NE)  --  The Oregon Ducks are headed home for the season after falling to top-seed Wisconsin in the NCAA Tournament, 72-65.  It was the second straight year the Ducks lost to the Badgers in a Round of 32 game.  Oregon's Joseph Young led all scorers with 30 points.  The Ducks, who defeated Oklahoma State in their first-round game, finished the season with a 26-and-10 record.

(Corvallis, OR)  --  The Oregon State women's basketball team is done for the season after being upset by Gonzaga, 76-64.  The third-seeded Beavers staged a late rally in the second half, but fell short to the eleventh-seeded Bulldogs.  Jamie Weisner was Oregon State's leading scorer with 24 points.  The Beavers, who defeated South Dakota State to open the tournament, finished their season with a 27-and-5 record.

Omaha, NE (SportsNetwork.com) - Joseph Young scored a game-high 27 
points to lead Oregon in a 79-73 victory over Oklahoma State in the 
second round of the NCAA Tournament West Region. 

Elgin Cook scored 18 points with five rebounds and Dillon Brooks 
added 17 points for the eighth-seeded Ducks (26-9), who had won 
seven straight before losing to Arizona in the Pac-12 Tournament 
final to garner at at-large nod in the NCAA Tournament. 

Oregon moves on to take on the winner of the Wisconsin/Coastal 
Carolina matchup in Sunday's third round. 

Le'Bryan Nash scored 18 points with seven rebounds and Anthony 
Hickey gave 17 points for the ninth-seeded Cowboys (18-14), who 
gained a tournament nod despite losing six of their final seven 
games, including a loss to Oklahoma in their only game of the Big 
12 Tournament. 

(Portland, OR)  --  Attendance at the Moda Center for the NCAA Tournament figures to be at the lowest level since the event returned to Portland in 2009.  Yesterday's early session included Arizona defeating Texas Southern and Ohio State beating Virginia Commonwealth.  In the late session, Utah defeated Stephen F. Austin and Georgetown won over Eastern Washington.  Officials say the two sessions drew a total of 27-thousand-895 fans.

(Miami, FL)  --  The Portland Trail Blazers are having a tough road trip.  Rip City fell victim to a second-half surge by Miami last night in a 108-104 loss to the Heat.  LaMarcus Aldridge had a good night, however, scoring 34 points and collecting 12 rebounds.  The Blazers hope to snap their two-game losing skid when they visit Orlando tomorrow evening.

(Renton, WA)  --  The Seattle Seahawks are denying a report that defensive end Michael Bennett is seeking to be traded.  A Fort Worth newspaper reported yesterday that Bennett was trying to force the Seahawks to trade him to Atlanta, and that Bennett was asking for a raise after signing a 32-million-dollar deal with Seattle a year ago.  SeattlePI.com reports the Seahawks are denying knowledge of a trade request from Bennett.

(Washington, DC)  --  The Portland Trail Blazers' winning streak is over, following last night's 105-97 loss to the Washington Wizards.  The Blazers fought to erase a 25-point deficit, making it a three-point game late in the fourth quarter, but Washington held on.  LaMarcus Aldridge led Portland with 24 points and 12 rebounds.  The Blazers' next stop is in Miami to play the Heat tomorrow night.

Seven PAC-12 Men's Basketball teams are headed to the post-season of March Madness
Arizona, Oregon, UCLA and Utah earned bids to the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship, while Arizona State and Stanford received bids to participate in the N.I.T; the National Invitation Tournament.   Colorado will participate in the College Basketball Invitational.
The Oregon Ducks (25-9) are the no. 8 seed in the West Region of the big dance where they will meet no. 9 Oklahoma State Friday in Omaha, Nebraska. The Cowboys are 18-and-13. Tipoff is set for 3:50pm.  Later today, the Oregon State Women's team will hear their fate as to where the PAC-12 regular season champions will be selected in the Women's National Tournament.

(Toronto, ON)  --  The Portland Trail Blazers are winners of three games in a row, after they defeated the Toronto Raptors, 113-97.  LaMarcus Aldridge scored 24 points and grabbed ten rebounds, while Damian Lillard added 23 points for Portland.  It was the 12th victory for the Blazers in their last 13 games versus Toronto.  Portland will visit the Washington Wizards this evening.
 

The Mountain View Cougars bid to get to the 5A Boy's title game came up short in Corvallis yesterday, as Silverton defeated the Cougs in the semifinals, 59-51.

Silverton will meet Wilsonville for the championship, meanwhile Mt. View battles Marist of Eugene for the 3rd place trophy at Gill Coliseum with tipoff at 315pm.

Meantime…in Hillsboro at the Boy's 4A tournament, the Madras White Buffalo lost their quarterfinal game falling to Philomath, 41-30.

Madras meets North Valley of Grants Pass this morning at 1045am in the consolation semis elimination game.

It's down to the top-4 seeds and PAC-12 regular season finishers in Las Vegas today at the PAC-12 tournament at the M-G-M Grand garden arena.
The Oregon Ducks will take on Utah tonight at 8:30 p.m. here on KBND in the league tournament semifinals.
5th ranked Arizona will square off with UCLA at 6:00 p.m.
Oregon ran past Colorado last night 93-85 as PAC-12 player of the year, senior guard Joe Young led all scorers with 30 points.
All five Duck starters scored in double-figures.
The Ducks are 24-8 and Utah 24-7…and beat Utah just three weeks ago in Eugene in the only meeting of the year between the two programs, 69-58.
Pre-game tonight here on KBND at 8:30 p.m.   
The PAC-12 title game is set for Saturday night.
 

The Portland Trailblazers host the Detroit Pistons this evening at the Moda Center with tip-time set for 7:00 p.m.
The Blazers have the 3rd best record in the West by one half-game over Houston.
Portland, 42-20, will begin a 5-game road trip starting in Toronto sunday night.

The Mountain View Cougars boy's basketball team is one win away from reaching the class 5-a state title game as  the Cougars face Silverton in the semi-finals today at 1:30pm in Corvallis.

A win by Mountain View puts them in the championship game tomorrow night against the winner of Marist versus Wilsonville.

You can follow the cougars game online at OSAA dot-org.

Meantime, the Summit Storm were eliminated from the tournament at Gill Coliseum by losing yesterday in the consolation round to Springfield, 58-53.

In the 4A tournament, the Madras boys meet Philomath this evening at 8:15pm in Hillsboro at Century high school. A White Buffalo win advances Madras to the final-4 tomorrow night.

In Las Vegas, 4 PAC-12 teams have been eliminated including the Oregon State Beavers who lost to Colorado, 78-71. The Beavers end their season with an overall record of 8 and 11.

Cal, Stanford, and USC all advance to today's quarterfinals.

The Oregon ducks meet Colorado tonight here on KBND with tip-off set for 6pm. We have the pregame show for you coming your way at 530p.

If Oregon wins, they play in the semifinals Friday.

The top-ranked Mt. View Cougars Boy's Basketball team is one step closer to playing for the Class 5-A title after yesterday's 58-50 quarterfinal win over Pendleton at the State Tournament.
The Cougars advance to the Final-4 where they will face Silverton Thursday afternoon at 1:00.

There is no radio coverage, but you can watch a 'pay-per-view' video broadcast online at www.osaa.org.

The 5-A title game is set for Friday night.

Meantime, the Summit Storm took a left turn in the bracket losing its opening game, 45-41, to Marist of Eugene.

(Renton, WA)  --  A Saint is now a Seahawk.  New Orleans Saints tight end Jimmy Graham has been traded to Seattle for center Max Unger and the Seahawks' first pick in this year's draft.  The Seahawks will also receive the Saints' fourth-round pick as part of the deal.  Graham caught 85 passes for 889 yards and ten touchdowns last season for New Orleans.
 

(Renton, WA)  --  The Seattle Seahawks are looking to shore up their defensive backfield, and have signed free-agent cornerback Will Blackmon.  Blackmon, who was with Seattle during the 2013 offseason, played for Jacksonville for the past two seasons.  The Seahawks have also extended the contracts of linebacker Mike Morgan and tight end Anthony McCoy.
 

(Renton, WA)  --  It appears the Seattle Seahawks are going to lose cornerback Byron Maxwell to free agency.  Maxwell, who's been considered the top cornerback on the free-agent market, has told ESPN he plans to sign with the Philadelphia Eagles.  The Seahawks were reportedly unable to match the offer the Eagles submitted to Maxwell.  The move, if it goes through, won't become official until Tuesday, when the NFL free-agency period starts.

(Portland, OR)  --  The Portland Trail Blazers have mixed feelings after last night's 94-75 win over Dallas.  The victory was the fifth straight for Portland, but guard Wesley Matthews is out for the season after rupturing an Achilles tendon.  LaMarcus Aldridge scored 17 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, and Nicolas Batum had 15 points and 12 boards.  The Blazers will visit Minnesota tomorrow night.

(Los Angeles, CA)  --  The Blazers capped a vicious rally to beat the Clippers in overtime 98-93 at the STAPLES Center.  The Clippers were up by 10 with less than three minutes left, but Portland went on a 12-2 run to tie it up.  Nicolas Batum sealed the game with a three-point dagger to put the Blazers up by five with 21 seconds left in OT.  Batum had 20 and LaMarcus Aldridge had 29 points and nine rebounds.  DeAndre Jordan had a chance to secure the win on a put back, but mistook the shot clock buzzer for the game buzzer and just held the ball as Chris Paul berated him to shoot.  Paul finished with 36 points and 12 assists and J.J. Redick added 26 for the Clips.

Corvallis, OR (SportsNetwork.com) - Joseph Young scored 15 points,
pulled down six rebounds and handed out six assists as the Oregon
Ducks squeezed by the Oregon State Beavers, 65-62, in Pac-12
Conference action at Gill Coliseum.

The top scorer for the Ducks (23-8, 13-5 Pac-12) was Elgin Cook who
tallied 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the floor, followed by
Dwayne Benjamin and Jalil Abdul-Bassit with 12 points apiece as the
team closed out the regular season on a five-game win streak and
victories in nine of the last 10 decisions.

The Beavers (17-13, 8-10) were led by Malcolm Duvivier who tallied
18 points off the bench, while Jarmal Reid dropped in 16 points.
Gary Payton II, who had just the second triple-double in program
history against Grambling earlier this season, came within a single
assist of repeating the feat as he delivered 13 points and 10
rebounds, not to mention six steals, all without suffering a single
turnover. Olaf Schaftenaar pitched in with 11 points.

The Ducks came out firing in the first half, streaking out to an
8-0 advantage less than two minutes in, but after 20 minutes of
action the contest was knotted at 32-32. Oregon State led by as
many as nine with just over five minutes  remaining in the half but
could not hold down the lead at intermission.

The Ducks owned a 63-58 advantage with just over 13 seconds to
play, but Schaftenaar knocked down a triple from the right side to
cut the difference to only two.

Abdul-Bassit then connected on a pair of free throws moments later
to give Oregon some breathing room, en route to the three-point win.

In a game that featured six ties and eight lead changes, Oregon
outscored the hosts at the free-throw line, 19-8.

This was the 344th meeting of the Civil War, an NCAA record.
 

(Istanbul, Turkey)  --  Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch is finally talking about the controversial play call that ended the team's hopes for a second straight Super Bowl win.  The man known as "Beast Mode" is currently in Turkey with the organization "American Football Without Barriers" to help spread the game internationally.  In an interview with the leading sports network in Turkey, Lynch said he was expecting to be handed the ball with goal-to-go at the one yard line.  However, Lynch added that football is a team sport and he had no problem with coach Pete Carroll's decision to let Russell Wilson throw the ball.

Stanford, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Oregon knocked down a series of
late free throws as the Ducks held on to defeat the Stanford
Cardinal, 73-70, in Pac-12 Conference action at Maples Pavilion.

Joseph Young, who converted a pair at the charity stripe with 2.9
seconds remaining in regulation, accounted for 21 points, matching
the production of Elgin Cook as the Ducks (22-8, 12-5 Pac-12)
notched a fourth straight victory and the eighth in the last nine
outings overall. Dwayne Benjamin, who also had a late free throw to
break a 70-70 tie, added 15 points and eight rebounds off the bench.

Stanford (18-10, 9-7) was paced by Chasson Randle with 17 points,
but he shot only 6-of-18 from the floor and had a costly turnover
late in the meeting as the host had a two-game win streak snapped.
Stefan Nastic added 16 points, Marcus Allen 14 and Anthony Brown 11
for the Cardinal.

Despite shooting only 8-of-22 from the floor in the first half,
which included 1-of-7 behind the 3-point line, Stanford led by six
points early on. However. 48.3 percent accuracy from the field by
Oregon brought the visitors back and moved them out to a 36-30
advantage at the break.

In the second half there were a total of seven ties and 10 lead
changes as Stanford was forced to come from behind in the final
seconds. Unfortunately, after throwing the ball away, Randle was
given a second chance to play the hero, but his wild layup attempt
went unanswered and was recovered on the floor by Young who was
subsequently fouled.

With under three seconds to play Young stepped to the line for this
first free throws of the evening and knocked down both.

Still with time remaining, the Cardinal had another chance to
extend the game, but the inbounds pass was picked off and the Ducks
ran out the clock.

Stanford outscored the Ducks at the free-throw line, 22-11, but the
host made good on a mere 4-of-19 from beyond the arc.

--- Game Notes ---





~AED~

###


Copyright © 2015
Metro Networks Inc.

03-01-2015 19:25:06

Sacramento, CA (SportsNetwork.com) -

LaMarcus Aldridge had 26 points and 15 rebounds and the Portland Trail Blazers took down the Kings in Sacramento on Sunday, 110-99.

It was Aldridge's third straight double-double, and Portland's
third straight win, since he missed a 98-92 loss to Memphis on Feb.
22 with a thumb sprain.

Damian Lillard tallied a game-high 31 points with seven assists and
Wesley Matthews added 17 points for the Blazers.

"The last two or three games, I've felt really good out there,"
said Lillard. "It's time to win. It's time to play winning
basketball."

Sacramento gave them a game despite All-Star center DeMarcus
Cousins missing his second straight game with a left ankle sprain
and bruised left hip.

Rudy Gay went for 24 points and eight rebounds for the short-handed
Kings, while Derrick Williams chipped in 18 points in a reserve
role.

After Portland controlled the opening 12 minutes, Ben McLemore
scored the first eight points of the second quarter to get the
Kings back within three. Meyers Leonard slowed the momentum with a
3-pointer at the other end.

Williams' dunk at 5:23 again cut it to three, but Portland closed
the half on a 20-9 run to take a 64-50 lead into halftime.

The Kings got as close as seven in the third and one in the fourth,
but failed to get over the hump without their star. Williams scored
six straight early in the final stanza and Gay followed with a
3-ball to get Sacramento within 89-88. Lillard silenced the crowd
with a 3, then potted a mid-range jumper on the next series.

"We didn't have much going throughout the first couple quarters,"
said Kings coach George Karl. "They're a very good team."

Portland finished the game on an 8-2 run.

Game Notes

The Kings kick off an eight-game road trip in New York on Tuesday
... The Kings fell to 2-12 without Cousins this season ...
Sacramento shot 3-for-12 from behind the arc ... Sacramento's
reserves outscored Portland's, 44-19.



~ACN~

###


Copyright © 2015
Metro Networks Inc.

03-01-2015 21:15:01