LOCAL SPORTS
University Sports:
Defensive player of the year David Muenkat propelled the X-Men to a 107-98 win over the Queens Gaels in the third quarter-final game at the U SPORTS Men’s Basketball Championship. In the victory, Muenkat showed off his offensive side, racking up 27 points and adding 8 rebounds on the way to being named a Nike Top Performer. Deon Ejim had a double-double night for the X-Men with 19 points and 10 rebounds, and Dondre Reddick contributed 16 points. The win puts St. FX in tonight’s semifinal at 8 pm versus the University of Victoria.
There are six athletes competing for St. FX at the national track & field championships in Saskatoon. Allie Sandluck finished twelfth in the Women’s 3000m with a time of 10:02.99. The X-Women foursome of Caroline Ash, Mairin Canning, Caden Lee, and Brynn Hebert came tenth in the 4x800m relay with a time of 9:13.63. Ash will compete in the women’s 1500m later today. Jacob Benoit ran the Men’s 3000m in a time of 8:24.39, finishing eighth.
NS Junior: The Antigonish Junior B Bulldogs brought out the brooms in Port Hawkesbury, shutting out the Strait Pirates 4-0 to win their division semi-final in four games. The Bulldogs’ next opponents will be the winner of the Scotians-Eagles series, where the Eagles lead 3-1. Game Five is tonight at 7:30 in Eskasoni.
Maritime Junior: The Pictou County Weeks Crushers defeated the Lumberjacks 5-4. The Crushers’ road trip continues with a visit to Yarmouth tonight at 7.
NS U18: Pictou Weeks Majors advance in the playoffs after outscoring the Rush 7-2 in Membertou to take the series in four games. The Majors will face the winner of the series between Steele Subaru and the Cole Harbour Wolfpack.
U15: The Novas lead their best of three 1-0. They play the Bedford Bandits in HRM at 5:30. Game 3, if necessary, is noon tomorrow.
U16 AAA: The Highlanders visit the Valley Wildcats today at 3 and Sunday at 2:30.
Maritime Major Female League: Northern Subway Selects begin their playoff series against the Halifax Western Capitals this weekend. Games 1 and 2 will be at the Hector arena in Pictou, today at four and tomorrow at noon.
Rural Hockey League: Game 4 of their respective series were played at the Arena – Pleasantdale defeated Heatherton 7-3 to even their series at two wins each, while St. Croix took a 3-1 series lead with a 7-0 shutout of the Outlaws. Tonight, it’s St. Croix versus the Outlaws at 7, followed by Pleasantdale versus Heatherton at 8:30.
U11A: The Antigonish Bulldogs take on the CB County Islanders at 12:30 at the Antigonish Arena in the provincial semi-final.
NATIONAL SPORTS
The Calgary Flames’ playoff aspirations took a big hit when the visiting Anaheim Ducks beat the Alberta squad 3-1. Max Comtois, Brett Leason and Derek Grant scored for the Ducks, while Mikael Backlund replied for the Flames. The Flames remain four points behind the Winnipeg Jets for the second wild-card playoff berth in the N-H-L’s Western Conference.
Brandon Montour scored at 2:43 of overtime as the Florida Panthers beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3 for their third straight win. Eetu Luostarinen had a goal and an assist, and Sam Bennett and Sam Reinhart also scored, and Matthew Tkachuk had three assists for the Panthers. Caleb Jones, Cole Guttman and Boris Katchouk scored goals, and Jujhar Khaira had two assists for the Blackhawks, who lost for the sixth time in seven games.
D’Angelo Russell had 28 points and nine assists in his return from a six-game injury absence, Dennis Schrader added 23 points and seven assists and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the visiting Toronto Raptors 122-112. The Lakers won for the seventh time in nine games. Scottie Barnes scored 20 of his career-high 32 points in the second half, and O.G. Anunoby scored 31 points in the Raptors’ fourth loss to complete a tough five-game road trip.
Mikal Bridges scored 34 points, fellow Brooklyn newcomer Spencer Dinwiddie came up with a final stop and the visiting Nets outlasted the Minnesota Timberwolves 124-123 in overtime. Dinwiddie blocked Mike Conley’s three-point attempt as time expired to give the Nets their fourth victory in five outings. Acquired from Phoenix last month in the deal that sent Kevin Durant to the Suns, Bridges has scored 30 or more points in four of his past five games.
Joel Embiid made a fadeaway jumper from the foul line with 1.1 seconds left to give the Philadelphia 76ers a 120-119 comeback victory over the Portland Trail Blazers. Embiid scored 39 points, shaking off a double-team. James Harden added 19 points for Philadelphia to help the 76ers win their fourth straight game. Anfernee Simons led Portland with 34 points.
Ugo Humbert had to work for more than two-and-a-half hours Friday night to get the job done, but the athlete from Metz, France, wasn’t complaining after bouncing Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ontario, at the B-N-P Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Humbert defeated Shapovalov 7-5 and 6-4 in the round of 64 men’s singles.
Friday’s Games
NHL
Anaheim 3 Calgary 1
Florida 4 Chicago 3 (OT)
NBA
L.A. Lakers 122 Toronto 112
Atlanta 114 Washington 107
Philadelphia 120 Portland 119
Brooklyn 124 Minnesota 123 (OT)
Miami 119 Cleveland 115
San Antonio 128 Denver 120
MLB Spring Training
Toronto 2 Boston 0
Atlanta 3 Tampa Bay 2
N.Y. Yankees 4 Detroit 3
Philadelphia 10 Pittsburgh 4
N.Y. Mets (ss) 7 Houston 2
L.A. Dodgers 6 L.A. Angels 5
Chicago White Sox 4 Chicago Cubs 3
Kansas City 1 San Diego 0
Oakland 12 Texas 11
Seattle 11 Cincinnati (ss) 3
Milwaukee 12 Cleveland 3
Colorado 8 San Francisco 1
Miami 7 Washington 2
St. Louis 7 N.Y. Mets (ss) 5
Minnesota 5 Baltimore 5
Cincinnati 6 Arizona 5
Saturday’s Games (All Times Eastern)
NHL
Detroit at Boston, 1 p.m.
Philadelphia at Pittsburgh, 3:30 p.m.
N.Y. Rangers at Buffalo, 5 p.m.
Arizona at Colorado, 6 p.m.
Edmonton at Toronto, 7 p.m.
New Jersey at Montreal, 7 p.m.
Winnipeg at Florida, 7 p.m.
Chicago at Tampa Bay, 7 p.m.
St. Louis at Columbus, 7 p.m.
Vegas at Carolina, 7 p.m.
Washington at N.Y. Islanders, 7:30 p.m.
Ottawa at Vancouver, 10 p.m.
Dallas at Seattle, 10 p.m.
Minnesota at San Jose, 10:30 p.m.
Nashville at Los Angeles, 10:30 p.m.
NBA
New York at L.A. Clippers, 4 p.m.
Indiana at Detroit, 7 p.m.
Miami at Orlando, 7 p.m.
Utah at Charlotte, 7 p.m.
Boston at Atlanta, 7:30 p.m.
Chicago at Houston, 8 p.m.
Dallas at Memphis, 8 p.m.
Milwaukee at Golden State, 8:30 p.m.
Oklahoma City at New Orleans, 8:30 p.m.
Sacramento at Phoenix, 10 p.m.
MLS
Atlanta at Charlotte FC, 12 p.m.
FC Dallas at Vancouver, 5 p.m.
Seattle at Cincinnati, 7:30 p.m.
Columbus at Toronto FC, 7:30 p.m.
Orlando City at D.C. United, 7:30 p.m.
Miami at New York City FC, 7:30 p.m.
Chicago at Philadelphia, 7:30 p.m.
CF Montreal at Nashville, 8:30 p.m.
LA Galaxy at Sporting Kansas City, 8:30 p.m.
New York at Minnesota, 8:30 p.m.
Austin FC at Real Salt Lake, 9:30 p.m.
Saint Louis City SC at Portland, 10:30 p.m.
Colorado at San Jose, 10:30 p.m.
MLB Spring Training
Boston vs. Minnesota at Fort Myers, Florida, 1:05 p.m.
Detroit vs. Atlanta at North Port, Florida, 1:05 p.m.
Philadelphia vs. N.Y. Yankees (ss) at Tampa, Florida, 1:05 p.m.
St. Louis vs. Houston at Palm Beach, Florida, 1:05 p.m.
N.Y. Yankees (ss) vs. Pittsburgh at Bradenton, Florida, 1:05 p.m.
Baltimore vs. Toronto at Dunedin, Florida, 1:07 p.m.
Chicago Cubs vs. L.A. Dodgers (ss) at Phoenix, Arizona, 3:05 p.m.
Cincinnati vs. Texas at Surprise, Arizona, 3:05 p.m.
L.A. Dodgers (ss) vs. San Francisco at Scottsdale, Arizona, 3:05 p.m.
Oakland vs. Cleveland at Goodyear, Arizona, 3:05 p.m.
Tampa Bay vs. Miami at Sarasota, Florida, 3:10 p.m.
Arizona vs. L.A. Angels at Tempe, Arizona, 3:10 p.m.
Kansas City vs. Milwaukee at Phoenix, Arizona, 3:10 p.m.
Seattle vs. Colorado at Scottsdale, Arizona, 3:10 p.m.
Chicago White Sox vs. San Diego at Peoria, Arizona, 3:10 p.m.
N.Y. Mets vs. Washington at Palm Beach, Florida, 7:05 p.m.