(AP) — Federal drug enforcement agents are investigating former players’ claims that NFL teams have mishandled prescription drugs. The agents showed up unannounced Sunday to check the medical staffs of at least three visiting teams. The staffs were with the San Francisco 49ers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Seattle Seahawks. There were no arrests.
Category: Sports
Tigers defeat Valpo as Anderson gets first win at Missouri
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Kim Anderson says his team is a work in progress. But after a disappointing season opener, he can now rest a little easier after a 56-41 win against Valparaiso on Sunday.
“Friday night was an embarrassment, not to take anything away from” Missouri-Kansas City, the first-year Missouri coach said about his team’s 69-61 loss. “To lose at home in your first game, I think our guys were somewhat tentative.”
That tentativeness showed up again in the team’s first half against Valparaiso, as the Tigers led 24-23 at the break despite no player converting more than one field goal. The team finally gained some separation with a 14-2 run to take a 41-29 lead with 9:47 remaining.
Valparaiso never could get closer than seven the rest of the way.
Wes Clark scored 16 points to lead Missouri (1-1) while Johnathan Williams III added 10.
Anderson thought his team started to play more aggressively in the second half by attacking the middle of the court, rather than simply passing around the perimeter. The Tigers made 10 of their first 18 shots after the break and finished 20 of 50 for the game.
“I think we’re coming together more as a team,” Williams said. “Just trying to learn about each other more and bond together as a team.”
E. Victor Nickerson led Valparaiso (1-1) with 12 points while Alec Peters added seven. Peters earned All-Freshman honors in the Horizon League last year with 12.7 points per game, but only played 27 minutes against Missouri because of foul trouble.
Peters collected two fouls in the first 2:55 and then another with 6:06 left in the opening half. He added a fourth 4 1/2 minutes after the break.
“There’s no question it took us out of what we wanted,” Drew said.
Both teams started 3 of 13 from the field, preventing either from leading by more than five in the first half. But the Crusaders couldn’t keep up in the closing half, as coach Bryce Drew said his team was “worn down” by Missouri’s size.
“When you get tired, I think a lot of our shots became short at the end just from fatigue,” he said. “I thought that definitely played a role in those last 10 minutes of the game.”
TIP-INS
Valparaiso: The Crusaders haven’t defeated a major-conference team since Washington in 2008 and won’t face another this regular season. They were picked to finish fourth in the Horizon League after finishing in the same position last year.
Missouri: Attendance was announced at 5,369, slightly more than a third of Mizzou Arena’s capacity, after about a half-inch of snow fell earlier in the day. . Freshman Jakeenan Gant missed his second consecutive game while the school reviews his eligibility.
FREE THROWS
Although Anderson said his team played more aggressively, the Tigers only shot 14 free throws, two fewer than against UMKC. The team converted 12 of them, though, compared with Valparaiso’s seven-of-12 performance from the charity stripe.
MISSING OFFENSE
Valparaiso won its opener Friday 90-76 against East Tennessee State thanks to 50 percent (26 of 52) shooting, including 10 of 18 from 3-point range. But the offense never could find its rhythm at Missouri without Peters consistently on the floor, finishing 33 percent (15 of 46) from the field.
QUOTE OF THE NIGHT
“We definitely needed a win,” Clark said. “We didn’t know exactly where we stood before that game on Friday. It just woke us up some, made us a little bit more aware of where we needed to go and how to get there.”
UP NEXT
Valparaiso hosts Indiana-South Bend on Wednesday.
Missouri hosts Oral Roberts on Wednesday.
— Associated Press —
Chiefs hold off defending champion Seahawks for fifth straight win
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The old offensive line coach in Andy Reid could appreciate the way the Kansas City Chiefs pried open holes for Jamaal Charles to run free against Seattle on Sunday.
He could appreciate the way their defensive front stepped up, too.
Given a lead thanks largely to the legs of their dazzling running back, the Chiefs held the Seahawks on fourth down three times in the final quarter. The result was a tense 24-20 victory that pushed Kansas City into a first-place tie with the Denver Broncos in the AFC West.
“We’re sitting there with three fourth-down plays late in the game,” Reid said, “and they stepped up and did a phenomenal job there getting off the field.”
As for Charles, who finished with 159 yards and two touchdowns?
“He’s Jamaal Charles,” Reid said. “He’s a special player.”
Russell Wilson threw for 178 yards and two TDs for the Seahawks, and Marshawn Lynch had 124 yards rushing. But Lynch, fresh off a four-touchdown game, was stuffed twice by the Kansas City defense with the outcome hanging in the balance.
The Seahawks’ last-chance drive ended when Wilson threw incomplete on fourth-and-18 at their 20-yard line with 1:13 left.
“They had a great defense,” Wilson said. “They just made a great play.”
The Chiefs’ first fourth-down stop came with about 6 minutes to go. Lynch was tackled after a 2-yard gain on third down, and coach Pete Carroll elected to gamble at the Chiefs 2. Wilson saw Doug Baldwin in the corner of the end zone but badly overthrew him.
Seattle (6-4) held to get the ball back and appeared to convert a third down with a completion at the Chiefs 35. Reid wisely challenged the spot, though, and replays showed wide receiver Jermaine Kearse was a full yard short. The Seahawks again went for it, and Lynch was stuffed for no gain with less than 4 minutes to go.
By the time the Seahawks got the ball back one last time, they were pinned so deep in their own territory with such little time on the clock that it hardly mattered.
Lynch left without speaking to reporters.
“Every game we’ve lost this season it seems like it’s come down to the last play, whether it’s defense or offense,” Seattle defensive end Michael Bennett said. “That’s the name of the game.”
It made sense the two playoff contenders would wage an old-school, back-and-forth affair. Both are built in the same mold, featuring stout defenses and strong running games.
Kansas City struck first with a relentless 15-play drive that took up more than 9 minutes of the first half and ended with Charles’ 1-yard touchdown run. Seattle answered with its own 16-play drive, chewing up exactly 9 minutes and ending with Wilson’s TD pass to Baldwin.
Nothing really changed the rest of the half.
Charles broke two long runs on the Chiefs’ next possession, including a 16-yard touchdown. Lynch came back with a punishing series of carries to help set up a field goal.
The Chiefs overcame two fumbles that led to Seattle scores. Travis Kelce lost the ball near midfield late in the first half, and the Seahawks capitalized with a field goal.
Then Charles was fighting for extra yardage again near midfield in the third quarter when he was stripped of the ball.
“I was doing too much,” Charles said. “I just lost it as I was going down.”
Five plays later, Wilson hit tight end Tony Moeaki — who spent most of his first four injury-plagued seasons with Kansas City — with a short touchdown toss for a 20-17 lead.
Once again turning to Charles, the Chiefs answered. The elusive running back put a nifty juke on Earl Thomas and scampered 47 yards before getting pushed out of bounds. Gassed, Charles watched as Knile Davis capped the drive to give the Chiefs a 24-20 lead.
Then he watched his defense make it stick.
“It was a heartbreaking loss,” Wilson said. “We thought we could have or should have won it.”
Game notes
Seahawks WR Ricardo Lockette was ejected in the second half for throwing a right hook at Chiefs CB Kurt Coleman. … Seattle C Max Unger was carted off with a high ankle sprain and twisted knee midway through the fourth quarter. Patrick Lewis finished in his place. … Charles had not run for 100 yards in any game this season.
— Associated Press —
Pitt State & Northwest earn NCAA Division II Football Playoff bids
Pittsburg State and Northwest Missouri have both earned spots in the NCAA Division II Football Championship announced on Sunday.
Pittsburg State will face off with Harding at 1 p.m. in the opening round on Nov. 22 from Pittsburg, Kan. Northwest Missouri will go on the road to Minnesota Duluth where they will face off with the Bulldogs on Nov. 22 from Duluth, Minn. at a time to be announced later.
The Pittsburg State/Harding winner will face off with second seed Minnesota State and the Northwest Missouri/Duluth winner will travel to Ouachita Baptist in the second round.
Super Region 3 Field
1. Ouachita Baptist (Bye)
2. Minnesota State (Bye)
3. Pittsburg State
4. Minnesota Duluth
5. Northwest Missouri
6. Harding
— MIAA Press Release —
No. 21 Huskers open season with easy win over Northern Kentucky
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s Terran Petteway missed everything with an ill-advised shot from the wing but, thanks to an errant outlet pass, the ball ended up right back in his hands.
With no hesitation he launched a 3-pointer that swished through the hoop and left coach Tim Miles shaking his head. Assistant coach Chris Harriman remarked to Miles, “Well, he doesn’t lack confidence.”
No, he sure doesn’t.
Petteway scored 25 points, making six 3s, to lead the 21st-ranked Cornhuskers to an 80-61 victory over Northern Kentucky on Sunday.
Petteway took nearly twice as many shots as any of his teammates, making 7 of 15. That bad shot-good shot sequence in the second half summed up his afternoon.
“You take a bad shot like that and get the ball right back? That’s a good day,” he said.
Shavon Shields had 11 of his 18 points in the second half and made all 10 of his free throws. David Rivers added 12 points.
Freshman Tayler Persons led the Norse with 13 points. Anthony Monaco, averaging 2.5 points in 51 career games, matched his career high with 12, all on 3-pointers.
The Atlantic Sun’s Northern Kentucky (0-2) lost its opener 62-31 at third-ranked Wisconsin on Friday and was outscored by a combined 50 points by the Big Ten opponents.
“Those two teams are both real good, but they’re really different,” Norse coach Dave Bezold said. “Wisconsin, they want to slow you down with defense. You’re playing and you think you’re close and you look up and you’re down by 20 points.
“Nebraska, they get after you. They’re quick off the ball, they come at you hard on both ends. They’ve got guys that are skilled and they don’t quit. They hit us in bunches, and when they got going, they’re hard to deal with.”
Nebraska, ranked for the first time since January 1995, trailed by six points in the first four minutes. The Huskers used a 25-7 run to take a double-digit lead that grew to 22 in the second half.
—
TIP-INS
Nebraska: The Huskers have won 14 straight openers and 21 of their past 23. Petteway’s first dunk came on a fast-break alley-oop pass from Benny Parker late in the first half. Nebraska held a 22-6 advantage in points off turnovers.
Northern Kentucky: The Norse scored 30 points in the first half, one fewer than their program record-low game total against Wisconsin. They outrebounded Nebraska 36-33, including 15-6 on the offensive end. The Norse were 11 of 21 on free throws after going 1 of 5 from the line against Wisconsin.
FINE FRESHMAN
Nebraska freshman point guard Tarin Smith was impressive in his debut. He played 16 minutes off the bench, scoring six points and making a nice pass to Petteway on the wing for a 3-pointer. “He’s fitting in pretty good,” Petteway said. “He got a lot of minutes today, which is going to help him build his confidence for these games we’ve got coming up. I’m excited to see him in the rotation a little bit more.”
UP NEXT
Nebraska hosts Central Arkansas on Tuesday.
Northern Kentucky hosts North Carolina A&T on Wednesday.
— Associated Press —
Three MIAA volleyball teams qualify for NCAA Tournament
Three MIAA squads will make their way to the NCAA Division II Central Volleyball Regional hosted by Minnesota Duluth beginning next week.
Central Missouri is the highest seeded MIAA team earning the fourth spot and facing fifth seed Wayne State in the opening round. Nebraska-Kearney, who was league co-champion with UCM, will be the sixth seed and face third seed Southwest Minnesota State.
Washburn has earned the seventh seed and will face off with defending National Champion Concordia St. Paul to open the tournament.
All first round games will be played on Thursday, Nov. 20 from Romano Gymnasium in Duluth, Minn.
Central Regional First Round Match-Ups
1. Minnesota Duluth
8. Arkansas Tech
5. Wayne State (Neb.)
4. Central Missouri
2. Concordia St. Paul
7. Washburn
6. Nebraska-Kearney
3. Southwest Minnesota State
— MIAA Press Release —
Griffons rally at Missouri Southern to win final game of 2014
The Missouri Western football team put an exclamation point on the 2014 season with a 22-21 come from behind win at Missouri Southern on Saturday.
Trailing 16-7 in the fourth quarter, Missouri Southern scored two touchdowns in two minutes to take their first lead since the first quarter, 21-16.
Missouri Western took the lead back on a 10-play, 91-yard drive capped off by a 14-yard touchdown reception by Daylon Harper. With 1:49 left, the Griffon defense stopped the Lions short on a fourth and four from the Missouri Western 42 when senior linebacker Stephen Juergens drug the Southern ball carrier down at the line of scrimmage.
It was the first time Missouri Western overcame a fourth quarter deficit since the opening game of the season at home against Central Missouri.
Missouri Western gave the Lions a dose of their own medicine, controlling time of possession, by 13 minutes. Aiding the team in that statistic were two second half scoring drives over 90 yards.
Missouri Western outgained Missouri Southern 390 yards to 277 and held the MIAA’s top rushing team to just 160 yards on the ground.
Skyler Windmiller finished 15-29 for 222 yards passing with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Raphael Spencer rushed 31 times for 145 yards and one TD to move into third on the all-time rushing list at Missouri Western.
Juergens led the defense once again with 13 tackles, three tackles for loss and one sack. Yomi Alli added 11 tackles.
The win capped off Griffon Football’s 12th straight winning season in the MIAA as Missouri Western finished the 2014 season 7-4.
— MWSU Sports Information —
Mizzou hangs on to win at No. 24 Texas A&M 34-27
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Russell Hansbrough ran for a career-high 199 yards and two touchdowns to help Missouri to a 34-27 win over Texas A&M on Saturday night.
Missouri (8-2, 5-1 SEC) scored 28 points in the third quarter to erase a seven-point halftime deficit and take a 34-20 lead.
The Aggies got within a touchdown early in the fourth quarter and had a chance to tie it with less than three minutes remaining, but lost a yard on fourth down from the Missouri 1.
The Tigers then ran out the clock to secure their fourth straight win and remain in first place in the SEC East.
Hansbrough ran for touchdowns of 49 and 45 yards in his fifth career 100-yard game in front of a crowd of more than 100,000 which included former President George H.W. Bush and his wife Barbara.
Kyle Allen threw for 237 yards with three touchdowns and an interception for Texas A&M (7-4, 3-4).
He tossed a 4-yard pass over the head of safety Duron Singleton to Malcome Kennedy for a touchdown to cut Missouri’s lead to 34-27 early in the fourth quarter.
Andrew Baggett’s 49-yard field-goal attempt bounced off the right upright, giving the Aggies the ball back with 5 1/2 minutes remaining, but they came away empty after the fourth-down stop.
Missouri’s Shane Ray had a sack to give him 13 this season, extending his school record. Maty Mauk threw for 252 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
The Tigers tied it at 13-13 when Mauk found Darius White in the end zone for a 16-yard touchdown reception early in the third quarter.
A&M responded quickly with Allen finding Josh Reynolds for a 56-yard touchdown catch three plays later to put the Aggies back up 20-13. The score gave Reynolds 12 touchdown receptions this season to tie a school record. He finished with five receptions for 125 yards.
Hansbrough knotted the score once again when he burst up the middle 49 yards for a touchdown less than two minutes later.
Missouri forced a punt and Hansbrough did it again on the next drive, this time evading three tacklers on his way to a 45-yard touchdown run to make it 27-20. A 16-yard touchdown run by freshman Ish Witter pushed the lead to 34-20 with about a minute left in the quarter.
Texas A&M’s defense gave up 587 yards playing without linemen Myles Garrett and Ivan Robinson who missed the game with injuries.
Josh Reynolds grabbed a short pass from Allen, slipped from one defender and flipped over another and into the end zone for a 24-yard touchdown to give A&M a 10-3 lead about 10 minutes before halftime.
That score came after the Aggies got a fresh set of downs when Missouri was penalized for roughing the punter.
Bud Sasser had a 2-yard touchdown catch wiped out when he was called for pass interference and the Tigers settled for a 35-yard field goal to cut the lead to 10-6. Sasser finished with 83 yards receiving.
The Tigers were driving late in the second quarter when Armani Watts intercepted a pass and returned it 36 yards. Reynolds had a 32-yard reception to set up a 31-yard field goal to leave A&M up 13-6 at halftime.
— Associated Press —
MWSU women let eight-point lead slip away in loss at Quincy
LaQuinta Jefferson and the rest of the Missouri Western women’s basketball team made the last two minutes interesting Saturday night at Quincy, but the Griffons came up short against the Hawks, 77-70, in the QU Subway Tip-Off Classic.
With 2:39 left in the game, Quincy led by 11, but a 7-0 run by the Griffons brought them within four. Jefferson scored eight straight points, including two straight three pointers to keep the Quincy lead at four with :43 seconds left.
Jefferson’s fifth foul sent the Lady Hawks to the line as they made both free throws, stretched the lead back to six and never looked back. The Griffons held their largest lead of the game — eight points — with 14:37 left in the game but Quincy used a 13-3 run to go back on top with 9:26 left and never trailed again.
Jefferson finished with 24 points and was 7-11 from the field. Missouri Western shot 40 percent from the field, 39 percent from behind the arch and 71 percent from the charity stripe. They pulled down 41 rebounds to Quincy’s 43. The Lady Hawks scored 18 second chance points to the Griffons eight. Sarafina Handy was the only other Griffon in double figures, scoring 15 points.
The Griffons bring their 1-1 record back to St. Joseph next week when the open at home against Rockhurst on Thursday.
— MWSU Sports Information —
Northwest men defeat Upper Iowa for first win of season
Northwest Missouri State kept its composure and relied on teamwork to withstand the barrage of three-pointers unleashed by Upper Iowa midway through the second half.
The Peacocks, who were ice cold in the first half on three-pointers, started knocking down one trey after another. They closed to six points.
Undaunted, Northwest stayed with its offense. The Bearcats made a few three-pointers, scored a few more field goals inside the arc and stayed aggressive and that led to free throws.
The lead grew back to double digits and ended with Northwest capturing its first victory of the season, beating the Peacocks 91-83 Saturday evening at Bearcat Arena.
“It is definitely a relief to get the first win,” said sophomore forward Zach Schneider. “We had a shot at it last night. We didn’t pull it out.
“Our guards did a really good job of getting everyone open looks. Tonight we knocked them done a lot better and that was good.”
Northwest, 1-1, returns to action at 5 p.m. on Friday against William Jewell at Missouri Western.
Northwest appeared in complete control when Grant Cozad made a field goal, giving the Bearcats a 65-50 lead with 8:47 left.
“I thought defensively we executed, especially early in the game,” Northwest coach Ben McCollum said. “Offensively, the first half we were a little rough, missing layups and missing wide-open threes. I think that is more of an inexperienced thing than anything else. We are starting to gain some experience and confidence. We are a work in progress.”
Northwest showed they can handle a run late in the second half.
Back-to-back treys by Upper Iowa sliced Northwest’s lead to 65-56. After a basket by Cozad, the Peacocks made another three-pointer. Upper Iowa closed to 70-64 on another three-pointer.
“I feel like they hit seven or eight in a row there,” Schneider said. “We made a few mistakes. We didn’t get out their shooters. But we built enough of a lead that we could afford to make a few mistakes.”
Northwest junior Conner Crooker hit a three-pointer, putting the Bearcats up nine at 73-64, and Upper Iowa quickly answered with a three-pointer.
The Bearcats finally regained control when Matt Wallace drilled a three-pointer and followed that several seconds later with two free throws that gave Northwest a 78-67 lead.
The Peacocks never threatened again.
“I thought we responded well, especially for a young team,” McCollum said. “Throughout the game we didn’t respond as well as I would like. If we missed a layup, we were frustrated all the way down to the other end rather than turn around and figure it out and get the stop.”
Offensively, it was a team effort for Northwest. Led by 20 from Crooker, all five starters scored in double figures. Schneider tied his career-high with 19, freshman point guard Justin Pitts scored 16, Wallace had 12 and Cozad finished with 11.
Northwest went into halftime with a 40-33 lead because of one statistic. The Bearcats went 6-for-12 from behind the three-point arc while Upper Iowa hit just one of its 12 three-point attempts.
It was near the end of the first half that Northwest found its form on the long-range shots. A three-pointer by Crooker gave the Bearcats a 29-28 lead.
Schneider, who was 4-for-7 on three-points in the opening 20 minutes, solidified Northwest’s lead with a three-pointer that made it 32-28.
“I think our jitters carried over a little from last night,” Schneider said. “Once we got settled in, we are pretty tough to stop, especially with Pitts. He is pretty quick. He finds everyone who is open.”
Northwest concluded the first half with Schneider and Crooker each making a three-pointer.
Freshman forward Brett Dougherty came off the bench and provided a spark inside the paint during the midway point in the first when Northwest was struggling on offense.
Dougherty made three buckets in the paint and added a free throw for seven points in only 8 minutes of action.
— Northwest Sports Information —