New College Sports

Viewpoint: Sports coexist with education

rich — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:01:31 +0000

BY ANDREI S. MARKOVITS

The spate of recent criticisms regarding college sports — meaning the big-time revenue makers of football and men’s basketball, with few worries allotted to swimming or gymnastics — center on two arguments: that their behemoth existence is detrimental to the University’s mission of education and scholarship, and their prominence in University life is new. Neither claim is true.

As to the former, the growth of these two sports in the course of the post-World War II era also coincides with the emergence of the American university as the envy of the world. According to two surveys conducted on a yearly basis, “Top 400 – The Times Higher Education World University Rankings” and “QS Top 500 Universities” American universities have consistently been present in both. There are 20 U.S. universities among the top 50 in the QS ranking and 30 U.S. universities among the top 50 in the Times Higher Education ranking.

A quick glance at these American universities will reveal a substantial number of institutions in which big-time Division-I college football and men’s basketball play a key role, and have done so for decades. Among these are eminent institutions such as Stanford University; the University of California, Berkeley; the University of California, Los Angeles; the University of Michigan; the University of Wisconsin; the University of Texas and Duke University.

Yes, the University of Chicago, the California Institute of Technology, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Ivy League schools — including Harvard University, Yale University, Princeton University and Columbia University — do have both of these sports, among many others, but arguably they have come to play a less salient role in these institutions’ identities than in the other schools’.

Moreover, a brief look at much-discussed Penn State University will reveal that parallel to this university’s growth in football prominence under the aegis of the late Joe Paterno, a comparable, if not even more impressive, growth in this institution’s stature as a leading research university on both national and international levels occurred.

With the faculties of most American universities now more accomplished, more professionally active, more published and more diverse over the past four decades, and with greater student competition for admission, an argument can be made that today’s American university is intellectually and professionally superior to its erstwhile predecessor.

Concerning the second point, there exists ample evidence that football and other sports, such as rowing and baseball, became central ingredients of American college existence by the early 1860s. As sport historians John A. Lucas and Ronald A. Smith (individually and jointly) have amply shown, virtually all the ills that we currently bemoan sports to have corrupted the integrity of our universities’ educational mission existed in college football of the late 19th century: financial favors to sub-freshmen recruits, constant violations of eligibility rules, bowing to alumni interests and outside boosters, payment of professional coaches well beyond faculty salaries and sports budgets far exceeding those of large departments and even entire schools.

For example, Yale’s income from football in 1903 equaled the combined budgets of the law, divinity and medical schools. The reason for this was clear then and remains clear now: product differentiation. America’s nine colonial colleges emulated Oxford and Cambridge Universities, including playing sports. But unlike Oxford and Cambridge, whose product needed no particular distinction in the then still sparse world of British higher education, this was not the case with their American imitators. Here, the need for differentiation among a greater number of universities became a necessity, especially with the considerable growth in institutions of higher education following the passing of the Morrill Land-Grant Act signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln in 1862.

Sports came to play a crucial role in creation of these institutions’ identities. When Columbia won a regatta on Lake Saratoga in 1874, President Frederick Barnard congratulated the team by saying that this victory would carry the name of Columbia to far-away places like Paris, London, Hong Kong and Kolkata. And one year later, Cornell President Andrew White welcomed his victorious rowers with flying flags and the University chimes a-ringing.

Moreover, sports proved a great social equalizer. Young men from rural backgrounds and modest means attending the newly-formed land grant colleges could — and often did — defeat rivals hailing from privilege and money, precisely because even then, sports were better understood and more avidly followed by the vast majority of the public than physics or philosophy.

Viewpoint: Sports coexist with education

rich — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:01:31 +0000

BY ANDREI S. MARKOVITS

College sports results (02/06/12)

rich — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:01:30 +0000

MEN’S BASKETBALL

AP TOP 25

The Top 25 teams in the Associated Press’ poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Sunday, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and previous ranking:

Record Pts Prv

1. Kentucky (63) 23-1 1,623 1

2. Syracuse (2) 23-1 1,553 2

3. Ohio St. 20-3 1,493 3

4. Missouri 21-2 1,415 4

5. North Carolina 20-3 1,352 5

6. Baylor 21-2 1,318 6

7. Kansas 18-5 1,170 8

8. Florida 19-4 1,066 12

9. Murray St. 23-0 1,055 10

10. Duke 19-4 1,037 7

11. Michigan St. 18-5 1,032 9

12. Georgetown 18-4 919 14

13. San Diego St. 20-3 728 17

14. UNLV 21-4 702 11

15. Florida St. 16-6 694 21

16. Saint Mary’s 22-2 635 18

17. Creighton 21-3 600 13

18. Marquette 19-5 469 15

19. Virginia 18-4 448 16

20. Mississippi St. 18-5 401 22

21. Wisconsin 18-6 384 19

22. Michigan 17-7 253 23

23. Indiana 18-6 227 20

24. Louisville 18-5 112 –

25. Harvard 20-2 105 –

Others receiving votes: Notre Dame 83, Iowa St. 71, Southern Miss. 51, Temple 41, Gonzaga 35, Wichita St. 31, Long Beach St. 6, New Mexico 5, Kansas St. 3, Cleveland St. 2, Iona 2, Vanderbilt 2, BYU 1, Miami 1.

FAR WEST

Montana 76, Idaho St. 40

SOUTHWEST

Ark.-Pine Bluff 62, Alabama St. 61

Missouri 71, Oklahoma 68

Texas 70, Texas A&M 68

MIDWEST

Marquette 89, DePaul 76

SOUTH

Alcorn St. 57, Grambling St. 55

Belmont 94, Austin Peay 55

Davidson 76, Wofford 54

Delaware St. 77, Hampton 69

Elon 82, Appalachian St. 59

Fayetteville St. 71, Johnson C. Smith 57

Florida A&M 87, NC A&T 77

Georgia Southern 64, Furman 57

Howard 54, Morgan St. 46

Jacksonville 74, Stetson 63

Louisville 80, Connecticut 59

MVSU 78, Alabama A&M 64

Mercer 54, ETSU 46

NC Central 81, Bethune-Cookman 79

Norfolk St. 72, Md.-Eastern Shore 60

North Florida 68, Florida Gulf Coast 62

SC State 74, Longwood 58

SC-Upstate 70, Kennesaw St. 58

Savannah St. 55, Texas A&M-CC 49

Shaw 71, Livingstone 64

Southern U. 49, Jackson St. 44 (OT)

Wheeling Jesuit 105, Pitt.-Johnstown 80

Winston-Salem 55, St. Augustine’s 43

Xavier (NO) 73, Southern NO 62

EAST

Baruch 77, CCNY 51

Boston U. 81, Albany (NY) 78

Brooklyn 83, Berkeley (NY) 78

Gwynedd-Mercy 100, Keystone 96

Penn St.-Altoona 58, Lancaster Bible 45

Stony Brook 57, New Hampshire 48

Vermont 73, Maine 63

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

AP TOP 25

The Top 25 teams in the Associated Press’ women’s poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Sunday, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and previous ranking:

Record Pts Prv

1. Baylor (40) 23-0 1,000 1

2. Notre Dame 23-1 960 2

3. UConn 21-2 917 3

4. Stanford 20-1 882 4

5. Duke 18-3 805 5

6. Miami 20-3 803 7

7. Kentucky 21-3 728 6

8. Maryland 19-3 709 9

9. Green Bay 20-0 659 10

10. Ohio St. 20-2 651 11

11. Tennessee 17-6 582 8

12. Delaware 20-1 556 12

13. Nebraska 19-3 507 16

14. Georgetown 18-5 444 17

15. Texas A&M 16-5 417 18

16. Purdue 19-5 385 15

17. Rutgers 17-6 334 13

18. Penn St. 18-5 307 19

19. Gonzaga 21-3 268 20

20. Louisville 17-6 217 14

21. Georgia 18-6 207 21

22. Georgia Tech 17-6 128 24

22. North Carolina 17-5 128 23

24. South Carolina 18-5 123 –

25. St. Bonaventure 22-2 82 –

Others receiving votes: DePaul 38, BYU 28, Cal 25, Texas Tech 24, Oklahoma 18, Arkansas 14, Princeton 12, St. John’s 12, Florida Gulf Coast 8, Kansas St. 7, UTEP 7, Fresno St. 6, Bowling Green 1, West Virginia 1.

FAR WEST

Idaho St. 54, Montana 48

SOUTHWEST

Alabama St. 68, Ark.-Pine Bluff 57

Baylor 81, Oklahoma 54

MIDWEST

E. Illinois 64, E. Kentucky 51

IUPUI 64, Oakland 61

Morehead St. 73, SIU-Edwardsville 70

N. Dakota St. 74, S. Utah 56

Ohio St. 72, Wisconsin 58

S. Dakota St. 70, Oral Roberts 51

W. Illinois 81, IPFW 75

SOUTH

Appalachian St. 50, Coll. of Charleston 41

Bethune-Cookman 63, NC Central 61

Charleston Southern 86, Gardner-Webb 66

Coastal Carolina 74, UNC Asheville 58

Davidson 69, Georgia Southern 62

Duke 96, North Carolina 56

Elon 69, UNC-Greensboro 50

Florida A&M 68, NC A&T 63

Furman 75, Chattanooga 61

Grambling St. 66, Alcorn St. 58

Hampton 72, Delaware St. 33

Howard 64, Morgan St. 55

Liberty 73, High Point 65

MVSU 73, Alabama A&M 44

Maryland 64, Georgia Tech 56

Md.-Eastern Shore 62, Norfolk St. 58 (OT)

Murray St. 66, Tennessee St. 56

Radford 64, Campbell 59

Savannah St. 53, Longwood 41

Southern U. 65, Jackson St. 60

Tennessee Tech 68, Austin Peay 65

UT-Martin 99, Jacksonville St. 67

Wofford 73, Samford 59

EAST

CCSU 67, St. Francis (NY) 51

Fairleigh Dickinson 74, Quinnipiac 65

LIU 50, Bryant 41

Marist 87, St. Peter’s 49

Monmouth (NJ) 70, Sacred Heart 50

Mount St. Mary’s 80, Robert Morris 75

St. Francis (Pa.) 85, Wagner 68

College sports results (02/06/12)

rich — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:01:29 +0000

MEN’S BASKETBALL

AP TOP 25

Record Pts Prv

1. Kentucky (63) 23-1 1,623 1

2. Syracuse (2) 23-1 1,553 2

3. Ohio St. 20-3 1,493 3

4. Missouri 21-2 1,415 4

5. North Carolina 20-3 1,352 5

6. Baylor 21-2 1,318 6

7. Kansas 18-5 1,170 8

8. Florida 19-4 1,066 12

9. Murray St. 23-0 1,055 10

10. Duke 19-4 1,037 7

11. Michigan St. 18-5 1,032 9

12. Georgetown 18-4 919 14

13. San Diego St. 20-3 728 17

14. UNLV 21-4 702 11

15. Florida St. 16-6 694 21

16. Saint Mary’s 22-2 635 18

17. Creighton 21-3 600 13

18. Marquette 19-5 469 15

19. Virginia 18-4 448 16

20. Mississippi St. 18-5 401 22

21. Wisconsin 18-6 384 19

22. Michigan 17-7 253 23

23. Indiana 18-6 227 20

24. Louisville 18-5 112 –

25. Harvard 20-2 105 –

FAR WEST

Montana 76, Idaho St. 40

SOUTHWEST

Ark.-Pine Bluff 62, Alabama St. 61

Missouri 71, Oklahoma 68

Texas 70, Texas A&M 68

MIDWEST

Marquette 89, DePaul 76

SOUTH

Alcorn St. 57, Grambling St. 55

Belmont 94, Austin Peay 55

Davidson 76, Wofford 54

Delaware St. 77, Hampton 69

Elon 82, Appalachian St. 59

Fayetteville St. 71, Johnson C. Smith 57

Florida A&M 87, NC A&T 77

Georgia Southern 64, Furman 57

Howard 54, Morgan St. 46

Jacksonville 74, Stetson 63

Louisville 80, Connecticut 59

MVSU 78, Alabama A&M 64

Mercer 54, ETSU 46

NC Central 81, Bethune-Cookman 79

Norfolk St. 72, Md.-Eastern Shore 60

North Florida 68, Florida Gulf Coast 62

SC State 74, Longwood 58

SC-Upstate 70, Kennesaw St. 58

Savannah St. 55, Texas A&M-CC 49

Shaw 71, Livingstone 64

Southern U. 49, Jackson St. 44 (OT)

Wheeling Jesuit 105, Pitt.-Johnstown 80

Winston-Salem 55, St. Augustine’s 43

Xavier (NO) 73, Southern NO 62

EAST

Baruch 77, CCNY 51

Boston U. 81, Albany (NY) 78

Brooklyn 83, Berkeley (NY) 78

Gwynedd-Mercy 100, Keystone 96

Penn St.-Altoona 58, Lancaster Bible 45

Stony Brook 57, New Hampshire 48

Vermont 73, Maine 63

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

AP TOP 25

Record Pts Prv

1. Baylor (40) 23-0 1,000 1

2. Notre Dame 23-1 960 2

3. UConn 21-2 917 3

4. Stanford 20-1 882 4

5. Duke 18-3 805 5

6. Miami 20-3 803 7

7. Kentucky 21-3 728 6

8. Maryland 19-3 709 9

9. Green Bay 20-0 659 10

10. Ohio St. 20-2 651 11

11. Tennessee 17-6 582 8

12. Delaware 20-1 556 12

13. Nebraska 19-3 507 16

14. Georgetown 18-5 444 17

15. Texas A&M 16-5 417 18

16. Purdue 19-5 385 15

17. Rutgers 17-6 334 13

18. Penn St. 18-5 307 19

19. Gonzaga 21-3 268 20

20. Louisville 17-6 217 14

21. Georgia 18-6 207 21

22. Georgia Tech 17-6 128 24

22. North Carolina 17-5 128 23

24. South Carolina 18-5 123 –

25. St. Bonaventure 22-2 82 –

FAR WEST

Idaho St. 54, Montana 48

SOUTHWEST

Alabama St. 68, Ark.-Pine Bluff 57

Baylor 81, Oklahoma 54

MIDWEST

E. Illinois 64, E. Kentucky 51

IUPUI 64, Oakland 61

Morehead St. 73, SIU-Edwardsville 70

N. Dakota St. 74, S. Utah 56

Ohio St. 72, Wisconsin 58

S. Dakota St. 70, Oral Roberts 51

W. Illinois 81, IPFW 75

SOUTH

Appalachian St. 50, Coll. of Charleston 41

Bethune-Cookman 63, NC Central 61

Charleston Southern 86, Gardner-Webb 66

Coastal Carolina 74, UNC Asheville 58

Davidson 69, Georgia Southern 62

Duke 96, North Carolina 56

Elon 69, UNC-Greensboro 50

Florida A&M 68, NC A&T 63

Furman 75, Chattanooga 61

Grambling St. 66, Alcorn St. 58

Hampton 72, Delaware St. 33

Howard 64, Morgan St. 55

Liberty 73, High Point 65

MVSU 73, Alabama A&M 44

Maryland 64, Georgia Tech 56

Md.-Eastern Shore 62, Norfolk St. 58 (OT)

Murray St. 66, Tennessee St. 56

Radford 64, Campbell 59

Savannah St. 53, Longwood 41

Southern U. 65, Jackson St. 60

Tennessee Tech 68, Austin Peay 65

UT-Martin 99, Jacksonville St. 67

Wofford 73, Samford 59

EAST

CCSU 67, St. Francis (NY) 51

Fairleigh Dickinson 74, Quinnipiac 65

LIU 50, Bryant 41

Marist 87, St. Peter’s 49

Monmouth (NJ) 70, Sacred Heart 50

Mount St. Mary’s 80, Robert Morris 75

St. Francis (Pa.) 85, Wagner 68

Other College Sports Capsules: Arkansas-Pine Bluff names new soccer coach

rich — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:01:28 +0000

PINE BLUFF, Ark. (AP) — The University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff has hired a new women’s soccer coach. Director of Athletics Lonza Hardy Jr. said Rohan Naraine will take over the post.

Naraine spent the past two seasons as head women’s soccer coach at St. Andrews College. He also coached at Coastal Carolina University, where he captured two Big South Conference championships and was named the 2007 Big South Coach of the Year.

Naraine began his career at Coker College, where he led the program for four seasons before being named head women’s soccer coach at Southern University.

In college, Naraine attended North Carolina Wesleyan College, where he was a stand-out athlete and led the Battling Bishops to the NCAA Division III National Tournament in 1984.

Baseball

Arkansas-Fort Smith game suspended by rain

FORT SMITH, Ark. (AP) — Rain has delayed the baseball game between Arkansas-Fort Smith and St. Edward’s. The Diamond Lions were ahead 2-0 with one out and runners at first and second in the first inning when it began raining, making conditions unplayable on Sunday.

Arkansas-Fort Smith and St. Edward’s will finish the suspended game Monday morning in Austin. When that game is finished, the Lions and Hilltoppers will play a seven-inning game and one nine-inning game.

Conference rules stipulate that once the three-game series begins teams have 72 hours to finish the series. Arkansas-Fort Smith is an NCAA Division II school.

Football

S.C. college football player found unconscious, dies

CLINTON, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina investigators are looking into the death of a Presbyterian College student and football player.

University spokesman Hal Milam says a fellow student found 21-year-old Kyle Allen of St. Augustine, Fla., unconscious in a fraternity house early Sunday. Allen was taken to Laurens County Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Laurens County Coroner Nick Nichols is investigating the death with the State Law Enforcement Division, which is notified whenever there is a death on a college campus.

The university’s athletic website says Allen was a 5-foot-10, 180-pound linebacker who was redshirted in 2010 after transferring from Georgia Southern. Allen was majoring in business administration.

Other College Sports Capsules: Arkansas-Pine Bluff names new soccer coach

rich — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:01:28 +0000

PINE BLUFF, Ark. (AP) — The University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff has hired a new women’s soccer coach. Director of Athletics Lonza Hardy Jr. said Rohan Naraine will take over the post.

Naraine began his career at Coker College, where he led the program for four seasons before being named head women’s soccer coach at Southern University.

In college, Naraine attended North Carolina Wesleyan College, where he was a stand-out athlete and led the Battling Bishops to the NCAA Division III National Tournament in 1984.

Baseball

Arkansas-Fort Smith game suspended by rain

Conference rules stipulate that once the three-game series begins teams have 72 hours to finish the series. Arkansas-Fort Smith is an NCAA Division II school.

Football

S.C. college football player found unconscious, dies

CLINTON, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina investigators are looking into the death of a Presbyterian College student and football player.

Laurens County Coroner Nick Nichols is investigating the death with the State Law Enforcement Division, which is notified whenever there is a death on a college campus.

College sports notebook: Antensteiner starts, finishes fast

rich — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:01:27 +0000

ANVILLE — Ines Antensteiner, a member of the powerful Lewisburg girls track & field team for the past four seasons wasted little time making her presence felt in college. On Monday, Antensteiner, a freshman at Lebanon Valley, was named the Middle Atlantic Conference’s Indoor Track & Field Athlete of the Week after a pair of event wins at Saturday’s Ducharme Invitational.

It’s the first career honor for Antensteiner. At Dickinson’s Ducharme Invitational, Antensteiner won the 200-meter dash in the MAC’s fastest time of the year, 26.62 seconds. Her time qualified for ECAC Championships and was LVC’s fastest since 1997. She also was part of LVC’s 4×200 relay that won by nearly six seconds in an ECAC-qualifying time of 1:47.53.

Antensteiner returns home this weekend when Lebanon Valley will compete in the Bucknell Invitational.

RECORD BREAKERS: The Bucknell women’s track & field team has snapped three school records in the first two weeks of the indoor season.

Friday night Hana Casalnova took over the top spot in the 1,000 meters at the Youngstown State Invitational with a time of 1:52.96, while the Bison claimed nearly a dozen victories at two meets.

Casalnova ran the fastest 1,000-meter time in school history, taking over the record set by fellow sophomore Beth Braunegg, a Loyalsock alum, just last weekend. Casalnova rocketed up the record list with a 1:52.96. Prior to Friday’s race, where she placed second in the field, she was not among the program’s top 10. Casalnova broke Braunegg’s short-lived record by less than one second.

FAST COMPANY: Five individuals have been selected as recipients of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Award of Merit, including former Bloomsburg field hockey and softball coach Jan Hutchinson. Also being honored are former Cheyney men’s and women’s basketball coaches John Chaney and C. Vivian Stringer, former Clarion wrestler Wade Schalles, and West Chester graduate Cathy Rush, the former women’s basketball coach at Immaculata College.

The PSAC Award of Merit is the conference’s highest honor. Awarded to individuals with a current or previous affiliation with a league school, either as an alum, coach or administrator, it is given for outstanding and extraordinary accomplishments or services that bring exceptional recognition and honor to the conference.

Hutchinson is the winningest coach in NCAA field hockey history with a career record of 591-75-20. She won 16 Division II national titles and the Huskies finished second nine times.

She was just as successful in softball where her career mark was 1,214-288-2. Bloomsburg made an NCAA record 28 consecutive trips to the NCAA tournament, winning the national title in 1982 while finishing second twice, both times losing in extra innings.

BACK IN THE HUNT: Washington & Lee broke the Randolph-Macon men’s basketball team’s 11-game win streak on Saturday, but the Yellowjackets and coach Nathan Davis are still among the nation’s best in Division III.

Davis, a former assistant coach at Bucknell under Pat Flannery, has Randy-Mac off to a 17-3 start. The Yellowjackets made their first appearance in the d3hoops.com Top 25 poll last week at No. 21. They are two games behind Virginia Wesleyan in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference standings with four games left to play. Randolph-Macon hosts Virginia Wesleyan on Wednesday night.

Davis, who coached for Flannery for five seasons before spending a year at Colgate and then taking the job at Randolph Macon at the start of the 2009-10 season, is 68-16 in two-plus seasons with the Yellowjackets. He took the team to the NCAA semifinals in his first year and to the second round of the NCAA tourney last year.

ON THE MARCH: Susquehanna University men’s basketball player Spenser Spencer continues his march up SU’s all-time scoring list.

The senior from Seattle scored 45 points over the weekend, leading SU in scoring for the sixth game in a row, and now heads into the final three games of his career with 1,459 career points. That is good enough for fifth on Susquehanna’s all-time list, 30 points behind David Long (1973-76) for fourth.

The Crusaders close the season with three important league games, starting with Goucher on Friday night, then Catholic on Saturday before Juniata visits in the season finale on Feb. 18.

College sports notebook: Antensteiner starts, finishes fast

rich — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:01:27 +0000

Antensteiner returns home this weekend when Lebanon Valley will compete in the Bucknell Invitational.

RECORD BREAKERS: The Bucknell women’s track & field team has snapped three school records in the first two weeks of the indoor season.

Friday night Hana Casalnova took over the top spot in the 1,000 meters at the Youngstown State Invitational with a time of 1:52.96, while the Bison claimed nearly a dozen victories at two meets.

Hutchinson is the winningest coach in NCAA field hockey history with a career record of 591-75-20. She won 16 Division II national titles and the Huskies finished second nine times.

ON THE MARCH: Susquehanna University men’s basketball player Spenser Spencer continues his march up SU’s all-time scoring list.

The Crusaders close the season with three important league games, starting with Goucher on Friday night, then Catholic on Saturday before Juniata visits in the season finale on Feb. 18.

Sports Digest: Walton leads Cal College women's basketball team to win

rich — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 13:33:00 +0000

Pro football

PACKERS’ RODGERS WINS MVP: The best quarterbacks bring fans out of their seats. Aaron Rodgers and Peyton Manning did exactly that Saturday night when the NFL Most Valuable Player accepted the trophy from the only four-time winner of the award.

The Green Bay quarterback won the 2011 Associated Press award in a landslide. Manning, the hometown hero who didn’t play a down this season because of neck surgery, handed it to him.

Rodgers earned 48 votes to two for New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees in balloting by a nationwide panel of 50 media members who regularly cover the NFL. The Packers star is the first Green Bay player honored since Brett Favre concluded a run of three straight seasons as MVP in 1997.

Brees won Offensive Player of the Year for the second time.

Other winners included:

• Baltimore defensive end/linebacker Terrell Suggs, Defensive Player of the Year.

• San Francisco’s rookie coach Jim Harbaugh, Coach of the Year.

• Detroit quarterback Matthew Stafford, Comeback Player of the Year.

• The top two picks in last April’s draft took the rookie awards: Carolina QB Cam Newton and Denver linebacker Von Miller.

Pro basketball

DENG RETURNS TO SCORE 21 IN BULLS WIN: Derrick Rose scored 21 points and had 13 assists, and Luol Deng added 21 points in his return after missing seven games due to injury, as the Bulls easily beat the Milwaukee Bucks 113-90 Saturday night.

Kyle Korver had 18 points; Joakim Noah had 14 points, and C.J. Watson added 13 for Chicago.

HOWARD SCORES 27 TO BEAT PACERS: Dwight Howard had 27 points and eight rebounds to lead the Orlando Magic to an 85-81 win over the Pacers on Saturday night.

Danny Granger had 19 points and seven rebounds, and Tyler Hansbrough had 17 points and seven rebounds for the Pacers, who have lost two of three to the Magic in less than two weeks.

Men’s basketball

CAL COLLEGE EDGES TRINITY CHRISTIAN: Calumet College built a 17-point lead, then hung on to edge Trinity Christian 72-69 in a Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference game Saturday in Hammond.

Brannon Jones topped the Crimson Wave (11-12, 70-4) with 14 points, one more than Chris Diehl and Roddy Richardson. Karl Anderson nabbed six rebounds, and Devin Key handed out five assists for CCSJ.

SOUTH SUBURBAN WINS SEVENTH STRAIGHT: Led by Sultan Muhammad’s 18 points, NJCAA No. 2 South Suburban beat Black Hawk College 64-55 in Moline, Ill. The Bulldogs (23-1) also got seven points each from Keenan Williams (E.C. Central) and Marcus Lewis.

PRAIRIE STATE WINS: South Holland resident Chris Lockhart’s 25 points led Prairie State to a 72-71 win over Oakton Community College in a Skyway Conference game. Brandon Williams (Bloom) had 17 points for Prairie State (12-13, 4-6).

PUMAS FALLS SHORT: Corey Clifton scored 15 points, and Michael Lipton (Crown Point) had 12, but St. Joseph’s College lost 81-75 to NCAA Division II No. 7 Kentucky Welseyan in a Great Lakes Valley Conference game.

It was Kentucky Wesleyan’s first win in Rensselaer since the 2002-03 season.

A Clifton 3-pointer got the Pumas (7-14, 2-12) within 78-73 with 33 seconds left, but the Panthers (18-3, 10-3) pulled away.

Women’s basketball

WALTON LEADS CRIMSON WAVE TO WIN: Jennifer Walton’s 22 points paced Calumet College to a 53-48 victory over Trinity Christian in a CCAC game Saturday in Hammond. Rebecca Arredondo and Moneva Fields (Thornton) each contributed 12 points and five rebounds for the Crimson Wave (6-21, 3-7).

ST. JOSEPH’S FALLS AT HOME: St. Joseph’s College couldn’t hold on to a seven-point halftime lead as it fell to Kentucky Wesleyan 73-63 in a Great Lakes Valley Conference game.

Montrell Mills led the Pumas (13-8, 7-6) with 18 points, two assists and two steals. Britney Cruse (Merrillville) had 14 points, three rebounds, four assists and three steals.

OAKTON TOPS PRAIRIE STATE: Danielle Zandstra’s 13 points led Prairie State in a 61-51 Skyway Conference loss to Oakton Community College.

College swimming

VALPO MEN GO 1-2 AT MONMOUTH: Valparaiso defeated host Monmouth (156-78) but fell to Augustana (138-115) and Western Illinois (170-83). Trevor Trimpe won the 100 breast and helped the 400 medley relay to a victory.

VU WOMEN SWEEP QUAD MEET: Valparaiso took 10 events in sweeping a quadrangular meet with host Monmouth (163-87), Augustana (155-102) and Western Illinois (144-99). Flavia Segatto (200 fly, 200 back), Andrea Bretl (200 free, 500 free) and Natalie Jarrett (100 breast, 200 IM) were double winners

Men’s tennis

VU PICKS UP FIRST WIN OF SEASON: Chris Baum, Eric Honert and Kevin DeHerrera each picked up singles and doubles wins as the Crusaders picked up their first victory of the season with a 4-3 decision over Dayton. Baum (No. 1), Honert (No. 2) and DeHerrera (No. 3) each won their respective singles matches in straight sets. VU (1-1) swept doubles.

Around the horn

IUSB senior guard Lizzie Stapke (Highland) reached 1,000 points for her career in Saturday’s 77-58 win over St. Francis (Ill.). Stapke had a team-high 16 points. She’s the 12th player in Titans history to reach the mark. … Spencer Levin remained in control in the Phoenix Open in front of the largest crowd in tournament history, shooting a 3-under 68 on Saturday to take a six-stroke lead into the final round. The crowd of 173,210 in perfect conditions at TPC Scottsdale’s Stadium Course broke the record of 170,802 set in the third round in 2008. … Some 24 hours before the Super Bowl, this showed up on the web: “The Giants are Super Bowl CHAMPIONS,” complete with an image of the Lombardi Trophy and a link to order championship gear. The problem: Kickoff was more than 24 hours away. And quicker than you can say “Eli,” it was gone. The NFL said Saturday night that the web page was set up for possible use after Sunday’s game between the Giants and Patriots, but was “inadvertently available for a brief period of time.”

NEW: Alma College men blow 19-point halftime lead in loss to Olivet College

rich — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 00:49:00 +0000

By NATE SCHNEIDER
Sun Sports Writer

Alma College’s Greg Silverthorn looks to shoot against Olivet’s Jaren Edsall Saturday. Sun photograph by LISA YANICK-JONAITIS

Basketball can be a crazy and cruel sport.

More so than most sports, a huge lead is not always safe and if the energy level drops it can lead to disastrous results.

Just three days after playing what was for the most part a complete victory at home over a solid Trine University squad, the Alma College men’s basketball’s played perhaps its best half of basketball to open Saturday afternoon’s contest against Olivet College at Art Smith Arena.

Unfortunately for the Scots, this time around the effort was largely incomplete as the second half told an entirely different story with Alma College squandering a 19-point lead and losing 88-86 to the Comets.

“That might have been the best half of basketball and the worst half of basketball we have played all season,” said Scots head coach Sam Hargraves.

A 56-37 halftime lead was due to blazing hot shooting by Alma College (7-14, 3-7 MIAA), but it all went by the wayside as Olivet College (4-17, 2-8) clawed back gradually and took its first lead of the half at 87-86 with 37.9 seconds left on a turnaround bucket by Paul Lombard.

Alma College had two tries to either take the lead or tie the game and both were off the mark to end it as an excruciating loss.

“We just lack the floor leadership right now,” Hargraves said. “This is the fifth or sixth time this year where we have played a great half, but haven’t maintained that level of play. One of the toughest things in sports is to keep the energy high when you have a big lead and in those situations we are really struggling.”

Sparked by 9-of-14 three-point shooting and 22-of-35 overall shooting on its field goals, Alma College raced out to the huge first-half advantage.

With the score tied at 29-29, a Cory Schneider 3-pointer got the hosts rolling as eight more points by teammate Greg Silverthorn made it an 11-point lead at the 4:32 mark of the half. Continued…

The lead continued to balloon all the way until a Brandon Krause layup put it at 56-37 going into the break.

What the Scots had no answer for, however, was Comets left-handed forward Alvino Ashley. While Ashley had a solid first half with 15 points, he was even better after the break as his 21 additional points were the difference in the game.

“You have to give Olivet College credit for getting back into this game and the left-hander was really good for them today,” said Hargraves. “But to lose this kind of lead, it is really tough to take. Not being able to close out games is becoming an epidemic that we need to change.”

A Schneider 3-pointer with 2:45 left gave the Scots an 86-81 lead, but Ashley scored the next four points and Lombard’s basket inside turned out to be the clincher.

Tommy Erickson led Alma College with 19 points, four blocked shots, three assists, and one steal. Schneider added 17 points and seven rebounds, while Silverthorn put in 13. Krause scored 11.

Ashley ended with 10 rebounds and four assists to go with his 36 points.

Alma College returns to action Wednesday with an 8 p.m. game at Calvin College.