YSU men’s golf finishes 7th in HL

Howie-In-The-Hills, Fla. – The Youngstown State men’s golf team had its best round of the Horizon League Championships on Monday firing a 292 at the Mission Inn Resort’s El Campeon Golf Course.

YSU’s final round was 17 shots better than each of its first two days of the event. Capitalizing on the strong effort was Ryan Sam (Boardman) who placed ninth with a three-round total of 222 (75-76-71). Jake Ryan finished an impressive 13th with a total of 225 (76-78-71).

The strong finish to the tournament left the Penguins with a three-round score of 910. In the team standings, Youngstown State placed seventh, one shot ahead of Northern Kentucky and one back of sixth-place Green Bay.

After two rounds YSU was in ninth place ahead of just Purdue Fort Wayne, but it climbed past Detroit Mercy and NKU and nearly caught Green Bay on the final day.

Wright State won the event with an 881 while Cleveland State was second and IU Indy third.

For the second straight day the Guins opened on the back nine and came out sizzling.

After a tough start on No. 10, the five golfers combined for eight birdies and two eagles, both by Jake Ryan, on the back side to get as high as fifth on the leaderboard.

Ryan had a birdie at 13 to get back to even par before consecutive eagles at the par-4 13th and the par-5 14th got him to four under. After a double bogey on No. 16, he had a birdie on No. 17 and was three-under on the back nine. He pared six straight holes before a bogey and double bogey on consecutive holes but birdied the eighth to card a one-under par 71.

Sam also finished with a 71 recording 13 pars, three birdies and a pair of bogeys. He opened with a bogey on No. 10, but registered birdies at No. 14, No. 17 and No. 2 for his one-under par round.

Nolan Shilling had his best round of the tournament on Monday with a 74. Shilling went three under on the back nine with birdies at No. 10, No. 13 and No. 14. On the front side he managed a birdie at No. 4 to finish with a 74. Overall, he had a three-day total of 231.

Jordan Kish also had his best round of the event finishing with a 76. Kish was two-under par after his first five holes on Monday with birdies at No. 12 and No. 14. On the front side he added a birdie at No. 2. His three-round total for the tournament was 234.

Jacob Sylak (Mineral Ridge), playing in his final round for the Penguins, carded an 80. Sylak’s round was highlighted by a birdie at the par-5 first. It was his best round at the tournament by six shots.

Pistons snap skid, beat Knicks

NEW YORK — Cade Cunningham had 33 points and 12 rebounds, Dennis Schroder made the tiebreaking 3-pointer with 55 seconds left, and the Detroit Pistons snapped their NBA-record, 15-game postseason losing streak by beating the New York Knicks 100-94 on Monday night in Game 2 of their playoff series.

The Pistons, who hadn’t even been to the postseason since 2019, recovered after the Knicks erased a 15-point deficit to earn their first playoff victory since Game 4 of the 2008 Eastern Conference finals against Boston. The Celtics won the final two games of that series and the Pistons were then swept in 2009, 2006 and 2019 before dropping Game 1 at Madison Square Garden.

Now they are back in the win column, all tied in the series and will host Game 3 on Thursday night.

Schroder nailed the 3-pointer after the Knicks had used a 16-4 run to tie it at 94 on Josh Hart’s dunk. He finished with 20 points off the bench.

The Pistons were in good shape to win Game 1 with an eight-point lead after three quarters, before the Knicks used a 21-0 run in the fourth to win 123-112. Detroit built another eight-point advantage after three Monday, and this time made the big plays after another Knicks rally.

Jalen Brunson scored 37 points for the No. 3-seeded Knicks, but Karl-Anthony Towns and OG Anunoby were each limited to 10 after both finished with 23 points in the opener.

Duke’s Flagg declares for NBA draft

Duke star Cooper Flagg is headed to the NBA as the favorite to be the No. 1 overall draft pick.

The program announced Flagg’s move in a social media post Monday following a lone college season that saw the 18-year-old become only the fourth freshman named as The Associated Press national player of the year while leading the Blue Devils to the Final Four.

Flagg had reclassified to get to Duke a year early, and his decision was expected all year, even as he generally declined to spell out plans about his professional future as the season pushed into March or mentioned how much fun he had playing in college.

The 6-foot-9, 205-pound forward from Newport, Maine, averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 blocks and 1.4 steals to lead the Blue Devils in each category. He’s a versatile threat who showed the ability to thrive as a scorer, playmaker and defender.

The statistical highlight came when Flagg scored 42 points to set an Atlantic Coast Conference freshman record against Notre Dame in January, along with having 30 points, six rebounds and seven assists to help Duke hold off Arizona in the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16. There were plenty of impressive single plays, too, that demanded highlight-reel placement like his transition dunk through a defender against Pittsburgh in January.

Flagg closed with 27 points and seven rebounds in a loss to Houston in the national semifinals. The Blue Devils had led by 14 with about 8 1/2 minutes left but faltered late, with Houston scoring the game’s last nine points in the final 33 seconds and Flagg missing a late shot for the lead.

Flagg is the third Duke player to announce an early exit for the NBA in the past week, joining freshman wing Kon Knueppel and junior guard Tyrese Proctor.

Avs activate Landeskog off IR

DALLAS — The Colorado Avalanche activated captain Gabriel Landeskog off injured reserve, paving the way for him to return from his nearly three-year absence as soon as Game 2 of Colorado’s first-round series against the Dallas Stars on Monday night.

Landeskog, now 32, has not played in an NHL game since June 26, 2022, when he and the Avalanche beat Tampa Bay to win the Stanley Cup.

A chronic right knee injury that led to two surgeries kept him off the ice through multiple attempts to get back. He did a two-game conditioning stint with the American Hockey League’s Colorado Eagles earlier this month to take another step forward in the process.