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Pelicans Steal One From Celtics

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New Orleans 106, Boston 105
When: 8:00 PM ET, Monday, November 14, 2016
Where: Smoothie King Center, New Orleans
Attendance: 15001

NEW ORLEANS — In an early season filled with so many almosts, the New Orleans Pelicans finally got a chance Monday night to savor what it’s like to make the critical, close-out plays that had eluded them during their woeful 1-9 start. The result was a 106-105 victory over the Boston Celtics, the Pelicans’ first home victory of the season after five losses at the Smoothie King Center.

Anthony Davis scored 25 points and guard Tim Frazier made a key steal on an inbounds play and canned two foul shots in the final 14.8 seconds to give the Pelicans the victory. The situation created significant pressure on New Orleans.

Anthony Davis

“It’s not a monkey — (it’s) a gorilla, maybe,” said New Orleans coach Alvin Gentry, referring to the mounting pressure created by the Pelicans’ early-season struggles. “It’s big. We have to win games at home. For us to hang on to win I think is really big. I’m not going to be one of those guys who says, ‘Nah, it not (a big deal).’ No, it’s a big deal.”

Trailing 103-102 with 33.1 seconds left, the Pelicans went to Davis, who missed a jumper in the lane but tracked down his own rebound — his 16th of the game — and was fouled. Davis made both free throws to put the Pelicans up 104-103 with 24.7 seconds left.

Davis got a piece of Avery Bradley’s deep 3-pointer on the Celtics’ next possession, but Boston controlled the ball when it went out of bounds in a rebound scrum.

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Giants Slide Past Bengals

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N.Y. Giants 21, Cincinnati 20
When: 8:30 PM ET, Monday, November 14, 2016
Where: MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ
Attendance: 76,218

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning threw three touchdown passes, including the game-winner to receiver Sterling Shepard at the beginning of the fourth quarter, as the Giants topped the Cincinnati Bengals 21-20 at MetLife Stadium on Monday night.

New York held a 14-10 halftime lead, but following the Giants’ extended halftime ceremony honoring their new Ring of Honor inductees, the Bengals immediately squelched the feel-good buzz around the stadium on the second-half kickoff. Alex Erickson broke free for an 84-yard kickoff return to give the Bengals first-and-10 on the Giants 13.

Odell Beckham Jr.

Two plays later, both runs by running back Jeremy Hill, the Bengals were back on top of the Giants 17-14 thanks to Hill’s 9-yard touchdown run, the first of 10 unanswered points by the Bengals.

After the Giants went three-and-out, Erickson did it again, this time with an 18-yard punt return that gave his team excellent starting field position.

As the Bengals continued to sprinkle in pre-snap movement that seemed to confuse the Giants defense, particularly on a 21-yard pass to A.J. Green, the Bengals increased their lead to 20-14 on kicker Mike Nugent’s second field goal of the game, this one from 38 yards out.

The Giants finally got on the board again with 14:05 left in the fourth quarter when Manning connected with Shepard for a 3-yard touchdown pass on fourth down. That score put the Giants back on top 21-20.

Shepard, who earlier in the game dropped a third-down pass play when he tried to make a move up field before securing the ball, said he was glad to be able to make up for his botched play earlier with what turned out to be the game winner.

“I knew I had a possibility (to make the play),” he said. “I wasn’t the first read on that one, but I knew it was possible that I would get it. I had to get it back because I dropped a pass on third down.”

That head coach Ben McAdoo made the decision to trust his offense, which at times has struggled to convert first downs, let alone score, to get it done on what turned out to be such a critical drive spoke volumes about the confidence he had in his players, who rewarded his faith.

“You feel confident that your coach trusts you to get it done,” added offensive lineman Marshall Newhouse, who flipped back and forth between tight end and left guard this week. “You’re like, ‘Ok, everyone, narrow your focus even more; this is a big, big play.’ So that trust in us meant a lot and I’m glad we went out and did it.”

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Providence Slams Vermont

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Providence 80, Vermont 58
When: 7:00 PM ET, Monday, November 14, 2016
Where: Dunkin’ Donuts Center, Providence
Attendance: 8,310

PROVIDENCE – (Wire Service Report – Special to Digital Sports Desk) – Emmitt Holt celebrated his Providence debut with a career-high 22 points, and Kyron Cartwright dished out a career-best 12 assists to lead the Friars to a season-opening 80-58 win over Vermont on Monday night in Providence, R.I.

Holt, a 6-foot-7 transfer who played one year at Indian Hills Community College in Iowa, is one of the players coach Ed Cooley hopes will help fill the void left by NBA draft picks Kris Dunn and Ben Bentil.

The Friars, picked ninth in the Big East, made the NCAA Tournament each of the last three years.

Holt, who was 8-for-12 from the floor, also had five rebounds and blocked three shots. Rodney Bullock scored 18 points, going 3-for 5 from 3-point range, and Cartwright added nine points. His previous high in assists was 10. Ryan Fazekas had 11 points off the Providence bench, including three 3-pointers.

Payton Henson scored a career-high 21 points and grabbed six rebounds for the Catamounts (1-1). He was 9-for-17 from the floor but just 1-for-5 from 3-point range.

Vermont freshman Anthony Lamb, the Northeast Conference rookie of the week for his 23 points in a debut win over Quinnipiac, was just 2-for-8 from the floor and finished with six points and six rebounds Monday.

Providence was 9-for-23 from behind the arc, while Vermont was just 5-for-20.

The Friars led by just a point midway through the first half but used an 8-0 run to take control. They led by six at the half, and a 12-4 run helped Providence blow the game open.

The Friars visit Ohio State on Thursday as part of the Gavitt Tipoff Games between the Big East and Big Ten. Vermont plays host to Marist on Wednesday night.

St. John’s Defeats Binghamton

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JAMAICA ESTATES, NEW YORK – (Wire Service Report) – Marcus LoVett scored 23 points, Shamorie Ponds added 21 and a double-double as St. John’s improved to 2-0 in the second year of the Chris Mullin era with a 77-61 win over Binghamton on Monday night at Carnesseca Arena.

Both LoVett and Ponds are in their first years, as the Red Storm showed off their young talent. LoVett, a redshirt freshman guard, went 9-for-16 from the field and chipped in four rebounds and four assists.

Ponds, a freshman guard from Brooklyn who was one of the top recruits in his class, had his 21 points after scoring only eight in his debut, a 100-53 win over Bethune-Cookman on Friday. He also grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds, helping his side to a 41-39 advantage on the glass.

The Red Storm led by seven at halftime, but pulled away early in the second 20 minutes against the Bearcats (1-1). St. John’s shot 44.4 percent from the field, 42.3 percent from 3-point range, and forced 21 Binghamton turnovers.

Sophomore guard J.C. Show led Binghamton with 12 points and also grabbed five rebounds. Senior guard Marlon Beck and freshman guard Fard Muhammad each had nine points for the Bearcats.

The Bearcats, who have not won more than eight games in a season since the 2009-2010 campaign, won their season-opener Friday against Cornell.

Junior wing Bashir Ahmed and sophomore center Yankuba Sima both scored eight points for St. John’s, a team that started 3-0 last season before finishing 8-24.

The Red Storm got only five points from sophomore guard Federico Mussini. Mussini had a team-best 20 points in the season opener and hit five 3-pointers against Bethune-Cookman. St. John’s will have its first road game of the season Friday when the team travels to face Minnesota at 9 p.m. ET. The contest against the Big Ten school is part of the Gavitt Tipoff Games.

Bears Wide-Out Suspended

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NEW YORK – (Wire Service Report) – Chicago Bears wide receiver Alshon Jeffery has been suspended four games for violating the NFL’s performance-enhancing drug policy. The league announced that Jeffery will miss the next four games. He is eligible to return to Chicago’s active roster following the game against the Detroit Lions on Dec. 11 and be available for the game against the Green Bay Packers on Dec. 18.

“Obviously we’re very disappointed,” coach John Fox said. “I think he’s fairly embarrassed about it, but we’ll support him.

“We’ll support him and welcome him back after serving his suspension.”

 

Jeffery has been playing under the franchise tag worth $14,599,000 in 2016. He leads the Bears with 630 receiving yards and is second on the team with 40 receptions. He has scored one touchdown.

The 26-year-old Jeffery, the Bears’ second-round pick in 2012, has 292 career receptions for 4,358 yards and 25 touchdowns in five seasons.
Jeffery will be a free agent this offseason unless the Bears apply their franchise tag on him again.

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