01022018 sports by tribune242

SPORTS SECTION E

TUESDAY, JANUARY 2, 2018

Rattlers repeat as the Providence champions By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

I Gibson Rattlers repeated as champions of the Providence Basketball Club’s 14th annual Christmas Classic. In the much anticipated championship game on Saturday night, the Rattlers powered to an impressive 80-59 rout over the visiting St George’s Jaguars from Grand Bahama. And in the consolation game, the St Augustine’s College Big Red Machine held off the Teleos Cherubims 86-72 for a surprising third place. Rattlers 80, Jaguars 59: What was expected to be a keenly contested match-up turned out to be a lopsided affair. CI Gibson went on a 7-1 spurt in the first four minutes and posted a 21-14 margin at the end of the first quarter. By the half, they were up 45-26 and they took a 62-40 lead at the end of the third and coasted to an easy victory in the fourth. Most valuable player Tyrell Butler and Terrance Storr provided a 1-2 punch with 23 and 21 points respectively in leading the charge for the Ratters. Storr also had six rebounds and four assists and Butler had four rebounds, two assists and a steal. Derico Burrows was their next best scorer with nine points and six rebounds, Darryo Saunders had seven points and five assists and both Cameron Sheover and Shimar Rolle had six points and pulled down six and four rebounds respectively. “This one was good,” said CI Gibson’s head coach Kevin ‘KJ’ Johnson, who was assisted by Mark Hanna and Craig’ Rambo’ Smith. “We played a very good St George’s team, but I think we wanted it a little bit more.

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS: The CI Gibson Rattlers have repeated as champions of the Providence Basketball Club’s 14th Annual Christmas Classic. Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff “We got better as a group. We’re a very young team with three seniors. This group still has a lot of growing to do. We still have the government schools, we have Hugh Campbell and we have the nationals, so we have a long ways to go and we can only get better.” As the season progresses, Johnson said if they can improve on their mental toughness for four quarters, they will be a team to contend with. The Rattlers, who will return to the Government Secondary Schools Sports Association’s regular season with a 4-0 win-loss record as they attempt to regain the title they lost to the CC Sweeting Cobras last year, finished the tournament with a 6-0 record.

CI Gibson advanced to the final by doubling up St Augustine’s College 82-40 in their pool championship game on Friday night. St George’s, who followed with a 5-1 record, earned their berth in the final by knocking off Teleos Academy 49-32. Christopher Johnson paced the Jaguars’ attack with 16 points and six rebounds. Kingsly Thompson followed with 12 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals. Jaden Atkinson had seven points and three rebounds. Three other players – Rick Russell, Theodore Grant and Shavaul Butters – all contributed four points. MOST VALUABLE PLAYER Tyrell Butler.

SEE PAGE 4

NFL

Playoffs, Page 5

‘TUM TUM’ AND AYTON ATOP NCAA RANKINGS By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net A WEEK of upsets is expected to produce a shakeup atop the NCAA Division I college basketball polls and several Bahamian players should figure prominently in the new rankings. Lourawls “Tum Tum” Nairn and the Michigan State Spartans (14-1) are now the No.1 team in the Associated Press poll while DeAndre Ayton and the Arizona Wildcats continued their rise in the rankings after they defeated the No.3 team in the country. Nairn finished with four points and five assists in the Spartans’ 108-52 win over Savannah State in their final non-conference game of the regular season. It is only the fifth time in programme history that they achieved the No.1 ranking, the last time in 2015. Following the game, Spartans coach Tom Izzo told reporters on MLive. com that the top spot in the poll is a special recognition to the players. “They came here because this programme was ranked No. 1 before, we’ve played in big games before, that’s why they came here,” Izzo said. “So unless they’re in that stage of ‘watch what you wish for’, I think it is a good thing.” Michigan State’s ascension to No. 1 is all but assured after current No. 1 Villanova fell at Butler on Saturday night. The only other would-be challenger for the top spot, No. 3 Arizona State, fell at No. 17 Arizona on Saturday in its first loss of the year. Ayton and the No.17 Wildcats (11-3) won the instate battle over the No.3 Arizona State Sun Devils (12-1), 84-78 on Saturday to hand them their first loss of the season. He finished with his 10th double double of the season with 23 points and 19 rebounds. His tip in with 11 seconds left to go was the

SEE PAGE 4

JR Cadot to continue his pro basketball career in Spain By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

Page 5

JR Cadot will return to Spain to continue his pro basketball career. The veteran guard agreed to terms with KIA Sakimovil Navarra Pamplona of Spain’s Liga Espanola de Baloncesto (LEB Silver). LEB Silver is the second division in the country and was founded in 1996. Cadot was on the roster of Zornotza Saskibaloi Taleda in LEB Silver last season when he averaged 11.1 points and 6.6 rebounds

per game in 31 contests. In October, the Windsor Express selected Cadot with the 13th overall pick in the National Basketball League of Canada Draft. The 6’5” wing impressed at the two-day NBL combine which featured 142 players based in the continental United States, the Bahamas, Brazil and Sweden. Prior to that, he played for the UMF Skallagnimur Borgans in the Icelander League where he averaged 24.1 points, 16.1 rebounds, 5.1 assists, 2.2 steals and 1.9 block shots in 35 minutes per game. He began his pro career with BKU Supa Nitra in

Slovakia where he averaged 16.5 points and 6.7 rebounds in 28 games. He concluded his NCAA career with the TCU Horned Frogs, averaging 10 points and 6.5 rebounds in 65 games played, good enough for second place on the TCU All-Time list. He was also named to the All-conference team for the Mountain West during his senior season. Prior to TCU, he spent two years at the junior college level with Sheridan College. Cadot posted impressive numbers at the junior college which garnered the attention of many

Division I schools across the country. In his freshman season, he averaged 15 points and 6.6 rebounds per game but surpassed all expectations in his sophomore campaign. As a sophomore, Cadot averaged 17 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. Internationally for the Bahamas, Cadot has appeared on senior national teams for the CBC Championships in 2006 and 2011 and the Centrobasket Championships in 2012 and 2016. His career averages at the national team level are 5.9 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.

PAGE 2, Tuesday, January 2, 2018

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, January 2, 2018, PAGE 3

My Cowboys have nobody to blame but themselves for missing playoffs BIG RED SAFE Jerry Jones favourite ‘yes man’ Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett isn’t going anywhere. Get over it Cowboy Nation, calling for a coaching change, barring a complete about face from owner Jerry Jones, it’s not going to happen. Period. Garrett stays. The Cowboys can blame Roger Goodell for his rudiculous suspension of Zeke, but they have no one to blame but themselves for missing the playoffs. This was the single most disappointing season for the Cowboys since 2008. Especially coaching wise. Nonetheless, despite his many shortcomings Garrett is safe, but his assistants, not so much. SCAPEGOATS ON THE WAY OUT Expect two co-ordinators to be gone. Offensive co-ordinator Scott Linehan to be out, rumoured to be replaced by Todd Haley OC of the Pittsburgh Steelers. And defensive co-ordinator Rod Marinelli to depart, with in house passing coordinator and secondary coach Matt Eberflus being the favourite to succeed Marinelli, along with the recently fired, former Jets head coach Todd Bowles surfacing as another strong candidate. But wait there’s more, a source with intimate knowledge of the situation added there are six of the Cowboys seven coaching assistants now without a contract, so there’s a good chance more major changes are in store.

THE

PRESS BOX ZELAYA

BY INIGO ‘NAUGHTY’ ZENICA

WADE WILSON QB’s COACH After landing Rookie of the Year honours in 2016, Prescott’s production fell off drastically during running back Ezekiel Elliott’s suspension. There are other contributing factors like failure to adjust against protection against the Atlanta Falcons, along with key drops by wide receivers, the point can’t be ignored. Fundamentally, Dak has taken a step backwards, leading to reports that the Cowboys may move on from quarterbacks coach Wade Wilson in 2018, according to Alex Marvez of The Sporting News. Wilson’s contract is up, and a more clear report from Cowboys’ insider Mike Fisher reveals Wilson may actually be contemplating retirement from the NFL. Wilson served as a backup to Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman on the Super Bowl 30-winning team. An integral reason for Tony Romo’s franchise record-setting success along with being the loudest voice in the draft room when it came to convincing the team to select Dak Prescott, Wilson’s time with the club comes to an end with an impressive résumé.

The Cowboys will be left to fill his role fairly urgently. DEREK DOOLEY WRs COACH Cowboys’ wide receivers suffered from poor schematics and dropping key passes. This did help the cause of wideouts coach Derek Dooley and, according to NFL insider Ian Rapoport, the Cowboys have allegedly moved on from the veteran coach. In his time in Dallas, Dooley propelled the team to a top-five finish in passing yards per play in both 2014 and 2016, but the downturn in 2017 will possibly cause the Cowboys to consider other options. There will be no shortage of job opportunities going forward for a talent like Dooley, if in fact both sides decide to part ways. Next week, we will look at which big name stars will be shooting out of Dallas. Until then, my NFL season is over, time to catch up on the WWE. • Naughty presents ‘Mischief and Mayhem in da AM’ from 6am to 10am, Monday to Friday and ‘The Press Box’ sports talk show on Sunday from 10am to 1pm, on KISS FM 96.1. Comments and questions to naughty@tribunemedia.net

DALLAS Cowboys’ Ezekiel Elliott walks off the field after Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles in Philadelphia. Dallas won 6-0. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

PAGE 4, Tuesday, January 2, 2018

THE TRIBUNE

Rattlers repeat as the Providence champions FROM PAGE 1

“I think we came out kind of flat,” said Calvin McIntosh, who coached the team as Darrel Sears assisted on the bench. “We didn’t expect them to come out as hard and as physical as they did. It kind of put our guys in a position where we are not as experienced yet to come back from those things.” McIntosh said as a young team, they will have to improve on getting back on defence when they return to Grand Bahama where they have already lost to the top three teams including Sunland, Sir Jack Hayward and the Tabernacle Baptist Academy as they are sitting in either third or fourth in the standings. But he predicted that by the time the Hugh Campbell rolls around in February, the Jaguars will be back playing at a much higher level. Although they are not sure whether or not SAC will enter the Hugh Campbell Classic, Johnson, who heads the Providence Basketball Club, said they were delighted that St Augustine’s College accepted their invitation to play in the tournament this year. “SAC always wanted to play in the tournament and we’re glad that they came this year,” he said. “It’s always good to have good teams in the tournament to beat these kids in our country.” Big Red Machine 86, Cherubim 72: St.= Augustine’s also got off to a quick start, taking a 7-1 lead in the first four minutes that they maintained a 17-11 margin at the end of the first quarter in their third place game. The Cherubims would make it a contest, cutting the deficit to 29-25 in the second quarter, but the Big Red Machine rolled to a 38-31 advantage at the half. A couple times in the third, the Cherubims came within one, but that was as close as they got as SAC held onto a 38-30 score at the end of the period.

Then in the fourth, SAC soared to a 72-60 lead and they never looked back as they withstood every challenge that Teleos threw at them. “It’s a good feeling, especially because we came into the game short-handed,” said SAC coach Jason Edwards. “We had probably the two best guards in the country missing from our lineup, so the other guys just had to step up. “I think that will only make us stronger as the season progresses because they stepped it up big time for us in this tournament, which was run very well. We got six extra games during the Christmas break.” Edwards said it was good for his Big Red Machine to get in some extra games during the break as they get ready to continue their 4-0 winning streak in the Bahamas Association of Independent Secondary Schools as they prepare to regain the title they lost to the Jordan Prince Williams Falcons last year. Johnathan Johnson was unstoppable for the Big Red Machine, powering their attack with a game high 34 points and seven rebounds. Avery Nesbitt helped out on the inside with 10 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Ahmad Young scored nine points, Aaron Sandas had eight points, three rebounds and two assists, Rickey Moxey Jr had seven points, eight rebounds, three assists, two steals and two block shots, Justin Burrows had six points, seven rebounds, two assists and as many steals, Philip Wallace also had six points and Brian Lockhart helped out with four points, three rebounds and three steals. In a losing effort, Daniel Adams was just as effective with 33 points, three rebounds and three steals. Nathan Sullivan had 25 points and three rebounds, Chadrak Giles had 11 points, four rebounds and two assists and 6-foot-5 Richard Lowe had six points and nine rebounds. “We were missing two of

CI Gibson Rattlers celebrate their repeat as champions of the Providence Basketball Club’s 14th Annual Christmas Classic. Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff our players. They are working for Christmas. They were here for the rest of the tournament, but they didn’t play today,” said Teleos’ coach Pastor Dave Adams. “We gave them a run. We could have done better, but missed the other two guys. “We feel good. We made it to the final four. We took down a couple of power houses, so we feel good about that.” The Cherubims are the defending champions of the Bahamas Small Schools Association. • Scores from the tournament are as follows: Wednesday - Teleos def. Elite Academy 53-28; Mt. Carmel def. CV Bethel 46-38; Doris Johnson won by default over Doris Johnson; CI Gibson def. Anatol Rodgers 65-43; Agape def. South Andros 51-47; CC Sweeting def. St. John’s 57-30; St. Augustine’s College def. Aquinas 42-31; St. George’s def. Queen’s College 52-25; CI Gibson def.

Agape 73-35; St. Augustine’s College def. Doris Johnson 47-39; St. George’s def. CV Bethel 50-19 and CC Sweeting def. Bahamas Elite Sports 52-27. Thursday – Queen’s College won by default over CV Bethel; Aquinas def. Doris Johnson 55-54; St. John’s def. Bahamas Elite Sports 46-42; CI Gibson def. South Andros 60-41; St George’s def. Mt. Carmel 50-36; Government High def. St. Augustine’s College 45-43; Anatol Rodgers def. Agape 49-24; Teleos def. CC Sweeting 42-41; Mt. Carmel def. Queen’s College 52-29; Government High def. Aquinas College 57-55; Anatol Rodgers def. South Andros74-62 and Teleos def. St. John’s 51-39. Friday – (pool play) CI Gibson def. Anatol Rodgers 87-77; Teleos def. CC Sweeting 56-54; St. Augustine’s College def. Government High 92-66; St. George’s def. Mt. Carmel 71-59; CI Gibson def. St. Augustine’s College 82-40

CROSSWORD PUZZLE MONDAY, JANUARY 1, 2018

and St. George’s def. Teleos 49-32. Saturday – (consolation third place) St. Augustine’s College def. Teleos 86-72 and (championship) CI Gibson def. St George’s 80-59. Individual awards All-Tournament 1st team – Tyrel Butler (CI Gibson); Terrence Storr (CI Gibson); Nathan Sullivan (Teleos); Shavaul Butters (St. George’s); Kingsly Thompson (St. George’s); Avery Nesbitt (St. Augustine’s College); Kirklyn Farrington (Anatol Rodgers); Samuel Gibson (Government High); Brandon Strachan (CC Sweeting) and Gregory McKay (Mt. Carmel). All-Tournament 2nd team – DJ Adams (Teleos);

Rickey Moxey Jr. (St. Augustine’s College); Anthon Williams (CC Sweeting); Shamir Rolle (CI Gibson); Darrio Burrows (CI Gibson); John Nixon (Aquinas College); Chris Johnson (St. George’s); Jermaine Williams (Mt. Carmel); Storr (Bahamas Elite Sports); Troy Petty (St. George’s). Rebounds – Avery Nesbitt (St. Augustine’s Colleg); steals – Tyrell Butler (CI Gibson); assists – Anthon Williams (CC Sweeting); blocks - Tyrik Moss (Apage); best defensive player – Anthon Williams (CC Sweeting); best offensive player – Nathan Sullivan (Teleos) and most valuable player – Tyrell Butler (CI Gibson).

‘TUM TUM’ AND AYTON ATOP NCAA RANKINGS FROM PAGE 1 deciding score as the Wildcats protected home court at the McKale Center in Tucson, Arizona. Allonzo Trier followed with free throws to seal the win in a raucous atmosphere for the Pac-12 opener. “It was nice,” Ayton said of the environment for one of the most anticipated games of the rivalry. “It was intense. I couldn’t hear myself for a few minutes.” Ayton set the tone early and was dominant with 11 points and eight rebounds at the half. “I would say they’re undersized big men,” Ayton said of the Sun Devil’s front line, “so I took advantage on both ends of the floor.” His 19-rebound total was the most by an Arizona freshman since 1973. It was also his fourth game with at least 20 points and 10 rebounds. He also had two additional games where he was one point shy of an additional 20/10 games. After beginning the season at No.2 and dropping out of the top 25 with three losses at the Battle 4 Atlantis, the Wildcats are now ranked No.16 and have not lost since their return to the United States. Dwight Coleby turned in a career high performance with 20 points and seven rebounds in the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers’ 82-66 win over Southern Mississippi. The Hilltoppers (10-5) improved to 2-0 in conference play for the fifth time in the last six years. They also reached 10 wins before January for the first time since the 2012-13 campaign. Coleby shot 5-7 from the field and shot a perfect 10-10 from the free throw line. “His performance at the line was big because our bigs are going to get fouled a lot. He came out in the second half and had a great statline,” Hilltoppers head coach Rick Stansbury said. “We are going to throw it to the paint and drive it to the paint, so fouls are going to come and making free

throws will always be an important stat.” In addition to Coleby’s efficiency from the floor and at the line, WKU made a season high 12 three pointers and finished with 22 assists on 26 field goals. The Hilltoppers led 32-25 at the break and got out to a 20-8 run to begin the second half en route to the blowout win. Charles Bain also set a scoring career high on Sunday as his Robert Morris Colonials concluded a successful two-game road trip through Northeast Conference play with a 71-57 victory over Central Connecticut State. Bain came off the bench and led the Colonials with a career-high 18 points and also added four rebounds in 20 minutes of action. He shot 7-10 from the field, including 3-4 from beyond the arc, and was 1-2 at the free-throw line. In improving to 2-0 in league play for the first time since 2013-14, the Colonials pushed their overall record back over .500 at 8-7. Bain scored six points on a 15-4 second half run to push the Colonials’ lead over 20 and make the score 51-30 at the 13:34 mark. “I thought we did an excellent job defensively,” Colonials head coach Andrew Toole said. “Our ability to be in gaps was great. We had good activity. There wasn’t too many shots in the game were I looked and thought guys were completely wide open. We contested everything.” In the Sun Belt Conference, Travis Munnings and his University of Louisiana Monroe Warhawks have struggled with two losses in conference play, but Munnings has put up some of his best shooting games of the season. He finished with a team high 18 points in Sunday’s 71-62 loss to Arkansas Little Rock. He shot a perfect 4-4 from three point range and was 6-7 from the free throw line. In a 75-64 loss to Arkansas State, Munnings finished with 22 points. He shot 9-13 from the field, 3-4 from three and added seven rebounds and three assists.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, January 2, 2018, PAGE 5

PAUL HELPS ROCKETS OUTLAST LAKERS IN DOUBLE OT HOUSTON (AP) — James Harden scored 40 points before leaving with a hamstring injury late in the fourth quarter, and Chris Paul scored 15 of his 28 points in overtime as the Houston Rockets snapped a five-game skid with a 148-142 double-overtime win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday night.

BUFFALO Bills free safety Jordan Poyer (21) shows the ball after he intercepted a pass late in the second half of Sunday’s game against the Miami Dolphins. The Bills defeated the Dolphins 22-16. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Bills, Titans, Falcons make way into playoffs with wins By BARRY WILNER Associated Press THE Buffalo Bills are in the NFL playoffs. No, we’re not kidding. They needed some last-minute help from Cincinnati, which stunned Baltimore 31-27 after Buffalo had won at Miami 22-16 Sunday. Those results lifted the Bills into the final AFC wild-card spot and a visit to Jacksonville next Sunday. The last time they reached the postseason, the Bills lost in the Music City Miracle game in Nashville in January 2000. Their playoff drought was the longest current string in North American professional sports. But the happiness comes with a caveat: star running back LeSean McCoy was injured and carted off in the second half. He was seen in a walking boot after the game. “The locker room is electric man. We

have been working so hard for this,” Bills guard Richie Incognito said. “So much has been said about it. And now the monkey is off our back. We’re in the postseason and we’ve got new life.” The Jaguars are coached by Doug Marrone, who resigned as Bills coach exactly three years ago. Baltimore’s late meltdown was stunning. The Ravens needed to stop a fourth-and-12 from their 49, and Andy Dalton found Tyler Boyd with 44 seconds left to pull out the win — and send the Ravens home. Baltimore had trailed most of the game before taking a 27-24 lead with 8:48 remaining. “Even the game, I think, epitomises a little bit the way the season went,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “We had to battle our way back the way we did, and then not to be able to finish and win the game

is about as tough as it can be.” Tennessee had a winand-get-in scenario and took advantage by beating the AFC South champion Jags 15-10. That gave the Titans their first playoff berth since 2008. They head to AFC West winner Kansas City on Saturday to open the wild-card round. “We refused to go home,” Brian Orakpo said. “I didn’t want to be on a Southwest flight back to Texas tomorrow wondering, ‘what if.’ “It’s an unbelievable feeling.” The Falcons will get another chance to reach the Super Bowl, though this time as a wild card. The team that blew a 28-3 lead in the second half of the big game in February defeated Carolina 22-10 to earn a trip to the NFC West champ Rams. Los Angeles sat most of its regulars in losing to San Francisco 34-13.

Falcons-Rams is Saturday night. Seattle fell short of reaching the postseason with Atlanta’s win, but lost anyway to Arizona 26-24. “All you want is an opportunity,” said Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett, who had a sack and three tackles for losses. “We have one. Now it’s up to us to take advantage of it.” The Panthers already were in, and they will meet NFC South foe and division winner New Orleans on Sunday to finish off the opening round. The Saints swept their two meetings with Carolina this season. New England (13-3), as it almost always seems to do, secured home-field advantage for the AFC playoffs by beating the Jets 26-6. Pittsburgh (13-3) got the No. 2 seed — its controversial loss to the Patriots in Week 15 was the tiebreaker — with its 28-24 victory over Cleveland.

They both are off next week. Minnesota (13-3) already had qualified for the postseason, and it grabbed a wild-card round bye with a 23-10 win over Chicago. The other bye in the NFC went to Philadelphia (13-3) last week as the top seed, and the Eagles played plenty of backups in a 6-0 defeat against Dallas. Eight of the 12 playoff teams are newcomers from last year: Buffalo, Tennessee, Jacksonville, the Rams, Philadelphia, Carolina, New Orleans and Minnesota. That includes two teams that finished last in their division in 2016 and won it this season: the Eagles and Jags. The divisional round will open in Philadelphia on Saturday, January 13. New England will host a game that night. On Sunday, January 14, Pittsburgh hosts the early game, then the round concludes in Minnesota.

MAVERICKS 116, THUNDER 113 OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Harrison Barnes scored 24 points, Dennis Smith Jr. got 11 of his 19 points in the final 1:39 and Dallas beat Oklahoma City to close out 2017 with its season-best fourth straight win. Dirk Nowitzki added 13 points for Dallas, which had lost four straight in Oklahoma City and seven of nine overall against the Thunder. Dallas won despite Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook recording his 12th triple-double of the season with 38 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists. CELTICS 108, NETS 105 BOSTON (AP) — Kyrie Irving scored 28 points, Al Horford had 10 points and 10 rebounds and Boston held off Brooklyn. Marcus Morris added 15 points, Terry Rozier scored 14 and Jaylen Brown finished with 13 points as Boston closed 2017 by winning three straight and four of five. WIZARDS 114, BULLS 110 WASHINGTON (AP) — Bradley Beal scored 17 of his 39 points in the fourth quarter, leading the Washington Wizards to a 114-110 win over the Chicago Bulls on Sunday. Beal scored 15 straight points for Washington in the fourth as the Wizards rallied from an eight-point deficit early in the period. He also had nine rebounds and tied a career high with nine assists. 76ERS 123, SUNS 110 PHOENIX (AP) — Dario Saric tied a season high with 27 points, and Philadelphia beat Phoenix after blowing an 18-point lead in one quarter. Joel Embiid added 22 points and nine rebounds, and Ben Simmons had 21 points to help Philadelphia win for third time in four games.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, January 2, 2018, PAGE 7

LINGARD, THE LATE DEVELOPER FINALLY FLOURISHING AT UNITED By STEVE DOUGLAS Associated Press LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — For all the recent talk about the money Jose Mourinho has — or hasn’t — spent at Manchester United, his best player at the moment might be one who cost the club nothing. United prides itself on the blossoming of its youthteam graduates and Jesse Lingard is the latest to flourish on the big stage. Lingard scored his seventh goal in his last nine Premier League games to wrap up United’s 2-0 win at Everton yesterday, which ended the team’s run of three draws that might have fully knocked it out of title contention. At age 25, the forward is finally establishing himself as a first-team regular at United, proving much more influential and clinical than the dropped Henrikh Mkhitaryan in the position just off the striker. Lingard signed professional terms with United in 2011 before spending

periods on loan at Leicester, Birmingham, Brighton and Derby in England’s lower leagues from 201215. Much like Harry Kane at Tottenham, Lingard — a locally born player — has taken a circuitous route to his current position as one of the form players in the Premier League. “These boys, they jump or they don’t jump,” United manager Jose Mourinho said. “One thing is to be a talent, another thing is to be a very good player. Some players are not capable of making that jump, some players go from that ... to normal players. “I think Jesse has made that jump. He has been more consistent, adaptable, he understands the game, the different positions. He is going in a good direction.” It is not just the number of goals Lingard is scoring that is impressive, it’s the quality of his strikes, too. His latest was a curling 25-metre (yard) shot that found the top corner in the 81st minute, adding to

Anthony Martial’s goal for United in the 57th. A difficult festive period for United had threatened to get worse yesterday. With Liverpool edging past Burnley 2-1 earlier thanks to an injury-time winner, a defeat for United at Everton hours later would have dropped Mourinho’s team below its arch rival to fourth place. Instead, United climbed to second place, 12 points behind Manchester City, whose game in hand is against Watford today.

Gudmundsson, which cancelled out the opening goal by Sadio Mane — the only member of Liverpool’s socalled “Fab 4” attack to start at Turf Moor. Roberto Firmino was on the bench, while Philippe Coutinho and Mohamed Salah were out injured. Liverpool is six points clear of fifth-place Arsenal. PRESSURE ON HUGHES Mark Hughes is the latest Premier League manager in danger of getting fired after his Stoke side lost 1-0 at home to Newcastle, two days after a 5-0 defeat at Chelsea when Hughes rested his frontline players. There were boos from Stoke fans at the final whistle, while a “Hughes Out” banner was on display inside the stadium. “Who else is going to do it?” Hughes said, when asked about his future after 4 1/2 years at Stoke. “In terms of the knowledge of the group and the progress in my time here, I’m the best person to do it.”

• Here’s what else happened in the Premier League yesterday: LEAVING IT LATE Ragnar Klavan headed home from close range in the fourth minute of stoppage time to earn Liverpool a third straight win and cement fourth place at the end of the busy four-game festive period. Liverpool had conceded an equaliser in the 87th minute to Johann Berg

MANCHESTER United’s Jesse Lingard, left celebrates scoring his second goal against Everton at Goodison Park yesterday. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP) Stoke has won only two Huddersfield. The striker games in its last 12 and had a groin problem and dropped to 16th place, two wasn’t risked by manager points clear of the relega- Claude Puel. tion zone. Vardy’s replacement, Ayoze Perez scored the Islam Slimani, scored as did 73rd-minute winner for Riyad Mahrez and Marc Newcastle. Albrighton. In the other game, EASY FOR Callum Wilson scored a late LEICESTER equaliser for Bournemouth Leicester hardly missed in a 2-2 draw at Brighton in the injured Jamie Vardy a match between two midin a routine 3-0 win over table teams.

THE WEATHER REPORT

5-Day Forecast

TODAY

ORLANDO

High: 55° F/13° C Low: 48° F/9° C

TAMPA

TONIGHT

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

Clouds and sun with a stray shower

Partly cloudy, a shower; windy

Periods of sun, a t‑storm in spots

Sunny, breezy and not as warm

Sunshine and patchy clouds

Some sun with a shower in places

High: 79°

Low: 65°

High: 80° Low: 60°

High: 71° Low: 56°

High: 71° Low: 59°

High: 74° Low: 62°

AccuWeather RealFeel

88° F

61° F

81°-56° F

69°-56° F

72°-59° F

74°-55° F

High: 56° F/13° C Low: 46° F/8° C

The exclusive AccuWeather RealFeel Temperature® is an index that combines the effects of temperature, wind, humidity, sunshine intensity, cloudiness, precipitation, pressure and elevation on the human body—everything that affects how warm or cold a person feels. Temperatures reflect the high and the low for the day.

almanac

ABACO

High: 73° F/23° C Low: 67° F/19° C

20‑30 knots

WEST PALM BEACH High: 69° F/21° C Low: 61° F/16° C

25‑35 knots

FT. LAUDERDALE E

FREEPORT

High: 68° F/20° C Low: 62° F/17° C

High: 72° F/22° C Low: 61° F/16° C

MIAMI

High: 70° F/21° C Low: 60° F/16° C

15‑25 knots

KEY WEST

High: 71° F/22° C Low: 63° F/17° C

ELEUTHERA

NASSAU

High: 79° F/26° C Low: 65° F/18° C

High: 77° F/25° C Low: 72° F/22° C

tiDes For nassau High Today

Ht.(ft.)

Low

Ht.(ft.)

7:35 p.m. 7:56 a.m.

3.6 2.7

1:10 p.m. ‑1.1 2:04 a.m. ‑0.8

Wednesday 8:27 p.m. 8:51 a.m.

3.6 2.8

2:04 p.m. ‑1.1 2:57 a.m. ‑0.9

Thursday

9:20 p.m. 9:47 a.m.

3.5 2.7

2:59 p.m. ‑1.0 3:49 a.m. ‑0.8

Friday

10:13 p.m. 10:43 a.m.

3.3 2.7

3:55 p.m. ‑0.8 4:42 a.m. ‑0.7

Saturday

11:06 p.m. 11:41 a.m.

3.0 2.6

4:52 p.m. ‑0.5 5:35 a.m. ‑0.6

Sunday

12:00 p.m. ‑‑‑‑‑

2.8 ‑‑‑‑‑

5:51 p.m. ‑0.2 6:28 a.m. ‑0.4

Monday

12:41 p.m. 12:57 p.m.

2.5 2.5

6:53 p.m. 0.0 7:23 a.m. ‑0.2

sun anD moon Sunrise Sunset

High: 78° F/26° C Low: 73° F/23° C

W S

3‑6 knots

6:55 a.m. 5:33 p.m.

Moonrise Moonset

6:29 p.m. 7:16 a.m.

Last

New

First

Full

Jan. 8

Jan. 16

Jan. 24

Jan. 31

ANDROS

SAN SALVADOR

GREAT EXUMA

High: 78° F/26° C Low: 74° F/23° C

High: 77° F/25° C Low: 72° F/22° C

High: 79° F/26° C Low: 69° F/21° C

W S

LONG ISLAND

insurance management tracking map H

The higher the AccuWeather UV IndexTM number, the greater the need for eye and skin protection.

CAT ISLAND

6‑12 knots

Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.

Statistics are for Nassau through 1 p.m. yesterday Temperature High ................................................... 81° F/27° C Low .................................................... 60° F/16° C Normal high ....................................... 78° F/26° C Normal low ........................................ 66° F/19° C Last year’s high ................................. 84° F/29° C Last year’s low ................................... 71° F/21° C Precipitation As of 1 p.m. yesterday ................................. 0.00” Year to date ................................................. 0.00” Normal year to date ..................................... 0.06”

uV inDex toDay

High: 79° F/26° C Low: 74° F/23° C

3‑6 knots

MAYAGUANA High: 79° F/26° C Low: 76° F/24° C

Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.

CROOKED ISLAND / ACKLINS RAGGED ISLAND High: 79° F/26° C Low: 74° F/23° C

High: 80° F/27° C Low: 75° F/24° C

GREAT INAGUA High: 81° F/27° C Low: 73° F/23° C

6‑12 knots

8‑16 knots

marine Forecast ABACO ANDROS CAT ISLAND CROOKED ISLAND ELEUTHERA FREEPORT GREAT EXUMA GREAT INAGUA LONG ISLAND MAYAGUANA NASSAU RAGGED ISLAND SAN SALVADOR

Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday:

WINDS NE at 25‑35 Knots WSW at 12‑25 Knots NW at 6‑12 Knots WNW at 8‑16 Knots NNW at 3‑6 Knots SW at 7‑14 Knots NE at 8‑16 Knots WSW at 8‑16 Knots WSW at 3‑6 Knots SW at 10‑20 Knots NE at 25‑35 Knots WNW at 12‑25 Knots SE at 3‑6 Knots WSW at 8‑16 Knots NE at 8‑16 Knots SW at 8‑16 Knots NNE at 6‑12 Knots WSW at 6‑12 Knots E at 8‑16 Knots SSW at 8‑16 Knots SW at 6‑12 Knots WSW at 10‑20 Knots NE at 6‑12 Knots W at 6‑12 Knots NW at 3‑6 Knots SW at 8‑16 Knots

WAVES 12‑16 Feet 8‑12 Feet 1‑2 Feet 1‑3 Feet 3‑6 Feet 5‑9 Feet 1‑3 Feet 2‑4 Feet 4‑7 Feet 6‑10 Feet 10‑14 Feet 5‑9 Feet 0‑1 Feet 1‑3 Feet 1‑3 Feet 2‑4 Feet 1‑2 Feet 1‑2 Feet 3‑6 Feet 6‑10 Feet 1‑2 Feet 3‑5 Feet 1‑3 Feet 1‑2 Feet 2‑4 Feet 4‑7 Feet

VISIBILITY 3 Miles 3 Miles 8 Miles 5 Miles 10 Miles 8 Miles 7 Miles 8 Miles 8 Miles 5 Miles 3 Miles 3 Miles 10 Miles 8 Miles 7 Miles 8 Miles 10 Miles 8 Miles 7 Miles 8 Miles 8 Miles 5 Miles 10 Miles 8 Miles 10 Miles 8 Miles

WATER TEMPS. 77° F 77° F 80° F 80° F 77° F 77° F 81° F 81° F 75° F 75° F 78° F 78° F 79° F 79° F 82° F 82° F 81° F 81° F 81° F 81° F 79° F 79° F 80° F 80° F 76° F 76° F