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The Squanderers

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – New York’s Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby each scored 29 points as the visiting Knicks pulled-off a 108-105 overtime victory against the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals Monday night.

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The Knicks overcame a 20-point deficit in the third quarter and sealed the win when Mikal Bridges stole the ball from Jaylen Brown after Boston inbounded the ball with three seconds to play.

During the fourth quarter, Brunson tied the game at 89 with a 3-pointer and 91 on two free throws before giving the Knicks their first lead since the second. His 3-pointer put them up 94-91 with 4:07 to play, and his third triple of the period extended New York’s advantage to six points, but Boston responded with a 7-0 run to take a 98-97 lead.

It was 100-100 when Brunson missed a layup with two seconds left. After a timeout, Jayson Tatum missed a 3-point shot at the buzzer. The game went to overtime, where Anunoby’s dunk and foul shot and Bridges’ 3-pointer gave the Knicks the cushion they needed to finish the comeback.

Karl-Anthony Towns was in foul trouble for much of the game, but had 14 points and 13 rebounds in 31 minutes. Josh Hart had 14 points and 11 boards, and Bridges recorded eight points, seven assists, six rebounds and three steals while playing 51 of the possible 53 minutes.

Brown and Tatum each tossed in a team-high 23 points for Boston. Tatum also had 16 rebounds, and Derrick White put up 19 points and 11 rebounds.

Kristaps Porzingis was scoreless in 13 minutes during the first half and didn’t play in the final two quarters with what the Celtics called an “illness.” Boston’s Sam Hauser also went to the locker room with an ankle injury with 28.5 seconds remaining in the third quarter and didn’t return to the game.

Boston led 26-25 after one quarter and outscored New York by 15 in the second quarter to take a 61-45 halftime lead. The Celtics scored the final eight points in the first half. The Knicks were 8-of-19 from the free throw line in the half.

Towns was called for his fourth foul and went to the bench with 7:07 left in the third quarter, but the Knicks made a strong run without him. New York was within six points before Al Horford made a 3-pointer with 6.2 seconds remaining in the quarter that gave the Celtics an 84-75 lead entering the fourth.

Game 2 in the best-of-seven series will be played Wednesday in Boston.

–Field Level Media

Nuggets Shock OKC

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OKLAHOMA CITY – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Denver’s Aaron Gordon hit a 3-pointer in the closing seconds to score 22 points and lift the Nuggets to a 121-119 road victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 of their second-round Western Conference playoff series.

With 9.5 seconds remaining and the Thunder up by one, the Nuggets’ Russell Westbrook fouled Chet Holmgren.

Holmgren missed both free throws, giving Denver an opening to finish off the comeback.

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Christian Braun grabbed the rebound, fed it to Westbrook, who barreled down the floor before finding Gordon for the game-winning three.

The Nuggets hadn’t led since the first quarter, trailing by as many as 13 in the fourth quarter. But they  ended the game with a 19-6 run to knock off the top seed in the Western Conference and take home court advantage in the best-of-seven NBA Western Conference semifinal series.

Nikola Jokic scored 18 of his 42 points in the fourth quarter, hitting a pair of 3-pointers and eight free throws.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 33 points to lead the Thunder, who had not played in nine days.

Oklahoma City didn’t make it easy on Jokic, using several different players to defend him.

Jokic showed frustration multiple times with the way he was being guarded.

With less than seven minutes to play, Jokic elbowed Luguentz Dort in the jaw while Dort was guarding Jokic in the lane.

Dort remained down for several moments, and after a lengthy review, Jokic was called for a Flagrant 1 foul. It was Jokic’s fifth foul of the game.

But Jokic never picked up his sixth, and scored 16 points from that point on to help the Nuggets stay in it for Westbrook and Gordon to team up for the final play.

Jokic also added 22 rebounds, tying his career playoff high.

Westbrook, who was a longtime star with the Thunder, helped keep Denver in it.

With less than five minutes left in the third quarter, Oklahoma City led by 14 points.

But the Nuggets ended the quarter on a 17-8 run to cut the deficit to five before the end of the quarter.

Westbrook scored eight of his 10 third-quarter points during the stretch.

Oklahoma City missed its first 10 3-pointers before Alex Caruso’s 3-pointer early in the second quarter.

Caruso added 20 points for the Thunder.

–Field Level Media

 

Jaylen Brown Delivers for Celtics

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report by Field Level Media ) – Boston’s Jaylen Brown scored a game-high 36 points and the Boston Celtics overcame the absence of leading scorer Jayson Tatum to beat the visiting Orlando Magic, 109-100, Wednesday in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference first-round series.

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Brown was 12 of 19 from the field — including 5-of-7 from 3-point territory — grabbed 10 rebounds and had five assists. Kristaps Porzingis added 20 points and 10 rebounds for the second-seeded Celtics, who have a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Orlando used an 8-0 run to pull within five points early in the fourth quarter, but the Magic never got any closer.

Tatum, who averaged 26.8 points per game during the regular season, didn’t play in Game 2 because of a bone bruise. He was knocked to the floor while driving to the basket in the fourth quarter of Boston’s 103-86 Game 1 win on Sunday. Tatum returned to the game, but was listed as “doubtful” for Game 2 before the team’s final injury report officially ruled him out.

In his pregame press conference, Boston coach Joe Mazzulla called Tatum “day-to-day.” The Celtics went 8-2 during the regular season when Tatum didn’t play. Both losses came against Orlando.

The seventh-seeded Magic received 32 points, nine rebounds and seven assists from Paulo Banchero. Franz Wagner finished with 25 points and Wendell Carter had 16.

Derrick White (17), Payton Pritchard (14) and Jrue Holiday (11) also scored in double figures for the Celtics, who won despite shooting 45.0 percent from the field.

The Celtics led 23-21 after one quarter and 50-47 at halftime. Boston had its largest lead of the game when Payton Pritchard connected on a 3-pointer that put the Celtics up 81-66 with 38.1 seconds remaining in the third quarter, but Orlando closed the quarter on a 5-0 spurt and trailed 71-61 entering the fourth.

The series shifts to Orlando for Game 3, which will be played Friday.

Pritchard is NBA’s Best 6th Man

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Celtics guard Payton Pritchard continued a long time Celtics tradition on Tuesday when Boston’s sharpshooting guard was named the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year. The Celtics weere the NBA team that coined the phrase back in the 1950s.

Pritchard received 454 total points in balloting, including 82 out of 100 first-place votes from a global media panel.

The Detroit Pistons’ Malik Beasley was second at 279 points and 13 first-place votes. The third finalist, Ty Jerome of the Cleveland Cavaliers, had 91 points and two first-place nods.

Pritchard, in his fifth NBA season all spent with the Celtics, averaged career highs of 14.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists in 80 games, coming off the bench in all but three. He was the defending NBA champions’ fifth-leading scorer in the regular season.

His 1,079 total points off the bench were the most of any reserve in the NBA this season.

Pritchard shot 40.7 percent on 3-pointers, making a career-high 255 of them (3.2 per game). He made 246 of those as a reserve, the most in NBA history.

–Field Level Media

Celtics, Down a Point, Turn It On

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Celtics guard Derrick White made seven 3-point attempts and scored a team-high 30 points Sunday to lead the Boston to a 103-86 victory over the visiting Orlando Magic in Game 1 of their NBA Eastern Conference first-round playoff series.

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Jayson Tatum added 17 points and 14 rebounds for second-seeded Boston, which received 19 points off the bench from Payton Pritchard. Jaylen Brown, who missed the final three regular-season games with posterior impingement in his right knee, finished with 16 points in 30 minutes.

Boston trailed by one at halftime, but took control by outscoring seventh-seeded Orlando 30-18 in the third.

Orlando’s Paulo Banchero led all scorers with 36 points. He also had 11 rebounds.

Franz Wagner contributed 23 points and five assists, but no other Magic player scored more than Jonathan Isaac’s seven points. Orlando’s Wendell Carter Jr. grabbed 13 rebounds.

Boston led 26-18 after one quarter and extended its lead to 12 points — its largest lead of the first half — when Pritchard connected on a 3-pointer with 10:50 left in the second quarter.

A 9-0 Orlando run sliced Boston’s lead to two points, then Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s 3-pointer with 1:57 remaining gave the Magic a 45-44 edge. The Magic led 49-48 at halftime as Banchero scored 19 points.

The Celtics scored 28 of the first 38 points in the third quarter and held a 76-59 advantage following Brown’s dunk with 1:56 left in the quarter. Boston had a 78-67 lead entering the final 12 minutes.

The Celtics led 89-71 early in the fourth and extended the lead to 19 points as the Magic never threatened.

Boston was 16-of-37 from 3-point range. Orlando was 10-of-27 from behind the 3-point arc, but was held to three 3-pointers in the second half.

Game 2 of the best-of-seven series will be played Wednesday in Boston.

–Field Level Media

NBA Makes $154.6m Cap Projection

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NEW YORK – (Staff and Wire Service Report) -The NBA will increase the salary cap by 10 percent for the 2025-26 season, according to multiple reports from the NBA’s annual Board of Governors meeting. The increase — the maximum allowed under the collective bargaining agreement — is reportedly projected to bring the cap number from $140.6 million to $154.6 million. Additionally, the luxury tax threshold is projected to rise from $170.8 million to $187.9 million, per Tuesday’s report.

For teams that exceed the luxury tax, the First Apron level is projected to be $195.9 million and the Second Apron level to be $207.8 million.

It is a move that was anticipated ahead of the league’s new broadcast rights kicking in next season. This increase would mark the third time in the past four years that the salary cap has increased by 10 percent.

–Field Level Media

Celtics, Tatum Defeat the Heat

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MIAMI – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston’s Jayson Tatum scored a game-high 28 points, leading the visiting Boston Celtics to a 103-91 win over the slumping Miami Heat on Friday night. Boston (48-19) also got 25 points from Jrue Holiday, who made 10 of 15 shots, including shooting 5-of-8 on 3-pointers.

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Derrick White was key for the Celtics as he scored 12 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter. Through three quarters, he was 0-for-6 on 3-pointers. But he made 3-of-5 from deep in the fourth quarter.

The Heat (29-37), who are 9-25 versus teams with a record of .500 or more, have lost a season-high six straight games. A 10-2 run early in the fourth quarter keyed by a White trey gave the Celtics breathing room and they cruised from there.

Boston, which is 16-4 over its past 20 games, made 19 3-pointers to just 13 for Miami.

Andrew Wiggins led Miami with 23 points, and the Heat got 19 points and a game-high six assists from Tyler Herro.

Boston’s Jaylen Brown, the reigning NBA Finals MVP, sat out the game due to a right-knee injury. Boston replaced the 6-6 Brown with 7-1 Luke Kornet in the starting lineup.

Miami switched up its starting lineup, too, but not due to injury. The Heat started Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Duncan Robinson in place of Kel’el Ware and Davion Mitchell … but to no avail.

To open the game, Boston made its first five shots to take a 14-6 lead. The first four of those shots were 3-pointers.

Miami, though, hung in there, trailing just 30-23 by the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the Heat tied the score 37-37 on a 3-pointer by Mitchell. After a Celtics miss, Miami took its first lead of the game, 39-37, on a Pelle Larsson cutting dunk with 5:34 left in the half.

Miami held Boston to 25.0 percent shooting in the second quarter as the teams went into halftime tied, 50-50. Miami shot 61.1 percent in the second quarter, including a 12-4 edge in paint points.

Holiday led all first-half scorers with 16 points. Wiggins had 14 points for Miami.

Miami led by as many as five points in the third, but the Celtics recovered to take a 78-77 lead into the fourth.

Boston then started the fourth with its 10-2 run, and Miami never got back on top.

–Field Level Media

OKC Thunder Into Boston

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BOSTON – Two of the favorites to win this year’s NBA championship will meet Wednesday night when the Boston Celtics close out a seven-game homestand against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Boston will enter the game as the No. 2 team in the Eastern Conference behind Cleveland. The Celtics have won five in a row and are 5-1 on their current homestand with the lone loss coming against the Cavaliers on Feb. 28.

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Oklahoma City, which is at the top of the Western Conference standings, is coming off Monday’s 140-127 home loss to Denver, which ended the team’s seven-game winning streak. The host Thunder beat the Nuggets 127-103 one night earlier.

“We play so many games, so many good teams in the league — a win is never as good as it seems,” Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said. “A (loss) is never as bad as it seems. That’s what I always tell myself. (Sunday) night, I went to bed and was like, ‘Tomorrow’s gonna be a new day, you have to play them again. If you lose, you’re gonna have a terrible feeling.’

“It’s life. It’s basketball. Just gotta stay level-headed and learn from your mistakes and try to be better tomorrow.”

Oklahoma City forward Jalen Williams didn’t play in the second half of Monday’s loss with what the team described as a right hip strain. Williams was injured when Denver’s Peyton Watson landed on him after Watson committed a foul with 6:07 remaining in the second quarter.

Following Monday’s game, Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said Williams would be evaluated further on Tuesday. Williams is averaging 21.3 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game this season.

The Celtics avoided what would have been an embarrassing loss by holding on to defeat the Jazz 114-108 on Monday. Boston nearly squandered a 24-point lead against visiting Utah, which is last in the Western Conference standings.

“I think a game like tonight, I think you would call it a trap game,” Boston’s Derrick White said following Monday’s victory. “We just had a big game against the Lakers (on Saturday), and obviously OKC’s coming in in two days. So games like this, it’s going to be up, it’s going to be down. You’ve just got to find a way to win them.”

The game also will feature two of the league’s marquee players in Gilgeous-Alexander and Boston’s Jayson Tatum. Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging a league-best 32.7 points per game and is a strong candidate to win the NBA’s Most Valuable Player Award. Tatum, who didn’t play in Boston’s victory over Utah on Monday because of a right knee issue, is averaging 27.2 points per game, which is tied for fourth.

Gilgeous-Alexander had 33 points and 11 rebounds when Oklahoma City earned a 105-92 home victory against Boston on Jan. 5. Tatum finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds.

The Thunder held the Celtics to 27 points in the second half of that game. Boston was just 9 of 46 (19.6 percent) on 3-point attempts.

It remains unclear when Kristaps Porzingis will be available for Boston. Porzingis has missed the last six games with a viral illness.

“He’s doing what he can to get back,” Boston coach Joe Mazzulla said. “But he kind of said it best … at the same time, we’ve just got to kind of make sure he’s good, and we do what’s best for him.”

–Field Level Media

Bridgeman Passes Suddenly, 71

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LOUISVILLE – Former Louisville Cardinals college star, NBA legend and Milwaukee Bucks part-team owner Junior Bridgeman collapsed and died on Tuesday. He was 71.

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Bridgeman had a medical emergency while at a luncheon at the Galt House Hotel in Louisville, Ky. He reportedly told a reporter he thought he was having a heart attack. First responders were summoned and he was transported from the scene by ambulance.

The Al J. Schneider Company, which owns the hotel, confirmed Bridgeman’s death on Tuesday evening.

“Junior Bridgeman was an integral part of our community. From his athletic impact to his philanthropic efforts, he will be deeply missed,” Lance George, chief marketing officer, said in a statement. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Bridgeman family during this time.”

Bridgeman was a billionaire entrepreneur and a big name in Louisville in addition to his basketball exploits.

Just six months ago, he purchased a 10 percent ownership stake in the Bucks. He reportedly bought it at a $3.4 billion valuation.

“The Milwaukee Bucks are shocked and saddened by the tragic passing of Bucks legend and owner Junior Bridgeman,” the Bucks said in a statement. Junior’s retired No. 2 jersey hangs in Fiserv Forum, serving as a constant remembrance of his outstanding play on the court and his impact on the Bucks’ success.

“His hard work and perseverance led him to become one of the nation’s top business leaders and, last September, Junior’s professional life came full circle when he returned to the Bucks family as an owner. His memory will always be an inspiration to the Bucks organization.”

Bridgeman arrived on the scene while playing for the University of Louisville for three seasons (1972-75) and was a two-time Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year. He averaged 15.5 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 87 games. The Cardinals reached the Final Four in his last season, losing 75-74 in overtime to powerful UCLA.

 

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | March 9

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While We’re Young (Ideas) | On Site at the MIT Sloan Sports Conference

TGL’s Mike McCarley (2nd left) at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference (Photo by T. Peter Lyons/Digital Sports Desk)

By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – The sports world descended upon the Hynes Convention Center in downtown Boston this weekend to probe, ponder and pontificate on nearly every aspect of the major sports – and some others. The annual MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference (#SSAC25), also known as #AnalyticsInMotion, played to a sold out crowd for two full days of seminars, presentations and start-up fund-raising.

Yours truly, representing a combination of Digital Sports Desk, Pivottv Media and Boston VC Sports, was in attendance for the full conference and enjoyed panels on “Sports in 2045,” featuring New England Patriots team president Jonathan Kraft and former head of ESPN and current President and Chief Operating Officer of Endeavor (NYSE: EDR) and TKO Group Holdings Mark Shapiro, along with “Building Sports Empires with an Entrepreneurial Edge, featuring Michele Kang (Washington Spirits – NWSL) and Gerry Cardinale of RedBird Capital Partners.

Cardinale was particularly interesting because of his wide-ranging and incredibly successful career, not only in the sports world, but at Goldman Sachs prior to his founding of RedBird.

RedBird’s most recent investments include European football’s AC Milan; Everpass Media (the NFL); Skydance Media (Larry and David Ellison); Artists Equity (Ben Affleck and Matt Damon); All3Media (largest content creator in the UK); Fenway Sports Group (Boston Red Sox, Liverpool FC, Pittsburgh Penguins, New England Sports Network); the Yankees Entertainment & Sports (“YES”) Network (New York Yankees and Amazon); The Springhill Company (LeBron James and Maverick Carter); the United Football League (UFL) (Disney/ESPN, Fox and Dwayne Johnson); the Indian Premier League’s Rajasthan Royals; and Formula One’s Alpine Racing team.

Carter appeared on another panel with Draft Kings head Jason Robins on Saturday and spoke of “Re-writing the Playbook” and the fact the RedBird-Springhill venture, headed up by Carter and James with their distinguished brands, including UNINTERRUPTED, The Shop, and The Robot Company, recently merged with Fulwell 73 Productions (London) to form a new global entertainment company, Fulwell Entertainment.

The conference – light in the sport of baseball because of the fact nearly all front office and analytics teams are quite busy at Spring Training camps – delved into “The New Age NFL Office,” the “Next Generation of Sports Venues” and the “Globalization of Sports,” a panel that featured NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum.

Tatum spoke of the NBA’s plans to return to China and play a pair of games in Macau this October, the first since the controversial 2019 dust-up caused by (then Houston Rockets GM< now Philadelphia 76ers GM) Daryl Morey’s tweet to “Fight For Freedom. Stand With Hong Kong.” Tatum fully explained that after the NBA put out a statement defending Morey’s rights to express his opinion, that China’s CCTV removed NBA programming from its airwaves but later returned things to normal operating, all the while the league’s primary broadcast outlet – “Tencent” continued to air games and highlights. The Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix Suns were tapped to play October 10 and 12 at the Venetian Arena, which is controlled by the Adelson family — by way of the Las Vegas Sands conglomerate — now the majority owner of the Dallas Mavericks.

Tatum also reiterated the NBA is doubling down on efforts to expand growth in the game on the continent of Africa and in India, where a cool billion people are available to say, “I Love This Game.”

Early on Friday, Mike McCarley of the new (indoor) TGL pro golf league was amongst the panelists on Emerging Sports and he was presented with the MIT Sloan “Alpha” award for excellence as a start-up sport, recognized for the incredible use of data, technology, social media and broadcast excellence.

While the panelists previously mentioned filled the “Bill James Room” and the “Sue Bird Room” – the two largest ballrooms in the convention center, there were dozens of break-out rooms for smaller presentations, research paper workshops and even some player participation displays of golf swings being “closest to the pin” or batting cages and a hitters’ “exit velocity.” There was even a new name for one of the break-out rooms, dubbed the “Shane Battier Room.”

MIT Sloan panel: “Have the Nerds Ruined Basketball?’

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: Ready for your first look at the BIG EAST brackets?

BIG EAST Men’s Basketball Tournament, Presented by JEEP

First Round, March 12 (Peacock)

No. 9 Butler vs. No. 8 Providence 4:00

No. 10 DePaul vs. No. 7 Georgetown 6:30

No. 11 Seton Hall vs. No. 6 Villanova 9:00

Quarterfinal, March 13 (Peacock/FS1)

Butler/Providence vs. No. 1 St. John’s 12:00

No. 5 Marquette vs. No. 4 Xavier 2:30

DePaul/Georgetown vs. No. 2 Creighton 7:00

Seton Hall/Villanova vs. No. 3 UConn 9:30

Semifinal, March 14 (FOX)

Quarterfinal Winners 6:30

Quarterfinal Winners 9:00

Championship, March 15 (FOX)

Semifinal Winners 6:30

TIDBITS: Much was said and written about Nikola Jokic’s 31 points, 21 rebounds and a career-high 22 assists stat line as the Denver Nuggets outlasted the Phoenix Suns, 149-141, in overtime Friday night. Jokic became the first NBA player with a triple-double of at least 30 points, 20 rebounds and 20 assists and he tied his team record with his 29th triple-double of the season, stretching his career total to 149. That’s pretty good. … Old school NBA stat geeks had to wonder what some of Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain’s best stat lines were when the “Stilt” played back in the ‘60s and ‘70s. … Here’s one, picked at random, from Wilt’s 1967-68 season – the year he had his highest assist totals of 8.6 per game. On March 4, 1968, Wilt played all 48 minutes, scored 58 points, grabbed 35 rebounds and had four assists. … Of course, on March 2, 1962, Chamberlain scored 100 points, added 25 rebounds but had only two assists. … On February 28, 1962, Chamberlain played all 48 minutes, scored 61 points, added 28 rebounds and six assists. … Obviously, none of those were triple-doubles, but there’s one key statistical anomaly. There’s a distinct possibility Chamberlain might’ve had a triple-double if the NBA charted blocked shots and/or steals at the time. With that in mind, statisticians recreated a March 18, 1968 stat line which clocked Chamberlain’s single game output at 53 points, 32 rebounds, 24 blocks, 14 assists and 11 steals with the blocks and steals “unofficial.” … The great Nate Thurmond once had 22 points, 14 rebounds, 13 rebounds, and 12 blocks when he led the Chicago Bulls to a victory against the Atlanta Hawks while San Antonio’s David Robinson clocked 34 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, and 10 blocked shots in a February 2, 1994 Spurs win over Detroit. … There have been other quadruple doubles since that great game but one game, in particular, stands out as one of the all-time greatest performances. In a Game 7 of the 1962 NBA Finals, Boston center Bill Russell scored 30 points and added 40 rebounds with four assists in the Celtics’ 110-107 series clincher over the LA Lakers. Elgin Baylor of the Lakers had 41 points and 22 rebounds in the losing effort.

The Red Sox front office went to work and agreed to terms with 23 players on one-year contracts for the 2025 season. Signing one-season deals were: Wilyer Abreu, Brennan Bernardino, Triston Casas, Cooper Criswell, Hunter Dobbins, Richard Fitts, Jhostynxon Garcia, Romy Gonzalez, Vaughn Grissom, Luis Guerrero, David Hamilton, Zack Kelly, Chris Murphy, Carlos Narváez, Zach Penrod, Luis Perales, Quinn Priester, Blake Sabol, Justin Slaten, Nick Sogard, Greg Weissert, Josh Winckowski, and Connor Wong.

THIS JEST IN: On Saturday, forward Zuby Ejiofor hit a buzzer-beater to send the St. John’s men’s basketball team (27-4, 18-2 BIG EAST) back home from Marquette (Milwaukee) with a men’s basketball program record 27th regular season victory. Ejiofor, a junior forward for the Johnnies, buried a luck-out toss at the buzzer to upend Marquette (22-9, 13-7 BIG EAST), 86-84, in overtime. On the final day of the regular season, St John’s managed a tough road win behind clutch performances from RJ Luis Jr. and Kadary Richmond. Luis led St. John’s with 28 points, shooting 10-for-19 from floor with a trio of 3-pointers, to go with 11 rebounds marking his ninth double-double of the season. Meanwhile, Richmond recorded the first St. John’s triple-double in since Metta Sandiford-Artest (formerly Ron Artest), reached the milestone on Jan. 9, 1999. Richmond’s clutch performance included 10 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists and four steals. … Ejiofor, who also sank a game winner at the buzzer in the team’s first BIG EAST road game of this season, at Providence on Dec. 20, finished with 17 points and 12 boards.

St. John’s captured the No. 1 seed in the upcoming BIG EAST tournament to be held at Madison Square Garden this coming Wednesday through Saturday. Digital Sports Desk will be on-site at The Garden for the tournament.

YOU CAN’T MAKE IT UP: There’s a whole new meaning to the the word SNOWboard. According to the AP, there’s a $10 million reward for information leading to the arrest of a former Canadian Olympic snowboarder who is wanted for allegedly running a multinational drug trafficking network and orchestrating multiple murders related to his drug ring. The FBI added Ryan Wedding, 43, to its 10 Most Wanted list, while announcing the U.S. State Department’s $10 million offer. … “Wedding went from shredding powder on the slopes at the Olympics to distributing powder cocaine on the streets of U.S. cities and in his native Canada,” said Akil Davis, the assistant director of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office. “The alleged murders of his competitors make Wedding a very dangerous man.” … Seems that the drugs were flowing from South America to Mexico to Southern California and then to Canada, calling into question the USA’s claims that drugs were flowing north to south. … Authorities alledge that Wedding’s group killed two members of a family in Canada in retaliation for a stolen drug shipment in what officials there said was a case of mistaken identity, then two other people, associated with the ring.