Austin Hill takes victory after crash mars end of NASCAR Xfinity opener

COLLEGES

Harvard men’s hoops works overtime to beat Cornell

Noah Kirkwood had a career-high 31 points and Harvard men’s basketball beat Cornell, 77-72, in overtime at Lavietes Pavilion. The Crimson (13-10, 5-6 Ivy League) opened overtime on a 9-2 run and outscored the Big Red (13-10, 5-7) in the extra period, 12-7. Kirkwood hit 4 of 6 3-pointers and grabbed eight rebounds. Luka Sakota added 18 points and seven rebounds for Harvard. Kale Catchings had 10 points and seven rebounds. Chris Manon had 15 points and six rebounds for Cornell. Sean Hansen added 13 points, including a layup with 36 seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime … C.J. Kelly came off the bench to score 18 points and Rich Kelly added 17 as UMass (12-13, 5-8 Atlantic 10) earned an 80-74 win over La Salle (7-17, 2-12) at the Mullins Center. Michael Steadman added 12 points and seven rebounds for the Minutemen … Aaron Estrada had 21 points as Hofstra (19-9, 11-4 Colonial Athletic) eked out a 76-73 home win over Northeastern. Zach Cooks made the go-ahead layup with eight seconds remaining and Estrada added two free throws. Chris Doherty scored a career-high 22 points and had nine rebounds for the Huskies (7-19, 1-14). Jahmyl Telfort scored a season-high 22 points … Nelly Cummings had 18 points as host Colgate (17-11, 13-2 Patriot League) won its ninth straight with a 72-53 rout over Boston University (19-10, 10-6). Javante McCoy had 16 points for the Terriers. Sukhmail Mathon added 11 points and eight rebounds … Gonzaga was the top overall seed in initial rankings by the NCAA Division 1 Men’s Basketball Committee, sitting ahead of Auburn, Arizona, and Kansas as the other teams holding No. 1 regional seeds. Reigning national champion Baylor was the No. 5 overall seed, followed by Kentucky, Purdue, and Duke as the regional No. 2 seeds. Selection Sunday is March 13 … In men’s hockey, Casey Dornbach’s second-period goal gave host Harvard (15-8-3, 12-5-3 ECAC) a 1-0 upset of No. 4 Quinnipiac (26-4-3, 15-3-1) … No. 13 Northeastern (20-10-1, 11-8-1 Hockey East) used third-period goals from Jakov Novak and Sam Colangelo to pull away for a 4-1 win at Boston College (12-16-4, 6-11-3).

Frankel perfect for No. 4 Northeastern women’s hockey

In women’s hockey, No. 4 Northeastern (27-4-2, 21-3-2 Hockey East) closed the regular season with a 5-0 win over UConn (22-8-4, 16-7-4) at Matthews Arena, with Katie Cipra, Tessa Ward, and Katy Knoll scoring in the first period. Aerin Frankel made 32 saves for her NCAA-leading 10th shutout … No. 7 Harvard finished its regular season with a 3-0 win at Union behind power-play goals from Kristin Della Rovere and Emma Buckles. Lindsay Reed stopped 16 shots for the shutout … Theresa Schafzahl scored twice as Vermont (21-10-3, 18-7-2 Hockey East) got four goals in the third period for a 4-2 comeback win at Boston College (19-13-1, 16-9-1). Kelly Browne and Gaby Roy scored for the Eagles … Isabelle Hardy scored at 3:36 of overtime and Providence (15-13-6, 12-12-3 Hockey East) escaped with a 2-1 win at BU (12-14-6, 11-9-5) in its regular-season finale … In women’s basketball, Tiasia McMillan scored 16 points to lead Colgate (6-20, 4-11 Patriot League) to a 64-61 victory at BU (15-11, 11-4). Sydney Johnson scored a game-high 21 points to lead the Terriers … Shannon Mulroy’s 18-point effort led host Cornell (9-13, 4-7 Ivy League) to a 52-49 over Harvard (12-12, 6-6). Harmoni Turner had 19 points and seven rebounds for the Crimson … Lia Thomas, the transgender swimmer for Penn, edged Iszac Henig, a transgender man who swims for Yale’s women’s team, to win the 100-meter freestyle title at the Ivy League championships at Harvard. Thomas set a school and meet record of 47.63 seconds for her third individual title at the Ivy championships.

NHL

Ex-Rangers GM, coach Emile Francis dies at 95

Emile “The Cat” Francis, the diminutive goalie who became a Hall of Fame coach and general manager with the New York Rangers died. He was 95. Francis was general manager of the Rangers from October 1964 to January 1976, also serving as coach for parts of 10 seasons during that time. New York made nine consecutive playoff appearances in his tenure, reaching the Stanley Cup Final in 1972. As Rangers coach, he was 342-209-103 and holds the franchise records for regular-season wins and games, and playoff wins (34) and games (75). Francis was general manager of the Blues from 1976-83, serving two stints as coach in 1976-77 and 1981-83 and compiling a 46-64-14 record. He was then general manager of the Hartford Whalers (1983-89) … The Coyotes acquired forward Nick Ritchie and a conditional second-round draft choice from the Maple Leafs for forward Ryan Dzingel and defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin … Stars captain Jamie Benn was fined $5,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct after squirting water from the bench into the face of Blackhawks winger MacKenzie Entwistle as he skated past the Dallas bench late in the third period Friday at Chicago.

MISCELLANY

Football Hall of Famer Charley Taylor dies at 80

Charley Taylor, the Hall of Fame receiver who ended his 13-season career with Washington as the NFL’s career receptions leader, died Saturday. He was 80. The Commanders said Taylor died at an assisted-living facility in Northern Virginia. The cause of death wasn’t announced. Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1984, Taylor finished with 649 catches for 9,110 yards in 165 regular-season games. Taylor was the 1964 NFL rookie of the year and was selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s All-1960s Team … According to reports, recently retired Super Bowl champion safety Eric Weddle has a new job: head football coach at Rancho Bernardo High School in San Diego. Weddle originally retired after the 2019 season. He came out of retirement in January to help the Rams, who had been ravaged by injuries at safety ahead of the playoffs. Weddle played in all four of Los Angeles’s postseason games, tearing a pectoral muscle in the Super Bowl victory over the Bengals … Harry Kane scored his second goal of the game in stoppage time for Tottenham in a 3-2 win at English Premier League-leading Manchester City. Dejan Kulusevski gave Tottenham a 1-0 lead four minutes into the match. İlkay Gündoğan and Riyad Mahrez scored for Manchester City. Liverpool is only 6 points behind with a game in hand and with a meeting between the front-runners still to come in April … Sadio Mane scored a brilliant overhead kick and Mohamed Salah added his 150th goal for the team as Liverpool came from behind at home to beat Norwich, 3-1, and keep the pressure on Manchester City. Luis Diaz also scored for Liverpool.