Friday, April 19, 2024

Sports

ICE HOCKEY

Enforcer Maloney out for season

Brian Maloney is as tough as anyone on the Spartan hockey team.The junior left wing from Bassano, Alberta is MSU’s enforcer on the ice - methodically antagonizing the other team and administering bone-rattling body checks.

BASKETBALL

Reckers clutch performance is March at its best

March is nearly every sports fan’s favorite month - and despite what the shameless self-promoters at ESPN will tell you, it’s not because “A Season on the Brink” aired. And while the “total sports network” ventures in Brian Dennehy movies, I’ll try to find something a little more worthwhile to write about. I have to resist any urge to write a “65 things I love about March” column, because it’s in the best interest of you, the reader, and my reputation to avoid any and all gimmicky columns - i.e.

SPORTS

NCAA passes, NIT last hope for Spartans

The Spartans’ dreams of an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament officially ended Sunday when the selection committee passed on the MSU women’s basketball team. As the final bracket was being displayed, the emotions began to show in the Spartans.

ICE HOCKEY

CCHA Tournament: MSU bests Bowling Green in overtime win

Fifth-ranked MSU was pushed to its limit by Bowling Green on Friday night, but the Spartans stormed back for a gritty 4-3 overtime victory in front of 5,408 fans at Munn Ice Arena. Senior right wing Adam Hall notched the game-winner 4:57 into overtime, giving MSU a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three CCHA Tournament first-round series.

BASKETBALL

Taylor, Ballinger grab honors on All-Big Ten teams

One day after winning Player of the Week honors for the first time in his career, Spartan sophomore guard Marcus Taylor was selected by coaches and media Tuesday as a member of the All-Big Ten First Team. Taylor led the conference in scoring and assists with averages of 17.7 points and five assists per game.

ICE HOCKEY

Spartans shut out Ferris State on home ice; finish 2nd in CCHA

Fifth-ranked MSU did what it could to win a share of the CCHA title Saturday - the last night of the regular season - but the second-to-last night came back to haunt them.The Spartans had to battle for everything Saturday and eventually muscled their way to a 2-0 win over Ferris State in front of 6,983 fans at Munn Ice Arena - the largest crowd at Munn this season.But MSU missed out on the CCHA title when archrival Michigan beat Western Michigan 6-2 in Kalamazoo on Saturday.

BASKETBALL

MSU topples Iowa at home, 93-79

The MSU men’s basketball team closed out regular-season play Saturday with its fifth straight win - a 93-79 routing of Iowa on Senior Day at Breslin Center. The win over the Hawkeyes (16-14 overall, 5-11 Big Ten) also guarantees MSU (19-10, 10-6) at least the No.

ICE HOCKEY

Spartans enter weekend still tied with U-M

For weeks, MSU head coach Ron Mason said he wanted the CCHA title race to come down to the last weekend of the season. He got his wish. The fifth-ranked Spartans (23-6-5 overall, 17-5-4 CCHA) enter this weekend’s season finale against Ferris State deadlocked atop the league standings with archrival Michigan. MSU and U-M both play tonight and Saturday with championship implications weighing heavily on every shot, save and goal. Both teams are favored to sweep their home-and-home series - U-M plays sixth-place Western Michigan - but if either team slips up even a little bit, it could pave the title road for a hated rival.