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Mount player to play at the Rose Bowl
PASADENA, California --University of Mount Union senior long snapper Andy Rieman's collegiate football career will come to a close in the Rose Bowl on Saturday.
Rieman is a member of the 56-man American team that will play in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl. He will wear No. 79.
The 6-foot-5, 255-pound Rieman from Mount Vernon has been the Purple Raiders' long snapper the past three years, including the 2017 NCAA Division III national championship season.
The American team will be coached by Pro Football Hall of Famer Darrell Green and the National team by Super Bowl-winning coach Mike Martz.
The NFLPA Collegiate Bowl will be televised live on FS1 beginning at 4 p.m. today. See page 3B for the complete roster.
Devils to play boy-girl doubleheader
COLUMBIANA -- Columbiana will host Lisbon today in a girls-boys varsity basketball doubleheader.
The girls game will start at 6 p.m., followed by the boys game at around 7:30 p.m.
Kluber gets top honors
CLEVELAND -- The Cleveland Indians and pitcher Corey Kluber took top honors at the 18th Greater Cleveland Sports Awards on Wednesday night.
Kluber was named Cleveland's 2017 Professional Athlete of the Year after capturing a second Cy Young Award and the Indians' 22-game winning streak captured named the Best Moment in Cleveland Sports Award.
Other awards went to former Cavaliers center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, lifetime achievement; Kent State track and field standout Reggie Jagers III and Michigan basketball player Hallie Thome from Chagrin Falls, collegiate athletes of the year; Wadsworth quarterback Joey Baughman and Breckville-Broadview Heights volleyball player Shannon Williams, high school athletes of the year; and North Olmsted's Samer Bali, courage award.
Steelers select Randy Fichtner
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The Steelers didn't look very far for offensive coordinator Todd Haley's replacement, promoting longtime quarterbacks coach Randy Fichtner to the position on Thursday, four days after Pittsburgh's season ended with a divisional round playoff loss to Jacksonville.
The Steelers chose not to renew Haley's contract, opening the door for Fichtner to take over one of the league's most dynamic offenses. The 54-year-old Fichtner last called plays while serving as offensive coordinator at Memphis from 2001-06.
He joined Pittsburgh's coaching staff in 2007 as one of coach Mike Tomlin's initial hires. Fichtner spent three seasons as wide receivers coach before becoming the quarterbacks coach in 2010, where he developed a close rapport with Ben Roethlisberger.
"We have a tremendous roster, and it will be my charge to continue putting our offensive players in position to succeed and score points," Fichtner said in a statement.
"We have the nucleus to be successful, and I am thrilled about the chance to lead the offense as we have already started preparing for the 2018 season."
Pittsburgh finished third in total yards and eighth in scoring in 2017 and put up 42 points against the Jaguars, but that wasn't enough for the Steelers to keep Haley. Pittsburgh parted ways with Haley on Wednesday after six successful, if occasionally, volatile seasons.
Fichtner has a more low-key approach to his job and a long relationship with Tomlin. Fichtner was quarterbacks coach/offensive coordinator at Arkansas State in 1997 when the program hired Tomlin as a wide receivers coach.
Thomas leads Cavs late
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Isaiah Thomas made two free throws with 11 seconds left and the Cleveland Cavaliers came up with a defensive stop in the frantic final seconds after blowing a 23-point lead to beat the Orlando Magic 104-103 on Thursday night.
After Thomas made his shots, Orlando's Elfrid Payton missed a contested layup with three seconds left. The officials ruled there was an inadvertent whistle and held a jump ball at midcourt.
Magic forward Aaron Gordon grabbed the toss and sank an apparent game-winning 45-footer as the horn sounded and Cleveland's crowds shrieked in disbelief. But Gordon committed a jump-ball violation with the move and Cleveland then only had to inbound the ball to come away with a win that shouldn't have been so difficult.
LeBron James closed in on 30,000 career points, Thomas scored 21 and the Cavs snapped a four-game losing skid -- but not out of a January funk.
James scored 16 and now needs 25 to become the seventh player in NBA history to reach 30,000. He'll likely reach the plateau on Saturday when Cleveland hosts Oklahoma City.
The Cavs were rolling to a rare, easy win before they went cold from the outside and were outscored 33-17 in the third quarter by the Magic, who have dropped 17 of 19.
Cleveland went 1 for 17 on 3-pointers in the second half.
Payton scored 19 and Gordon 17 for Orlando, which didn't get any breaks down the stretch.
With guard Derrick Rose back after missing more than two months with ankle injuries, the Cavs were closer to full strength and for a while they put together a solid performance after dropping nine of 12, a slide that raised questions about their legitimacy to contend for another title.
But some of the same problems that have plagued the Cavs -- defensive lapses, stagnant offense -- resurfaced in the second half.
Rose deepens Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue's rotation to 10, for now, and he pulled all five reserves in the second quarter for his starters.
Lue remains confident the Cavs will work through their struggles, and the Magic were the perfect opponent to fix some issues.
Orlando coach Frank Vogel was worried the Cavs would play better.
"As the season goes on they'll figure it out and they'll get their stuff together and be as good as they've always been," he said.
Cleveland made nine 3-pointers -- more than they had in its previous three games -- while building a 23-point lead in the first half.
CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN
Before the game, James was chosen as one of the captains for this year's All-Star game after receiving the most votes in balloting by fans, players and media. James will have first choice from a pool of selected players, which will include former Cavs teammate Kyrie Irving and players from Western Conference teams.
Golden State's Stephen Curry is the other captain.
SITTING OUT
The Magic played without guard Aaron Afflalo, who was suspended two games without pay by the NBA for fighting with Minnesota's Nemanja Bjelica on Tuesday.
TIP-INS
Magic: Afflalo took a wild swing at Bjelica, a punch Vogel knew would result in league punishment. "We'll respect their decision," he said. … Earlier this season, Orlando snapped a 17-game losing streak against Cleveland. … Vogel burned some early timeouts to scold his players after they gave up six 3-pointers in the opening minutes. …
Cavaliers: James will make his 14th straight All-Star start, one behind Kobe Bryant's record. … James set a goal to play 82 games, and Lue said that's a possibility although it's expected the four-time MVP will be rested for the playoffs. "He has to understand that his health is most important and without that we can't go very far," Lue said. "We just have to be smart about it." … With James on the cusp of scoring history, Lue, who played 11 seasons, appreciates the accomplishment. "When he came into the league they talked about he was a pass-first guy," Lue said. "But to make guys better and still score 30,000 points, that's a great achievement." … G Iman Shumpert remains sidelined with a knee injury, but is close to returning.
UP NEXT
Magic: At Boston on Sunday.
Cavaliers: Host Oklahoma City on Saturday.
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press.