Bucks handle Cavaliers

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Kevin Porter Jr. had 20 points, Ryan Rollins added 18 and the Milwaukee Bucks held off the short-handed Cleveland Cavaliers 118-116 on Wednesday night for their fifth victory in six games.

The Cavaliers appeared to tie it on Jarrett Allen’s basket underneath at the buzzer, but it was ruled that time had expired. Allen had 27 points and 11 rebounds.

Cleveland was without James Harden after he broke his right thumb Tuesday night in a home victory over New York. Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley also sat out, with Mitchell nursing a strained right groin. Giannis Antetokounmpo missed his 13th consecutive game for the Bucks because of a strained right calf.

Jaylon Tyson pulled the Cavaliers to 116-114 with two free throws. After Milwaukee’s Kyle Kuzma missed a 3-pointer, Dennis Schroder scored from the right side of the lane to tie it 116 with 35.6 seconds left. Porter hit a free-throw line jumper to put the Bucks up 118-116 with 20.2 seconds remaining.

Schroder, acquired from Sacramento on Feb. 1, had 26 points, his most in nine games with the Cavaliers.

Cleveland lost for the second time in 10 games to drop into fourth place in the Eastern Conference, a half-game behind New York.

The Cavaliers will play at Detroit on Friday night.

Waking up with the Phantoms

YOUNGSTOWN – The Youngstown Phantoms used two goals from Cooper Simpson, a record-setting goal from Ryan Rucinski, and 22 stops from Tobias Trejbal to down the Muskegon Lumberjacks, 5-1, Wednesday morning in from of more than 5,300 area children at the annual School Day game at the Covelli Centre.

“Maybe we should play all of our games at 10:30,” Phantoms coach Ryan Ward said.

Rucinski scored a power play goal in the second period to give the Phantoms a 3-0 lead. Rucinski’s goal was his 16th of the season on the power play, setting a team record.

Youngstown will travel to Green Bay to play the Gamblers on Friday and Saturday.

Millions watch USA hockey

(AP) –Jack Hughes’ overtime goal, which gave the United States its first Olympic gold medal in men’s hockey since 1980, drew an average audience of 26 million viewers on NBC and Peacock in the U.S., according to Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel ratings and Adobe Analytics digital data.

Team USA’s 2-1 overtime victory over Canada on Sunday averaged 18.6 million live viewers (8:15-11 a.m. EST) on NBC and Peacock. The total rose to 20.7 million with encores on USA Network on Sunday afternoon and NBC late Sunday night.

According to Nielsen, it is the most-watched sporting event on record in U.S. history with a start time before 9 a.m. Eastern time.

It is NBC’s second-most-watched hockey game. Canada’s OT win over the U.S. in the gold medal game at the 2010 Vancouver Games when Sidney Crosby scored the game-winning goal averaged 27.6 million. That game had a 3:15 p.m. EST puck drop.

The North American audience when Hughes scored the golden goal was nearly 35 million. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation said on Monday that 8.7 million were watching in Canada during overtime.

The Milan-Cortina Olympics averaged 23.5 million viewers in the United States, making them the most-watched Winter Games since 2014 and drawing a 96% larger audience than the 2022 Beijing Games.

NBCUniversal said the average includes combined audiences on NBC, Peacock, CNBC, USA Network and other digital platforms. It covered the live afternoon (2-5 p.m. EST) and prime-time (8-11 p.m. EST/PST) windows.

The gold medal game in women’s hockey on Feb. 19 — when Team USA beat Canada 2-1 in overtime — averaged 5.3 million on USA Network and Peacock. The audience peaked at 7.7 million during Megan Keller’s golden goal.

Okorie, Stanford beat Pitt

STANFORD, Calif. (AP) — Ebuka Okorie scored 34 points, his sixth 30-point game of the season, and Stanford rallied in the second half to defeat Pittsburgh 75-67 on Wednesday.

The Cardinal (17-11, 6-9 ACC) shot 50% from the field and overcame a 34-32 halftime deficit behind a 28-point second half from Okorie. He added six rebounds, six assists and three steals while going 9 for 9 from the free-throw line. Benny Gealer added 12 points, and Aidan Cammann finished with 11 as Stanford went a perfect 10-for-10 shooting at the line. Pitt (10-18, 3-12) was led by Cameron Corhen’s 22 points and eight rebounds, while Barry Dunning Jr. added 19 points on four 3-pointers.

Pitt built a 63-57 advantage with 7:08 remaining before Stanford answered with a decisive stretch. Okorie scored nine points during an 11-1 run that gave the Cardinal a 68-64 lead with 3:27 left, including back-to-back 3-pointers.

The Panthers cut the deficit to four on a Dunning 3-pointer with 1:44 remaining, but Stanford responded with a tip-in by Cammann and closed the game at the free-throw line, holding Pitt without a field goal over the final three minutes.

The win snapped a two-game losing streak for the Cardinal.

Pitt will play at California on Saturday.

Bowling results

Sportsman League

at Walnut Lanes

Team Standings: Ten in the Pit, Safelite, and Sanford Plumbing 7 Brian’s Pro Shop and Sparkle Market 5, Walnut Lanes and AK Nahas 2, Historic Highlands and American Leagion 0.

High Game: Tres Click 289, Charles Henderson and Tim Pancake 279.

High Series: Tim Pancake 732, Tres Click 673, Homer Williams 666.

Last Week’s Leaders

Round Two Winners: Historic Highland.

Round Two Doubles Winners: 1st Arnold Brewer and Mark Neimeyer 1500, 2nd John Hoobler and Donovan Hickman 1440, 3rd Ed Harzen and Jarod Mattern 1417, 4th Trey Pancake and Rick Rudibaugh 1375.

High Game: Rick Rudibaugh 268, Arnold Brewer 244, Ed Harzen 236.

High Series: Rick Rudibaugh 765, Butch Mattern 671, Tres Click 655.

High Nooners League

at Walnut Lanes

Team Standings: The Rangers 24 1/2 -7 1/2, Smokin Guns 23-9, Guys & Dolls 19 1/2-12 1/2, The Warriors 19-13, Mike’s Lawn Mower Shop 15-17, Cut Above 14-18, Sun Shine 12-20.

High Game: (men’s) Sparky Miller 202-182, Dan Vojnovich 200, Bill Ambrose 192, Mike Price 187-184; (women’s) Donna Vojnovich 179-170, Barb Chapko 173-146, Joan Wertz 168, Nancy Keenan 147.

High Series: Sparky Miller 540, Mike Price 537, Doug Blazer 500.