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Elly De La Cruz, Reds top Cubs in 10 innings to wrap season

MLB: Cincinnati Reds at Chicago CubsSep 29, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz (44) steals second base during the first inning against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images

Elly De La Cruz drove in a pair on a go-ahead double while Jake Fraley finished 3-for-4 as the visiting Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago Cubs 3-0 in 10 innings in the regular-season finale on Sunday.

After nine scoreless innings, De La Cruz slashed a two-run double off Ethan Roberts (1-1). Tyler Stephenson then added an insurance run with a single to center field, extending the Reds’ lead to 3-0.

Tony Santillan (3-3) recorded the win with a perfect ninth before Buck Farmer picked up his first save of the season with a scoreless 10th. Cincinnati (77-85) snapped a five-game losing streak to finish the season.

Chicago (83-79) had its two-game winning streak snapped as the offense mustered just three hits. In just his second start of the year, Caleb Kilian threw five scoreless innings of three-hit ball. The 27-year-old righty struck out four and walked a pair.

Cincinnati threatened in the top of the fourth as Stephenson led off with a walk and TJ Friedl singled with one out. After both runners advanced on Kilian’s wild pitch, Stephenson was thrown out at home by third baseman Isaac Paredes on Ty France’s groundout. Kilian then got Fraley to fly out to escape the inning.

Seiya Suzuki singled to begin the bottom of the fourth, followed by Michael Busch’s walk. Reds starter Hunter Greene then retired Paredes and Pete Crow-Armstrong on a lineout and a flyout, respectively. Greene struck out Christian Bethancourt for the final out of the inning.

After four scoreless innings of one-hit ball, Greene was replaced by Fernando Cruz. In the final start of his third season, Greene struck out three and walked three.

Chicago finished 83-79 for a second consecutive year and missed the playoffs for a fourth straight season. The Reds also missed the postseason for a fourth consecutive year.

–Field Level Media

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West Virginia upsets No. 19 BYU to snap 3-game skid

NCAA Basketball: Brigham Young at West VirginiaFeb 28, 2026; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers forward DJ Thomas (5) shoots a three point shot over BYU Cougars forward Khadim Mboup (7) during the first half at Hope Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-Imagn Images

Honor Huff scored 19 points and dished out six assists to lead West Virginia to a 79-71 upset win at home over No. 19 BYU in a Big 12 Conference game on Saturday in Morgantown, W. Va.

Brenen Lorient racked up 18 points and pulled down nine rebounds, and DJ Thomas scored 13 points off the bench for West Virginia (17-12, 8-8 Big 12), which snapped a three-game losing streak.

Jasper Floyd and Chance Moore each scored 11 points for the Mountaineers, who earned an NCAA Tournament resume-building victory.

Robert Wright III led BYU (20-9, 8-8) with 23 points. AJ Dybantsa scored 20 points, with 16 coming in the second half, while Aleksej Kostic added 12 for the Cougars, who have dropped seven of their last 10 games.

Dybantsa hit a three to cut it to a one-possession game as the Cougars trailed 72-69 with 1:57 left. But West Virginia went back inside for a Lorient layup and a 74-69 lead.

Keba Keita’s steal and layup pulled the Cougars within 74-71. Huff, Floyd and Harlan Obioha combined to make five foul shots down the stretch to seal the win for West Virginia.

BYU led 22-20 at halftime, but the Mountaineers surged with a 20-4 run. Thomas pushed the Mountaineers ahead at 23-22 with a three-point play that sparked the extended rally for West Virginia to close the half.

The Mountaineers bench outscored BYU’s reserves 24-12.

Huff’s three pushed West Virginia to a 28-22 lead. The Mountaineers’ advantage grew to 38-24 as Floyd drove past Wright for a layup. They finished the first half with a 40-26 lead.

A 7-0 run to open the second half was capped by Kostic’s three-pointer and cut the BYU deficit to 40-33. But the Mountaineers rebuilt their double-digit lead with a 7-3 rally that started with a Treysen Eaglestaff three and featured buckets from Lorient and Thomas for a 47-36 lead.

–Field Level Media

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No. 23 Saint Louis blows past Duquesne to avoid 2nd straight defeat

NCAA Basketball: Duquesne at Saint LouisFeb 28, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Saint Louis Billikens guard Trey Green (3) drives to the basket as Duquesne Dukes guard Tarence Guinyard (1) defends during the first half at Chaifetz Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

Robbie Avila had 23 points, seven rebounds and seven assists on Saturday night to help No. 23 Saint Louis stave off visiting Duquesne for a 91-76 victory in Atlantic 10 Conference play.

Quentin Jones added 17 points and Trey Green scored 14 for Saint Louis (26-3, 14-2 A-10), which had dropped two of its previous three games. The Billikens, who trailed by 12 points early in the first half, made 16 of their 28 3-point attempts (57.1%). Paul Otieno scored 13 points off the bench.

Tarence Guinyard led Duquesne (16-13, 8-8) with 27 points, followed by Jimmie Williams’ 16 and David Dixon’s 12.

Trailing by two at halftime, Saint Louis opened the second half on a 15-4 run, with Avila’s seven straight points giving the Billikens a 54-45 edge.

Otieno’s layup with 10:59 left pushed the lead to 65-56. Guinyard’s free throw trimmed the margin to five with 8:05 remaining.

Williams and Avila traded 3-pointers, as the Billikens grabbed a nine-point edge with 6:20 remaining. From there, Dixon’s free throws followed by five straight points from Guinyard trimmed Saint Louis’ lead to 76-74.

Green then made back-to-back triples to build the cushion back to eight before drilling two free throws to give the Billikens an 84-74 advantage with 2:15 left. Otieno’s jumper then sealed Saint Louis’ much-needed win.

Guinyard and Williams made consecutive 3-pointers before Jakub Necas’ dunk put the Dukes ahead 20-8 with 15:18 left in the first half. Saint Louis answered with five straight points, as Green’s three-point play pulled the Billikens within seven.

Duquesne went five-plus minutes without a made field goal before Alex Williams’ triple gave the visitors a 26-20 edge with 10:06 remaining.

Ishan Sharma’s three with 7:13 left gave Saint Louis its first lead at 28-26.

Later in the opening half, Green connected on the Billikens’ seventh triple to trim the deficit to a point. Dixon’s layup and John Hugley IV’s three-point play then gave the Dukes a 40-34 lead.

Guinyard had 14 points in the first half for Duquesne, which led 41-39 at the midway point.

–Field Level Media

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Zuby Ejiofor (first triple-double), No. 15 St. John's wallop Villanova

NCAA Basketball: Villanova at St. JohnFeb 28, 2026; New York, New York, USA; St. John’s Red Storm forward Zuby Ejiofor (24) gestures after making a three point shot in the first half against the Villanova Wildcats at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

Zuby Ejiofor totaled 16 points, 12 rebounds and a career-high 10 assists for his first career triple-double as No. 15 St. John’s relentlessly defended and overwhelmed Villanova from the outset and rolled to an 89-57 victory Saturday night in New York.

The Red Storm (23-6, 16-2 Big East) bounced back impressively from Wednesday’s 72-40 loss at No. 6 UConn. St. John’s remained a half-game behind the Huskies for first place in the Big East.

Villanova (22-7, 13-5) went 0-4 against UConn and St. John’s and was unable to inch closer to second in the Big East. The Wildcats lost for the second time in three games following a six-game winning streak and will finish third in the Big East.

Ejiofor made 6 of 12 shots after being held to six points Wednesday and got his 10th assist on a 3 by Josan Sanon with 3:12 left. It was the fourth triple-double in school history and second straight season St. John’s achieved the feat after Kadary Richmond did it last March 8 at Marquette.

Ejiofor joined David Cain and Ron Artest along with Richmond as the only players with a triple-double in program history.

Ian Jackson came off the bench and contributed 19 and a career-high five steals to help St. John’s earn its most lopsided win in school history over Villanova, eclipsing a 23-point win in January 1998. Oziyah Sellers contributed 14 as St. John’s won for the 14th time in 15 games.

The Red Storm shot 57.6% in the first half when they converted seven of their eight dunks. St. John’s finished at 52.5% overall.

Duke Brennan led Villanova with 12 points while Bryce Lindsay and Devin Askew added 10 apiece. Standout freshman Acaden Lewis was held to eight points and committed five of Villanova’s 16 turnovers.

The Wildcats also lost Matt Hodge to an apparent leg injury when the forward landed awkwardly trying to maneuver to the rim early in the second half.

Villanova shot 25.9% in the first 20 minutes and finished at 37% overall.

After Villanova scored on the first possession, St John’s ripped off 11 straight for an 11-2 lead on a 3 by Sellers with 15:47 left. The Red Storm expanded their lead to 30-14 when Jackson converted a windmill dunk off a steal and Ruben Prey made a two-handed dunk with just under nine minutes left.

St. John’s took a 20-point lead when Sellers connected with Ejiofor for an alley-oop dunk with 5:57 left, took a 30-point lead on a putback by Hopkins and held a 48-23 lead by halftime. The Red Storm never let the lead slip below 17 in the final 20 minutes.

–Field Level Media

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