Category: Sports News

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Pep Biel scored two goals, Idan Toklomati added his first of the season, and Charlotte FC beat short-handed Austin FC 3-1 on Saturday night.

Biel scored his second goal of the season to make it 2-1 in the 68th minute. Harry Toffolo played an arcing ball from the left side to the back post, where Liel Abada skipped it back in front of the net for the first-touch finish by Biel.

Guilherme Biro was shown a straight red card in the 25th and Austin (1-1-1) played a man down the rest of the way.

Charlotte took a 1-0 lead about four minutes later when Idan Toklomati scored his first goal of the season. Wilfried Zaha cut back to evade a defender and darted toward the end line before he played a cross from the left corner of the 6-yard box to the back post for a first-touch finish by Toklomati into a wide-open net.

An own goal by Morrison Agyemang — who made his first MLS start — made it 1-1 in the 31st minute.

Biel capped the scoring in the third minute of stoppage time.

Austin’s Dani Pereira left the game in the 36th minute due to an apparent hamstring injury and was replaced by Nicolás Dubersarsky.

Brad Stuver had nine saves.

Kristijan Kahlina stopped one shot for Charlotte (1-1-1).

___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

ATLANTA (AP) — Rookies Sergi Solans and teenager Aiden Hezarkhani scored four minutes apart in the first half and Real Salt Lake went on to spoil Atlanta United's home opener with a 3-2 victory Saturday night.

Solans scored his first goal in the 23rd minute of his first start with an assist from first-year forward Morgan Guilavogui, also making his first start.

Hezarkhani, 18, notched his second goal in his third start this season, scoring unassisted in the 27th minute for a two-goal advantage.

Atlanta United got a goal back on a score by Alexey Miranchuk in the 38th minute. Newcomer Elías Báez notched his first assist on the club's first goal of the season after back-to-back 2-0 losses on the road. Teenager Cooper Sanchez, 17, also collected his first assist.

Teenager Zavier Gozo, 18, scored two minutes later and Real Salt Lake took a 3-1 lead into halftime. Gozo's goal was his first this season after scoring four times as a rookie last season in 25 appearances. Philip Quinton notched his second assist of the season and career, while defender Justen Glad earned his first this season and his fourth in 275 career appearances.

Miranchuk found the net in the 74th minute with assists from Emmanuel Latte Lath and Steven Alzate to set the final margin. It was Miranchuk’s 11th goal in 45 career matches with Atlanta. Alzate's first assist this season is his third in 13 career appearances. Latte Lath had one assist in 30 matches last season — his first in the league.

Rafael Cabral saved two shots for Real Salt Lake (2-1-0). Cabral had the only save in the first half as RSL picked up its first victory in Atlanta in its third try.

Lucas Hoyos finished with two saves for Atlanta United (0-3-0) in his third career start.

Real Salt Lake midfielder Diego Luna, a candidate for the U.S. World Cup roster, missed his third straight match because of a knee injury.

Up next

Real Salt Lake: Hosts Austin FC on Saturday.

Atlanta United: Hosts the Philadelphia Union on Saturday.

___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/soccer

CHESTER, Pa. (AP) — Timo Werner had his second assist in as many appearances for San Jose, Ousseni Bouda scored a goal, and the Earthquakes beat the Philadelphia Union 1-0 on Saturday night.

San Jose (3-0-0) is off to the best start in club history. The Earthquakes started 2-0-1 on their way to the 2003 MLS Cup championship.

Daniel De Sousa Britto — known simply as “Daniel” — had three saves for San Jose and has not allowed a goal this season.

Werner rolled a long through ball to Bouda, who slipped behind the defense for a first-touch finish from outside the 6-yard box in the 59th minute.

1. Philadelphia (0-3-0) is off to its worst start since 2012 and already has two home losses this season, one more that all 2025 when the Union won the Supporter's Shield.

Andre Blake stopped two shots.

___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Chris Brady finished with three saves for the Chicago Fire and Patrick Schulte stopped two shots for Columbus as the longtime rivals played to a scoreless draw in the Crew's home opener on Saturday night.

It was the 24th draw in the 80th meeting between the two clubs with the victories knotted at 28 apiece.

Five yellow cards were handed out in the final 13 minutes of regulation — three of them to the Fire (1-1-1).

Brady had two saves and Schulte wasn’t tested in the first half.

The two clubs split a pair of matches last season with both winning at home.

Columbus falls to 0-1-2 on the season.

Up next

Chicago: Hosts D.C. United on Saturday.

Columbus: Hosts Nashville SC on Saturday.

___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/soccer

The Nets snapped the longest losing skid in the NBA with one of the largest comebacks in their history.

Brooklyn rallied for a 107-105 win at East-leading Detroit before a sellout crowd of 20,062 at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday that was as stunning as their last visit was shameful.

The Nets’ comeback — from 23 points down in the second half — tied the fifth biggest in franchise history. It flipped the script from their last trip to Detroit on Feb. 1, when their 53-point humbling was the third worst they’d ever suffered.

Saturday was much sweeter thanks to a 34-13 fourth-quarter run that turned a 17-point deficit into a four-point lead they held onto.

“[You have to] keep playing as hard as you can,” Jordi Fernández said. “[It was] the resiliency, and we found energy at the right time. Defensively, when you look at 43 points allowed in one half, you give yourself a chance to win. So, we found a way. I’m proud of the growth. … [We] played against a really good team, and we were able to fight all the way through.

“The effort was good, but their voice was great. [I was impressed by] how encouraging they were to others. At times, when you’re down and everybody is frustrated, it creates a little negative energy. … Those guys kept everybody positive. That’s a good thing. That’s how you overcome a big deficit. We were able to fight for it and get the win.”

The win was the Nets’ first against an Eastern Conference leader since 2022. And it came because, after taking it on the chin early, they eventually matched the shorthanded Pistons’ physicality. No, they didn’t have to face star Cade Cunningham (left quad) or Ausar Thompson (right ankle) — but they won’t care.

Michael Porter Jr. had a game-high 30 points and 13 rebounds. Ziaire Williams (23 points) and Day’Ron Sharpe (13 points) had strong second halves.

Brooklyn erased a 17-point fourth-quarter hole, and an eight-point deficit with 3:25 left thanks to a 12-0 blitz that gave them the lead for good.

“Last time we were here, [Detroit] broke a franchise record for largest win ever. So ever since that game, we always would tell ourselves it’s all about how you respond,” Sharpe said. “It’s our first time seeing them since we lost that game, so we just wanted to come out and give them a fight, and we won the game.”

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST NBA STANDINGS AND NETS STATS

The Nets — now 16-47 and third in the tank race — trailed 77-54 with 7:55 left in the third quarter.

They were still down 90-73 with 10:04 to play before mounting a 34-13 run.

Sharpe had nine points and five boards — three offensive — in the pivotal fourth quarter. Nic Claxton — who had just two points on 1-of-5 shooting and was outplayed by Jalen Duren — saw how effective his burly backup was, and told Fernández to ride the hot hand.

“That’s a great teammate for them to see the flow of the game and trust me to finish the game. That says a lot about his character,” said Sharpe.

“I was about to bring Nic in for Day’Ron. Day’Ron was playing so hard. Nic saw that he just got a putback and fought for the ball, and said [stick with him],” Fernández said. “When you see things like this, how connected [they are] and they come together. They believe in each other, and that was pretty cool.”

Down 103-95, the Nets reeled off a dozen unanswered points.

Williams forced a Daniss Jenkins miss, and Sharpe grabbed the rebound. Even after Noah Clowney’s turnover with seven seconds left gave Detroit life, Williams forced a Duncan Robinson miss on the wing. Duren’s last-second miss sealed it.

“The second half, we built a 20-point lead and then we stopped respecting the game,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “You disrespect the game, it’s going to bite you in the [butt] and that’s what happened to us.”

The Nets are a game behind second-place Indiana and 2 ½ behind Sacramento in the tank race.

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Rashaun Agee scored 26 points, Rylan Griffen scored 24, and Texas A&M beat LSU 94-91 in triple overtime on Saturday night to close out the regular season for both Southeastern Conference teams.

Agee had 11 rebounds and two blocks in his 47 minutes, and scored a layup with 24 seconds left to give the Aggies (21-10, 11-7) the lead in triple overtime. Griffen was 5 of 8 from behind the arc, and had seven rebounds, three blocks and a game-high six steals.

Pop Isaacs had 18 points, seven rebounds and three steals for the Aggies. Ali Dibba added 12 points and five steals.

Max Mackinnon led the Tigers (15-16, 3-15) with 20 points. Jalen Reece scored 17. Mike Nwoko had 16 points and 13 rebounds.

The Tigers led by a game-high 15 points in the first half, which ended 38-33. They had a nine-point second-half lead until the Aggies responded with a 14-4 run to briefly take the lead. Mackinnon tied the game at 70 on a layup with 38 seconds to go, sending it to overtime.

Mackinnon gave the Tigers a one-point lead on a 3-pointer with 1:23 left in overtime before Agree responded with one for the Aggies 18 seconds later. Agee turned the ball over with 15 seconds left, leading to a game-tying jump shot from Jalen Reece to send the game to a second overtime. Free throws forced a third overtime.

LSU lost eight of its past nine games, and 15 of its past 18 to finish last in the SEC standings.

Up next

Texas A&M clinched the sixth seed in the SEC tournament, and will play on Thursday against the winner of the 11 and 14 seeds.

LSU will be the 16th seed in the SEC tournament, beginning Wednesday against the No. 9 seed. ___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

It’d be nice to simulate to the end of the Brooklyn Nets’ season by adding 20 losses to their ledger and populating social media with a few Nolan Traore highlight reels here and there. Alas, they do have to play the games, and on Saturday evening, the Nets faced the East’s #1 seed — the Detroit Pistons — on the road.

However, much like Brooklyn’s narrow loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers last week, this one seemed like a trap game for their opponent. Maybe “trap” is the wrong word considering the Pistons were missing Cade Cunningham and Ausar Thompson to injury, but throw in the weird 6:00 p.m. tip-off time and their most recent, hard-fought loss to the San Antonio Spurs, and it felt like the Nets could make it sweaty.

The first few minutes were promising. Michael Porter Jr. — chased through screens not by Thompson but by Duncan Robinson — got free for a couple early threes, and Jordi Fernández even threw out a funky double-big lineup to reward the faithful Brooklyn viewers that tuned in.

Then the Pistons went on an 18-4 run, taking a 16-point lead into the half as old friend Caris LeVert helped destroy a turnover-prone reserve unit…

Another Nets loss, huh? Not even the were providing enjoyment, with Egor Dëmin sitting to manage his plantar fascia injury again, while Traore (15 minutes) and Ben Saraf (four minutes) combined for five turnovers and two total points. Danny Wolf was better, finishing with a tidy eight points and four assists, but the team was down 23 points soon after the third quarter started. Autopilot, right?

And then it all changed. Jordi Fernández rode the veterans to a wild, wild comeback, ending a ten-game losing streak. Foolish or not, nobody can accuse this team of tanking, not on Saturday night in Detroit.

Michael Porter Jr. never really caught fire, but shot 10-of-25 to end up with 30/13/1 , leading all scorers. Likewise, Noah Clowney shot just 1-of-5 from deep, but frequented the free-throw line en route to 16 points. Terance Mann brought the ball up the floor for much of the second half and stabilized the group, while Ziaire Williams continued to play some of the best ball of his career…

“I was just flowing, just taking what the defense gives me, not forcing anything,” said Williams. “My mama, she from D-town, so shoutout to the fam in the arena watching. I had a little extra spirit with me today.”

Williams scored 23 points, making five threes and eight free-throws, but it didn’t stop there. Day’Ron Sharpe, who fought Jalen Duren tooth and nail in the paint, closed over Nic Claxton. Fernández even went offense/defense down the stretch, showing some faith in Danny Wolf to get buckets.

The Pistons, yukking it up in the first half as Kevin Huerter shot heat-checks and Daniss Jenkins took everybody off the dribble, looked mortified in the second half, running into a brick wall without Cunningham. They shot a grotesque 9-of-27 from TWO after halftime, with the Nets racking up five blocks in that span.

“I think we found energy at the right time,” said Fernández. “I think defensively, when you look at 43 points allowed in one half, you give yourself a chance to win.”

Well, that’s the truth. Here’s Ziaire Williams’ take: “We just never gave up. Shoutout Day’Ron, big minutes down the stretch. It was a team win, just glad we got it done.”

Detroit’s 23-point lead approached single-digits, but a quick run at the start of the fourth quarter pushed it back to 17. It wasn’t safe. Ziaire Williams hit two huge threes, Detroit couldn’t stop fouling, and it set up a stupid, wacky ending that both teams, quite frankly, deserved to lose. (Maybe more the team that blew the big lead…)

I still can’t make sense of it. My best guess is that Noah Clowney got out over his skis trying to put the game away with a dunk instead of catching the ball, which set up another Nets blunder on the ensuing defensive possession: Up two points, they lost track of…Duncan Robinson. Who missed. Brooklyn’s fourth-quarter execution was splendid, but uh, that real late-game execution? It might need some work heading into next season.

Duren, however, missed the fadeaway jumper over Sharpe to seal what I would otherwise consider a devastating outcome for both sides if I hadn’t seen the emotion on Brooklyn’s sideline…

Will this be 2026’s version of the Nic Claxton game-winner in Philadelphia? I don’t know about all that. Jordi Fernández may have gone balls to the wall to snag the fifth-largest comeback in franchise history, but the team is still just 16-47 after this foxtrot of a win, good for the third-worst record in the league.

“The last time we was here, they broke a franchise-record for their largest record win ever … it’s all about how you respond,” said Day’Ron Sharpe.

Well…if the Nets are gonna win…it might as well be like this. I’m still sweating.

Final Score: Brooklyn Nets 107, Detroit Pistons 105

Milestone Watch

More milestones — especially team-focused ones — than we’ve had in a minute!

• Porter Jr. had 27+ points and 13+ rebounds for the second consecutive game. It’s the first time in his career he’s put up such numbers in back-to-back games.
• Saturday night also marked MPJ’s 11th 20-point double-double of the season, the most he’s ever recorded in one season.
• This is the first time in Ziaire Williams’ career he has scored 15+ points in three consecutive games. His 23 points is the second-most he’s scored this season, and five made 3-pointers is tied for the third-highest total of his career.
• Brooklyn defeated the East’s #1 seed on Saturday, the first time they’ve done so since a 12/23/22 win over the Milwaukee Bucks.
• As mentioned, that 23-point comeback ties the fifth-largest comeback win in franchise history. How many do you remember?

Next Up

The Nets return home for a back-to-back, starting with the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET.

• Boxscore: Brooklyn Nets 107, Detroit Pistons 105 – NBA
• Game Highlights: Brooklyn Nets 107, Detroit Pistons 105 (Video) – NBA
• Ziaire Williams Highlights (Video) – YES Network
• Jordi Fernandez PostGame Interview (Video) – YES Network
• Day’Ron Sharpe PostGame Interview (Video) – YES Network
• Nets end 10-game losing streak by rallying from down 23 points to stun Pistons 107-105 – Dave Hogg – AP
• Nets snap 10-game skid with stunning comeback win over shorthanded Pistons – Brian Lewis – New York Post
• Nets storm back from 23 down, stun East-leading Pistons to snap 10-game skid ($) – C.J. Holmes – New York Daily News
• Nets push Drake Powell out of his comfort zone with G League stint ($) – C.J. Holmes – New York Daily News
• Nets end 10-game losing streak with 107-105 comeback win at Pistons – Sharif Phillips-Keaton – USA TODAY

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Trevor Zegras scored the only goal of the shootout to help the Philadelphia Flyers defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 on Saturday night.

Owen Tippett, Alex Bump and Denver Barkey scored for the Flyers, and Dan Vladar stopped 20 shots.

Tommy Novak, Rickard Rakell and Erik Karlsson scored for the Penguins, and Stuart Skinner stopped 12 shots a day after Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin was suspended for five games. The Penguins were also without captain Sidney Crosby, who is out for a minimum of four weeks because of a lower-body injury.

Tippett scored his 20th goal of the season less than a minute after Novak opened the scoring for the Penguins. It marked Tippett's fourth consecutive season with at least 20 goals.

Bump scored in his NHL debut to tie the game at 2. With his family in the stands, he scored short side after a no-look pass from Nikita Grebenkin just over a minute after Rackell put the Penguins ahead 2-1 early in the second period.

Karlsson scored a minute later, and Barkley scored midway through the second to even the score at 3.

Vladar got called for interference 2:51 into overtime, and the Flyers killed off the late penalty.

Up next

Flyers: Host the New York Rangers on Monday.

Penguins: Host Boston on Sunday.

___

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

ATLANTA (AP) — Jalen Johnson had 35 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists and Nickeil Alexander-Walker added 24 points as the Atlanta Hawks beat the Philadelphia 76ers 126-116 on Saturday night for their season-best sixth straight victory.

Atlanta, which had two five-game runs during the season, has won seven of its last eight games and moved two games over .500 at 33-31.

CJ McCollum scored 13 of his 17 points in the first half and added seven assists, Dyson Daniels finished with 15 points and nine rebounds, and Onyeka Okongwu had 10 points as the Hawks overcame a seven-point halftime deficit.

Tyrese Maxey led the 76ers with 31 points before injuring his right hand in a collision with teammate Adem Bona with 16 seconds remaining in the game. Philadelphia coach Nick Nurse had no update on the extent of Maxey's injury after the game and said the All-Star guard would have X-rays on his hand.

Quentin Grimes scored 26 points, Kelly Oubre Jr. added 24 and Trendon Watford 10 as Philly had its four-game winning streak halted. Jabari Walker, who was coming off consecutive 20-point games for the first time in his four-year NBA career, finished with nine points.

The Sixers were missing VJ Edgecombe (lumbar contusion), Joel Embiid (right oblique strain), Johni Broome (right knee surgery recovery) and Paul George (league suspension).

Jonathan Kuminga (left knee inflammation) was sidelined for the Hawks.

Up next

76ers: At the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday.

Hawks: Host the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday.

___

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Tage Thompson and Jason Zucker scored less than two minutes apart in the second period and the Buffalo Sabres held on to win their sixth game in a row, 3-2 over the Nashville Predators on Saturday.

Josh Doan scored 16 seconds into the third period for a 3-1 lead and Alex Lyon made 23 saves for Buffalo, which played the first of a five-game homestand and has now earned a point in 13 of its last 15 games.

Thompson extended his point streak to a career-best 10 games (six goals, five assists) with his goal with 7:21 to play in the second period. Zucker made it 2-1 with 5:43 to play in the period.

Zachary L’Heureux scored his first goal of the season to give the Predators a 1-0 lead at 1:17 of the second period and Matthew Wood added a power-play goal with less than four minutes to play to pull Nashville within 3-2. Juuse Saros made 21 saves.

With an assist on L’Heureux's goal, Nashville’s Jonathan Marchessault now has 300 career NHL assists.

The Sabres are now 29-2-0 this season when they have the lead after two periods.

The Predators, coming off a 6-3 win over Boston, have now lost four of their last five games.

The game was Sam Carrick's first in a Buffalo uniform since he was acquired in a trade from the New York Rangers, and he played a critical role in the victory by winning two crucial faceoffs against Ryan O'Reilly in the final minutes.

Up next

Predators: Visit the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday night.

Sabres: Host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday night.

___

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl