NEWS » e Buffaloes did, but it will still go down

PORTLAND, Ore. -- A fiery halftime speech from coach Terry Stotts spurred the Trail Blazers over the Nuggets.Portland had fallen behind 57-50 at the break and the defense was struggling.He got after us, and pretty much told us what we were doing was not acceptable and we couldnt keep doing it -- putting ourselves in that position and not playing smart as were capable of and not playing as hard as we need to be to give ourselves a chance, Damian Lillard said.Lillard finished with 32 points and Portland handed Denver its fourth straight loss with a 112-105 victory on Sunday night.CJ McCollum added 21 points for the Blazers, who have won five of their last six games. Portland came alive in the second half after Stotts speech and outscored Denver 36-15 in the third quarter.He got on us, he yelled at us a little bit, and its up to us to go out and answer the call, Lillard said about the halftime talk. I thought we did a great job responding.Jamal Murray hit a 3-pointer to pull Denver within 110-105 in the final seconds, but the rally came up short. It was the Blazers seventh straight victory over the Nuggets at the Moda Center.Murray and Danilo Gallinari led the Nuggets with 19 points apiece and Kenneth Faried added 18. Fourteen of Murrays career-high points came in the fourth-quarter rally. He made five 3-pointers.Denvers Gary Harris, who has started in four games for the Nuggets this season, was out because of a right ankle sprain. Harris started and had 13 points in the Nuggets 106-95 loss at home to Detroit on Saturday night. While he injured his ankle during the game, he returned to play.Jameer Nelson started in his place on Sunday. Reserve forward Wilson Chandler, who has struggled with a left hamstring strain, also played and had 18 points.Once were aggressive and play as a team we can beat anybody, but we didnt do that in the third quarter, Chandler said. They came out and just flipped it on us. They were the aggressors in the third quarter and they just jumped on us.The Blazers were coming off a 122-120 overtime victory over the Sacramento Kings on Friday night. Afterward, Lillard said the Blazers needed to play well for longer stretches.Portland went up 13-7 early on Meyers Leonards alley-oop dunk but Denver wrestled away the lead and went up 28-20 at the end of the first quarter on Nelsons 3-pointer.Jusuf Nurkics hook shot pushed Denvers lead to 48-31 midway through the second quarter. The Blazers played their way back, with Maurice Harkless layup pulling Portland within 52-46.Portland trailed 57-50 at the half, but closed to 58-55 on CJ McCollums layup. Portland took a 61-60 lead on Harkless 3-pointer and his fast-break layup stretched the advantage to 73-64.Harkless finished with 17 points.Asked about what he said at halftime, Stotts wouldnt reveal much.We talked about defense, he said.TIP-INS:Nuggets: Chandler has had six games this season with at least 10 points. He had 11 in the first half alone against Portland. ... The Nuggets rank last in the league for turnovers with an average of 18 per game. Against the Blazers they had 18.Trail Blazers: The Blazers beat the Nuggets 115-113 in overtime earlier this season in Denver. With six assists tonight, Damian Lillard surpassed Geoff Petrie for fourth place on Portlands all-time list for assists with 2,058.LILLARD-PROTESTS: There have been protests every night in Portland since Tuesdays election of Donald Trump. At times the demonstrations have turned violent with property damage, a non-fatal shooting and 71 arrests on Saturday.I think its very unfortunate that people have done some of the things they have done during the protest. A lot of harm and damage has been done, Lillard told ESPN. I do understand their frustration, and I commend people wanting to come together for some kind of change. Tearing apart your own city just isnt the place to begin, and also making your own city less of a safe place isnt the answer.There has been increased security at the Moda Center since the election.MURRAYS BIG NIGHT: I was getting worried missing them early, he said about his fourth-quarter surge. I was so wide open and I wasnt hitting them so I wanted to make up for that. In addition to his top game in terms of points and 3-pointers, the rookie out of Kentucky also had a season-best five rebounds.UP NEXT:Nuggets: Denver hosts the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday.Trail Blazers: Portland hosts the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday.Discount Basketball Shoes . Those lessons were more than enough to overwhelm the Utah Jazz. Lou Williams scored 25 points and the Hawks continued their offensive upswing as they rolled to an easy 118-85 victory over the Jazz on Friday night, winning their third straight and for the fourth time in five games. Basketball Shoes From China . Peter Holland and Brad Staubitz were sent to Toronto on Saturday as the Maple Leafs traded defenceman Jesse Blacker and draft picks to the Anaheim Ducks. https://www.cheapbasketballshoesstore.com/ . Sulaiman, 44, was chosen unanimously Tuesday in a vote by the leadership, the World Boxing Council said. Sulaiman becomes the sixth president of the organization. Basketball Shoes Sale . Ancelotti says Ronaldo has recovered from a hamstring injury but "but he doesnt feel comfortable yet so we wont risk him." Madrid is third in the Spanish league, six points behind leader Barcelona, going into Saturdays game against Valladolid. Cheap Basketball Shoes Free Shipping . -- Kyrie Irvings last-minute 3-pointer helped seal another victory for Cleveland -- and the Cavaliers longest winning streak since LeBron James left.STILLWATER, Okla. -- The officiating mistake was a doozy -- and it cannot be fixed. The play that followed was even more astonishing.One of the oddest endings imaginable left Oklahoma State stunned and Central Michigan celebrating.A misinterpreted rule extended the game when it should have been over and allowed the Chippewas to score a wild, winning touchdown on a Hail Mary and lateral -- yes, both! -- that covered half the field for a 30-27 upset of No. 22 Oklahoma State on Saturday.Oklahoma State (1-1) tried to kill the final four seconds of the game by throwing away the ball on fourth down, but the Cowboys were penalized for intentional grounding, which is a loss-of-down penalty. Rules state that the game cannot end on an accepted live-ball penalty, referee Tim ODey of the Mid-American Conference, CMUs league, said.He later admitted there is a situation in which the game can end on an infraction.Theres an exception to the rule that says if enforcement of the foul involves a loss of down, then that brings the game to an end, ODey told a pool reporter.ODey said after conferring with NCAA rules committee secretary Rogers Redding after the game, the crew determined the extension should not have happened.But the final result stood. Article 3b of the NCAA rulebook states: When the referee declares that the game is ended, the score is final.Despite the error, this will not change the outcome of the contest, Bill Carollo, the NCAAs coordinator of football officials, said in a statement released by the MAC.That did not satisfy Oklahoma State athletic director Mike Holder.We had conversations with everyone that could help us understand the situation and do something about the outcome. We were told the result is final and there is nothing we can do about it, Holder said in a statement. In my mind, it is incomprehensible that a misapplication of the rules after time has expired cant be corrected.Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said in a text to the AP: The game is final and errors can only be corrected during the course of the game. Very unfortunate.Corey Willis scored the winning touchdown after grabbing a lateral from Jesse Kroll at the Oklahoma State 12-yard line and fighting his way into the end zone.Oklahoma State (1-1) thought it had won when Mason Rudolph threw away the ball on fourth down as the clock expired. But it backfired after the officials conferred; they assessed an intentional grounding penalty and gave Central Michigan another play.Thats a tough one. Just so everyone knows, I was the one who called the passing play,, said OSU coach Mike Gundy.dddddddddddd To be honest with you, I never even thought of intentional grounding being called at that point in the game. As much time as we put into end-of-game situations, that never really crossed my mind. Unfortunately, thats a difficult way to learn a hard lesson.Cooper Rush lofted up a Hail Mary pass that hit Kroll just inside the 10. As Kroll was being taken down, he pitched it back to Willis, who cut across the field and barely managed to score while being dragged down.To be honest, I actually had a missed assignment on that. I wasnt supposed to be right there, but it all worked for the better, Willis said.Coach John Bonamego said: Its an improbable finish, but its a situation that we practiced and rehearsed. We were able to execute and pull out the win.Central Michigan fans might have been having flashbacks to the Bahamas Bowl from two seasons ago, when the Chips covered almost the length of the field on a long pass and lateral play to make it a one-point game with no time left against Western Kentucky. In that fabulous finish, Central Michigan went for 2 and the win and did not convert. This time around, the Chippewas were able to run off with the victory.SYMPATHY FROM THE DEVILSOklahoma State fans were livid, and they can now relate to Duke fans who watched their team lose a game on a multilateral kickoff return touchdown to Miami last season that the ACC later said should not have counted. Or maybe go back to 1990, when officials mistakenly gave Colorado five downs to score the game-winning touchdown against Missouri in the waning seconds.Central Michigan is unlikely to go on to win a national title the way those Buffaloes did, but it will still go down as one of the biggest wins in school history.THE TAKEAWAYCentral Michigan: Never quit on the Chippewas.Oklahoma State: The Cowboys will rightfully be upset by the bad call, but Gundy will be questioned for throwing on his final play.POLL IMPLICATIONSOklahoma State: How do AP voters deal with this? The Cowboys rightfully had the game won. They also allowed CMU to play them toe-to-toe at home when Oklahoma State was a big favorite. So maybe the Cowboys dont drop for the loss as much as for the underwhelming performance?Central Michigan: This is no way to get ranked.UP NEXTCentral Michigan: The Chippewas return home to face UNLV.Oklahoma State: The Cowboys play their third straight home game, hosting Pittsburgh. ' ' '