LOCAL

LOCAL
Ursuline hoops
MIDLAND, Pa. -- Beaver Falls High, the defending Pennsylvania Class AA state champion, defeated Ursuline 69-51 to win the championship of the Midland tip-off tournament Saturday.
Senior Jerome Jones finished with 20 points and 13 rebounds while D'Aundray Brown scored 17 points for the Irish (1-1).
Ursuline had more rebounds (32-20) but committed 19 turnovers.
Beaver Falls (2-0) jumped out to a 19-6 lead after one quarter and made it 38-20 by the break.
Jr. Phantoms
BOARDMAN -- The Youngstown Jr. Phantoms held off the Columbus Capitals, 5-4 Sunday at The Ice Zone.
Ryan Demyen had three goals for the Jr. Phantoms. Jared Taylor and Riley Emery added one each. Emery's goal, with an assist by Nick Malvasi with 9:05 remaining, was the game-winner. Taylor and Lucas Clarke had two assists apiece. The Phantoms (3-1-1) are in first place on the A2 Pee Wee Division in the Cleveland Suburban Hockey League.
REGION
OSU football
COLUMBUS -- Linebacker A.J. Hawk was announced Sunday as Ohio State's most valuable player at the team's annual awards banquet.
Hawk, who has led the Buckeyes in tackles the last three years, is a senior All-American who is also a finalist for the Lombardi, Butkus and Lott awards which will be announced within the next few days.
"It is a fitting tribute to a great football player and leader," coach Jim Tressel said of Hawk's MVP recognition. "I've never been around a better linebacker, nor have I ever known a player that was more liked and respected by his teammates than A.J. He is so humble and sincere. The only vote he didn't get was his."
Hawk finished with 109 tackles, 13 for minus yardage, 7.5 sacks, an interception, a fumble recovery and his second career touchdown, a 6-yard return of a blocked punt against Northwestern.
Senior safety Nate Salley was voted the team's most inspirational player, quarterback Troy Smith was selected as the most valuable offensive player and lineman Mike Kudla as the most valuable defender.
Other awards included: fullback Brandon Schnittker (academic excellence), lineman Alex Boone (first-year offensive), cornerback Malcolm Jenkins (first-year defensive), tailback Antonio Pittman (offensive back), Santonio Holmes (top receiver), and Nick Mangold and Rob Sims (top offensive linemen).
Akron, Toledo get bids
Mid-American Conference champion Akron will meet Memphis in the Motor City Bowl Dec. 26 at Ford Field in Detroit.
UTEP was selected as Toledo's opponent for the GMAC Bowl Dec. 21 in Mobile, Ala.
Akron (7-5), coming off its first MAC title, earned its first Division I-A bowl berth with its 31-30 win over Northern Illinois on Dec. 1. Memphis (6-4), second to former MAC member Central Florida in Conference USA's East Division, will be playing in a bowl for the third year in a row.
UTEP (8-3) finished second in Conference USA's West Division.
UTEP ranks sixth nationally in passing offense behind junior quarterback Jordan Palmer, who passed for 3,340 yards this season. Toledo is 12th in rushing offense at more than 220 yards a game.
Pitt routs Auburn
PITTSBURGH -- Carl Krauser had 14 points as Pittsburgh opened up an early lead and ran away from a lackluster Auburn team 78-41 Sunday.
Auburn (3-2) had only four points 13 minutes into the game as Pitt (5-0) began the contest on a 26-4 run.
NATION
Kansas State football
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Kansas State has hired Virginia offensive coordinator Ron Prince to replace Bill Snyder as head coach, athletic director Tim Weiser said Sunday.
Baseball trade
NEW YORK -- The Florida Marlins were close to a trade Sunday night that would send catcher Paul Lo Duca to the New York Mets, cutting more payroll in exchange for prospects.
Florida would receive minor league pitcher Gaby Hernandez and a second minor leaguer, a pair of baseball officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the trade had not been finalized. The sides were still discussing the involved players, and the deal was not likely to be completed until today, the officials said.
WORLD
Davis Cup
BRATISLAVA, Slovakia -- Croatia won its first Davis Cup title Sunday, with Mario Ancic beating Michal Mertinak of Slovakia 7-6 (1), 6-3, 6-4 in the decisive fifth match.
Dominik Hrbaty had pulled Slovakia even at 2-2 by defeating an ailing Ivan Ljubicic 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. Ancic then downed Mertinak to clinch the best-of-five series between two first-time finalists. Croatia's Nikki Pilic became the first captain to win the trophy for different nations. He led Germany to Davis Cup titles in 1988, 1989 and 1993. Croatia became the 12th champion in the competition's 105-year history. This was Croatia's biggest team success since the country became independent in 1991 during the violent break-up of Yugoslavia. The soccer team's third-place finish at the 1998 World Cup had been considered Croatia's sports highlight.