SPORTS digest

YSU’s Rivers, Schuler earn MVFC honors

YOUNGSTOWN

The Youngstown State football team’s first road win over Illinois State since 2006 resulted in Missouri Valley Football Conference Player of the Week honors for two Penguins.

Senior defensive end Derek Rivers was named the MVFC’s top defensive player for the week and redshirt freshman punter Mark Schuler was named the conference’s top special teams player.

Rivers had three sacks in the Penguins’ 20-6 victory and four solo tackles. He also had a quarterback hurry. Two of Rivers’ sacks came on the final two possessions as the defense helped seal the victory. YSU allowed just 250 yards.

Rivers now has seven sacks on the season and 33 for his career.

Schuler, a Springfield High School graduate, averaged 45.7 yards per punt on six kicks and had a long of 55 against Illinois State.

He placed three punts inside the 20-yard line in the first half as the teams battled for field position. He had punts of 44, 43, 55, 52, 35 and 45 in the contest. He punted five times in the first half and just once in the second.

Chubb leads Georgia over South Carolina

COLUMBIA, S.C.

Nick Chubb ran for 121 yards and two touchdowns and Georgia bounced back from a Hail Mary loss to Tennessee to beat South Carolina 28-14 on Sunday in a game pushed back a day because of Hurricane Matthew.

The Bulldogs (4-2, 2-2 Southeastern Conference) turned things around by doing what they do best, running repeatedly and effectively. Along with Chubb, Sony Michel had 133 yards on 21 carries. In all, Georgia finished with 326 yards on the ground for its highest total this season.

The Sunday showcase came about because of Matthew, a destructive storm that struck the state on Saturday. The SEC and both teams agreed to the new date, although the crowd was sparser than the 77,221 announced by the school.

Chubb , who had just one carry the past two games with a left-ankle sprain, was on his game from the start. He scampered 18 yards on his first carry and ended the sequence with 15-yard TD run.

Chubb added a 1-yard touchdown as the Bulldogs moved in front 14-0. The Gamecocks (2-4, 1-4) could not keep up in losing their third straight game.

Beard’s jumper lifts Sparks over Lynx

MINNEAPOLIS

Alana Beard hit a jumper from the baseline just before time expired to lift the Los Angeles Sparks in a 78-76 victory over the Minnesota Lynx in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals on Sunday.

With the defense collapsing on Candace Parker and Nneka Ogwumike in the paint, Beard was all alone in the corner. She took the pass from Chelsea Gray and knocked down jumper with a hand in her face.

As the ball splashed through, Moore put her head in her hands, and the Sparks celebrated a thrilling victory, their second on Minnesota’s court this season.

Kristi Toliver scored 19 points to lead Los Angeles and Parker had 14 points and nine rebounds in her finals debut. League MVP Ogwumike added 19 points for the Sparks in the opener of the best-of-five series.

Sylvia Fowles had 18 points and 13 rebounds and Lindsay Whalen scored 18 points for top-seeded Minnesota. Maya Moore scored all 18 of her points in the second half to move into first place on the WNBA’s career finals scoring list, but the Lynx committed 16 turnovers and got caught scrambling on the final possession of the game.

Radwanska captures China Open final

BEIJING

Agnieszka Radwanska defeated Johanna Konta 6-4, 6-2 to win the China Open in Beijing on Sunday.

The third-seeded Pole added to her 2011 victory in the Beijing tournament, notching up her 20th career title and third of 2016. She took the victory without dropping a set throughout the tournament.

The 11th-seeded Konta was making her first Beijing appearance.

Staff and wire reports