Buccaneers near playoff berth
TAMPA, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers hounded Elvis Grbac throughout and used big plays on defense and special teams Saturday night to move a step closer toward a playoff berth with a 22-10 victory over the Baltimore Ravens.
Tampa Bay will earn a postseason spot if the Atlanta Falcons lose or tie in Miami Sunday. Although they were deprived a playoff position Saturday night, the defending Super Bowl champion ravens will earn a berth if Seattle loses Sunday to San Diego.
The Buccaneers (9-6) sacked Grbac four times and intercepted him twice in spoiling the Ravens' return to the site of their Super Bowl XXXV triumph.
A blocked punt by tight end Todd Yoder in the second quarter set up Doug Brien's go-ahead, 24-yard field goal and quarterback Brad Johnson scored on a one-yard keeper one play after linebacker Derrick Brooks returned an interception 53 yards.
Mike Alstott rumbled 32 yards for the clinching touchdown with 1:35 remaining. He carried 14 times for 80 yards.
Five playoff positions remain open going into today's round of games and three of them can be claimed by Miami, the New York Jets and Philadelphia if those teams can muster a victory.
Philadelphia will be trying to clinch its first division title in 13 years when it meets the New York Giants. The Jets will take on Buffalo and Miami will be up against Atlanta.
In addition, the St. Louis Rams can clinch their second NFC West title in three years and a first-round bye with a win over the Indianapolis Colts or a loss by San Francisco to Dallas.
Late field goal gives Iowa Alamo Bowl win
SAN ANTONIO, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- Nate Kaeding kicked a 47-yard field goal -- his fourth of the game -- with 44 seconds left Saturday to give the Iowa Hawkeyes their first postseason success in five years with a 19-16 victory over Texas Tech in the Alamo Bowl.
Iowa overcame a pregame hamstring injury to leading rusher Ladell Betts to record its first bowl victory since beating Texas Tech, 27-0, in the 1996 Alamo Bowl. The Hawkeyes (7-5) also clinched their first winning season since 1997.
Betts, who rushed for 1,056 yards in the regular season, tweaked his left hamstring during warmups and played in only two series.
Betts carried only twice for four yards. He spent most of the first half riding a bike in an attempt to get loose but did not return to the game.
Iowa was able to contain Texas Tech quarterback Kliff Kingsbury, who passed for a school-record 3,502 yards during the season and led the nation with 364 completions.
He completed 29 of 49 passes for 309 yards Saturday, but was intercepted twice, once late in the third quarter after engineering a tying drive on the opening possession of the second half.
In Phoenix, James Mungro rushed for 112 yards and three touchdowns as 18th-ranked Syracuse took advantage of three first-half turnovers to overwhelm Kansas State, 26-3, in the Insight.com Bowl.
The Orangemen (10-3) reached 10 wins for the fifth time in school history and avenged a loss to Kansas State in the 1997 Fiesta Bowl.
And in Pontiac, Mich., Chester Taylor rushed for a Motor City Bowl record 190 yards and the go-ahead touchdown with 3:23 left as Toledo rallied, then held off Cincinnati, 23-16.
After taking today off, the bowl action resumes New Year's Eve with five contests.
Nelson coaches 1,000th win
DALLAS, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- Dirk Nowitzki a scored a season-high 35 points and pulled down 12 rebounds Saturday night and Steve Nash added 29 and 10 assists to bring Dallas Coach Don Nelson his 1,000th victory with a 113-97 decision over the Atlanta Hawks.
It was the Mavericks' ninth straight win, two shy of the franchise record, and moved them within one game of the Western Conference leading Los Angeles Lakers.
Nursing a strained left hamstring, Dallas guard Michael Finley missed the contest, ending his consecutive games streak at 490. But Nowitzki and Nash more than picked up the slack.
Nelson improved to 1,000-790 in his 24-year career, joining Toronto's Lenny Wilkens (1,241) and Miami's Pat Riley (1,054) as the only coaches with 1,000 wins. Philadelphia's Larry Brown would also be over the 1,000 win mark if his victories in the ABA were added.
Jacque Vaughn hit the first bucket of the fourth quarter to cut the Hawks' deficit lead to 88-82. But the Mavericks responded with a 17-3 run that was capped by Nash's three-pointer with 6:44 left. Atlanta got no closer than 14 points thereafter.
Other NBA results: Boston 105, Los Angeles Clippers 103 in overtime; Washington 105, Charlotte 86; New Jersey 98, Indiana 93 in overtime; Chicago 103, Cleveland 80; Milwaukee 102, San Antonio 99 in overtime; Phoenix 109, Denver 92; Utah 89, Philadelphia 81; Seattle 101, Toronto 75.
Nashville rallies against Red Wings
NASHVILLE, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- Rookie defenseman Bubba Berenzweig set up two goals before scoring 2:20 into overtime Saturday night as the Nashville Predators rallied for an improbable 3-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings.
Recalled from the minors on Dec. 19, Berenzweig tapped a pass from Vladimir Orszagh over the right pad of goaltender Dominik Hasek for his first NHL game-winner.
The Predators erased a 2-0 deficit in the final five minutes of regulation, tying it on Orszagh's power-play goal with 65 seconds to play.
Mike Dunham made 26 saves to improve to 5-1-3 in his last nine starts. Trailing by a goal late in the third period, he stopped Brendan Shanahan twice on a shorthanded chance, making a pad save before sliding across the crease and kicking Shanahan's second shot out of the air.
Vitali Yachmenev ended Hasek's shutout bid with 4:10 left in the third period. Yachmenev tried a wraparound, but his backhander from behind the net bounced off traffic in front of the net and slid past the goalie.
Orszagh tied it just over three minutes later, 92 seconds after Detroit's Tomas Holmstrom was penalized for closing his hand on the puck.
Other NHL results: Boston 5, Tampa Bay 4 in overtime; Buffalo 2, Columbus 2; Florida 4, Toronto 2; New York Islanders 6, Montreal 5; Ottawa 5, Pittsburgh 2; Calgary 4, Minnesota 3; Philadelphia 5, Colorado 2; Vancouver 4, New Jersey 2; New York Rangers 5, Los Angeles 4.
Report: Chargers coach on his way out
SAN DIEGO, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- San Diego Chargers coach Mike Riley reportedly will be fired following the team's season finale today.
Citing league sources "familiar with the situation," ESPN reported Saturday that the Chargers could make the move as early as Monday.
San Diego closes its regular season a week before the rest of the league at home against the Seattle Seahawks.
The 2001 season seemed promising for San Diego, which got off to a 5-2 start, but has lost eight straight and will miss the playoffs for the sixth straight year.
Riley is just 14-33 in three seasons with the Chargers, going 1-15 in 2000.
Duke protects top ranking
DURHAM, N.C., Dec. 30 (UPI) -- Mike Dunleavy recorded a career-high 25 points and Jason Williams scored 21 Saturday as No. 1 Duke extended its winning streak to 21 games with a 92-79 victory over San Diego State.
Dunleavy collected 15 points in the first half, during which the Blue Devils (11-0) put together a 14-0 run midway through the period and enjoyed a 46-35 lead at the break.
Although this marked the first meeting between the two schools, Duke faced a familiar foe. San Diego State Coach Steve Fisher coached at Michigan from 1989-97. The Blue Devils faced the Wolverines nine times during Fisher's era, including a 71-51 triumph on April 6, 1992 to win its second consecutive national championship.
Williams, who was named ACC Player of the Week after scoring a career-high 38 points in a thrilling overtime victory over No. 8 Kentucky on Dec. 18 in the Jimmy V Classic, has averaged 27.6 points in his last five contests.
Elsewhere in the top 10 Saturday, No. 3 Kansas beat Tulsa, 93-85; No. 5 Oklahoma State downed Ball State, 82-70; No. 7 Illinois cruised past Loyola-Chicago, 87-72; No. 8 Kentucky blasted Louisville, 82-62; and No. 10 Missouri fell to DePaul, 63-62.
Gailey hired by Georgia Tech
ATLANTA, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- Chan Gailey was named Georgia Tech football coach Saturday, ending a courtship that almost never began.
Gailey, a Georgia native who will remain as offensive coordinator for the Miami Dolphins through the NFL playoffs, signed a five-year, $4.5 million deal.
To ensure the former Dallas Cowboys head coach will not leave for an NFL job before the deal expires, Georgia Tech did not include any buyout clauses.
Georgia Tech posted a 24-14 victory over 11th-ranked Stanford in the Seattle Bowl on Thursday, ending the one-game reign of Mac McWhorter, the interim coach following George O'Leary's highly publicized departure.
American ties for second in slalom
LIENZ, Austria, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- Anja Paerson of Sweden opened an advantage of .66 of a second on the first run Saturday and held on to win her second straight World Cup slalom, giving her the lead in the season-long standings.
Paerson managed only the 19th fastest time during the second leg, but she still managed to finished ahead of Monika Bergmann of Germany and Kristine Koznick of the United States, who tied for second.
Few of the skiers managed to equal their first-leg time during their second trip down the course.
