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Canadiens win third straight

MONTREAL, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- Maxim Lapierre scored unassisted early in the second period Thursday to give Montreal a four-goal lead en route to a 6-2 win over the New York Rangers.

Montreal won its third straight, equaling its longest winning streak of the season. The three wins have come at the start of a seven-game homestand.

Andrei Kostitsyn, Steve Begin and Alex Tanguay produced first-period goals and Lapierre jumped on a turnover and beat Henrik Lundqvist 3:35 into the second.

The Rangers cut their deficit to 4-2 by the end of the second period, but Montreal's Robert Lang scored 49 seconds deep in the third period to end thoughts of a New York comeback.

Carey Price needed to make just 18 saves to get the victory. The Rangers saw their advantage over Pittsburgh cut to four points atop the Atlantic Division.

Australian leads PGA Tour qualifier

LAQUINTA, Calif., Dec. 4 (UPI) -- Australian James Nitties shot a 9-under 63 Thursday that put him one shot in front after two rounds of the six-day PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament in California.

Nitties completed 36 holes of the grueling and pressure-packed event at 12-under 132.

Robert Garrigus and Harrison Frazar shared second at 133. Nitties, Garrigus and Frazar began the day tied for 36th place and shot to the top of the leaderboard.

The low 25 scores and ties will become fully exempt members of the tour for the 2009 season. Each member of the qualifying tournament field will play the PGA West Jack Nicklaus Tournament Course and Stadium Course three times.

James Oh (63), Bryan DeCorso (68), Geoffrey Sisk (65), Tyler Aldridge (66), Gary Woodland (64), Troy Kelly (68) and Diego Vanegas (64) were tied for fourth at 134.

Utah State hires new football coach

LOGAN, Utah, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- Utah defensive coordinator Gary Andersen was named Thursday to fill the head coaching vacancy at Utah State University.

Andersen becomes the 26th head coach in 115 years of Aggie football and replaces the fired Brent Guy, who complied a 9-38 overall record (8-24 Western Athletic Conference) in four seasons.

"Obviously, Gary's vast knowledge of the state of Utah coupled with his overall recruiting success will pay long-term dividends to our program," Utah State Athletic Director Scott Barnes said on the school's Web site.

Andersen spent the last five seasons as assistant head coach, defensive coordinator and defensive line coach at Utah, where he has helped guide the Utes to a 12-0 record and a No. 6 Bowl Championship Series ranking in 2008.

"It's a great opportunity and it's been a longtime goal of mine to be a Division I head football coach," Andersen said.

The Utes will play in a BCS bowl, but Andersen's status for the game wasn't disclosed.

Report: Former NBA star paralyzed

RALEIGH, N.C., Dec. 4 (UPI) -- Former Wake Forest and NBA star Rodney Rogers has been left paralyzed following an all-terrain vehicle accident, the Raleigh News & Observer reported.

Rogers' college coach, Dave Odom, Wednesday told the newspaper Rogers is paralyzed from the shoulders down following last week's accident.

The newspaper said a North Carolina Highway Patrol report said Rogers was riding in the woods in rural Vance County, N.C., when he fell off the vehicle.

The Durham, N.C., native recently was transferred from Duke Hospital in Durham to the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, which specializes in rehabilitation for people with catastrophic injuries.

"Say a prayer for Rodney and his family," Odom said.

He was "an outdoorsman, plain and simple," Rogers' agent and lawyer, James "Butch" Williams said. "He hunts, motorcycles, rides horses."

The 6-foot, 6-inch Rogers starred in both football and basketball in high school and, after a stellar career at Wake Forest, had a 12-year NBA career and won the league's sixth man award in 1999-2000.

Texas Tech player faces drug charge

LUBBOCK, Texas, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- Federal authorities have charged Texas Tech defensive back De'Shon Sanders with one count of dealing cocaine.

Sanders, a reserve junior from Hobbs, N.M., was arrested by U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents early Thursday without incident in downtown Lubbock, Texas. He was charged with felony possession with intent to distribute in excess of 50 grams of cocaine.

DEA public affairs spokesman David Ausiello told The Dallas Morning News that no drugs were found when Sanders allowed agents to search his apartment near campus.

The newspaper said an indictment it obtained Thursday said Sanders did "unlawfully, knowingly and intentionally combine, conspire, confederate and agree with other persons whose names are known and unknown to the grand jury to commit" the offenses.

Red Raiders Coach Mike Leach was unavailable for a comment on Sanders' playing status.