In the NBA:
Washington 99....BOSTON 98 (OT)
New Jersey 96.....TORONTO 87
Sacramento 97.....PHILADELPHIA 81
San Antonio 89......DETROIT 83
INDIANA 90......Miami 69
GOLDEN STATE 106....Denver 99
HOUSTON 114.........Orlando 93
Minnesota 97........PORTLAND 78
SEATTLE 82..........Utah 80
LA LAKERS 115.......Phoenix 113 (OT)
In the NHL:
BUFFALO 2...........New Jersey 2 (OT)
MINNESOTA 4.........Columbus 3
ATLANTA 6...........Tampa Bay 2
Ny Islanders 2......CAROLINA 1
CHICAGO 4...........Detroit 3
COLORADO 5..........St Louis 2
DALLAS 2............Nashville 0
Philadelphia 6......FLORIDA 2
SAN JOSE 3..........Phoenix 3 (OT)
Los Angeles 2.......VANCOUVER 0
In the National League:
ATLANTA 13..........Florida 4
Montreal 8..........NY METS 5
CINCINNATI 5........Chicago Cubs 4
Pittsburgh 2........PHILADELPHIA 0
San Francisco 5.....MILWAUKEE 0
Houston at ST LOUIS, ppd
COLORADO 8..........Arizona 3
Los Angeles 4.......SAN DIEGO 3 (13 innings)
In the American League:
Ny Yankees 10.......TAMPA BAY 5
Boston 12...........BALTIMORE 2
CHI WHITE SOX 10....Detroit 2
Cleveland at KANSAS CITY, ppd.
Toronto 8...........MINNESOTA 1
Seattle 11..........TEXAS 2
OAKLAND 7...........Anaheim 6
In the Women's NCAA Tournament:
Tennessee 66....DUKE 56
CONNECICUT 71......Texas 69
Yankees, Indians postpone home openers
NEW YORK, April 6 (UPI) -- With a winter storm warning in effect for Monday in the metropolitan area, the New York Yankees postponed their home opener against Toronto on Sunday.
Forecasts have called for the possibility of 4-8 inches of snow. That prompted the Yankees to push back their opener nearly a day in advance.
The contest was rescheduled for Tuesday afternoon.
Postponing the opener because of snow is not unprecedented for the Yankees. On April 6, 1982, New York was hit with nearly a foot of snow, delaying the opener for three days.
Also, the Cleveland Indians postponed their home opener, scheduled for Monday afternoon as well. They now will host the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday afternoon.
Forecasts have called for the possibility of 4-8 inches of snow in the metropolitan New York area, with 3-6 inches expected in Northeast Ohio.
Crane wins BellSouth Classic
DULUTH, Ga., April 6 (UPI) -- Second-year player Ben Crane staged a dramatic charge to capture his first career title.
The 27-year-old Texas native carded a nine-under par 63 Sunday at the TPC at Sugarloaf to erase a six-shot deficit and post a four-stroke victory over Bob Tway at the BellSouth Classic at Duluth, Ga.
After two rounds, Crane was tied for 59th at one-over, but he played the final 36 shots in 17-under, posting a 64 on Saturday, and completed 72 holes at 16-under 272. The victory was worth $740,000, pushing Crane over $1 million this year.
Crane tied a course record, and became the first first-time winner of 2003 in his 40th career event. The victory was worth $720,000, pushing him over $1 million this year.
"I am so thankful," said Crane, whose round included eight birdies, one bogey, and an eagle on the 18th hole. "I played great today. I figured if I went low, I would have a chance, and it happened. I'm a little numb."
Crane, who entered the event ranked 68th on the money list, had a successful rookie season in 2002, earning just over $900,000, with seven top-25 finishes and two top-10 efforts, including a runner-up showing at the Byron Nelson Classic.
"I just missed (qualifying for the Masters)," said Crane, who played the back in seven-under 29. "But it really doesn't take anything away from this win. We've got two weeks off right now, and to be honest, after my first win like this, I think it's great. I think it's a blessing."
Defending champion and former U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen of South Africa carded a seven-under 65 and tied for third with Hank Kuehne and Jay Williamson at 277. John Rollins, Stewart Cink, and Tom Pernice Jr. tied for sixth at 278.
Lee Janzen, who was seeking his first victory in five years, took a two-shot lead into the final round, but ballooned to a five-over 77, and fell to a tie for 13th at 280. He remained winless since claiming his second U.S. Open title in 1998.
He congratulated Crane as the players met at the scorer's tent following the round.
"He just said, 'Give me a hug, buddy,'" Crane said. "'You shoot 64-63 on the weekend, I don't care who it is, you're going to pretty much kick anyone's tush when you do that.' It shows you the kind of guy Janzen is. Obviously, he's very disappointed that he didn't win, but to congratulate me like that was very nice."
Tway started the day alone in second, two shots behind Janzen, but settled for a one-under 71. He reeled off three straight birdies on 5-7, made the turn at three-under, and led for must of the day until three-putting for bogey on No. 15.
"I still put the blame on myself," Tway said. "Obviously, he played a great round. If I could have continued ... all I needed was to shoot two-under on the back and we would have been tied. Two-under is not like you're setting the world on fire."
NHL regular season comes to a close
DENVER, April 6 (UPI) -- The final day of the NHL season was one to remember for Milan Hejduk, Peter Forsberg, and the Colorado Avalanche.
It was also one to forget for the Vancouver Canucks and Detroit Red Wings.
Hejduk scored his 50th goal Sunday to win the Maurice Richard Trophy, Forsberg became the first Swede to win the NHL scoring crown, and the Avalanche became the first team in league history to capture nine consecutive division titles.
Colorado needed help to repeat as Northwest Division champions, and they got it from the Los Angeles Kings, who wrapped up a disappointing season with a 2-0 win over the Canucks. Vancouver needed only a tie to unseat the Avalanche.
The Red Wings needed a win to secure the top seed in the Western Conference, but squandered a pair of leads in a 4-3 overtime loss to the lowly Chicago Blackhawks. That opened the door for the Dallas Stars, who took advantage with a 2-0 win over the reeling Nashville Predators.
Hejduk became the fourth player in franchise history to reach the 50-goal mark. He reached that plateau off an assist by Forsberg.
"It is a special number, for sure," Hejduk said. "You can be that close every season, so it is a special number. I'm really happy that I made it."
"I said it would be great if we could finish first and second," Forsberg said. "Two guys from the same town in Sweden, it would be great."
Needing a win to capture their first division title since 1992-93, Naslund and the Canucks went down meekly against Los Angeles. That gave Colorado its ninth straight division title, one more than the Montreal Canadiens accumulated from 1974-75 through 1981-82.
"We obviously did what we had to do today," said Colorado Coach Tony Granato, who replaced Bob Hartley on Dec. 18. "That was the most important thing."
The top-seeded Stars again will face the Edmonton Oilers in the first round of the playoffs, while the Avalanche drew Minnesota. The Red Wings drew Anaheim, and the Canucks will take on the St. Louis Blues.
All four Eastern Conference matchups were set Saturday.
The Ottawa Senators captured the Presidents' Trophy for best regular-season record, and will take on the New York Islanders.
The second-seeded New Jersey Devils face the Boston Bruins, Southeast Division champion Tampa Bay will play Washington, and the Philadelphia Flyers battle the Toronto Maple Leafs.
For the first time, two teams shared the Jennings Trophy, which goes to the team that allowed the fewest goals. Both the Devils and Flyers yielded 166 goals, meaning the names of Martin Brodeur, Roman Cechmanek, and Robert Esche all will be added to the trophy.
Tennessee, Connecticut win at Final Four
ATLANTA, April 6 (UPI) -- Gwen Jackson scored 25 points Sunday night as Tennessee overcame top-ranked Duke, 66-56, in a thriller at the semifinals of the Women's NCAA Tournament.
With the victory, the Lady Volunteers earned their ninth trip to the NCAA championship.
Jackson produced nine of Tennessee's first 13 points, and after being held off the board for the next 22 minutes, scored 11 during the Lady Vols' decisive 13-5 run late in the second half.
The senior forward drilled a three-pointer to break a 49-49 tie with just under four minutes remaining, triggering a run of seven straight by Tennessee (33-4). Brittany Jackson then drove in from the top of the key and hit a layup to increase the lead to five.
Gwen Jackson, who was 10-for-12 from the foul line and grabbed also season-high 15 rebounds, sank two free throws to increase the lead to seven, and the Lady Vols converted on seven of their final eight free throws to seal the deal.
A layup by Shyra Ely, following a long pass by Kara Lawson was the back-breaker, yielding a six-point lead with 41 seconds left.
Alana Beard carried Duke (35-2) with 29 points, hitting clutch shot after clutch shot. She nailed a three-pointer as time expired in the first half, giving the Blue Devils a two-point lead at the break. The All-American scored eight straight points for Duke as time winded down, culminating with a three-point play to cut Tennessee's lead to three with 1:13 left.
That would be as close as the Blue Devils would get, ending their 29-game winning streak when leading at the half.
With the win, the Lady Vols not only earned a chance at a seventh title, they avenged an embarrassing 76-55 loss to the Blue Devils in the Jimmy V classic on Nov. 24. That was the first loss of the season for Tennessee, which turned the ball over 23 times and shot just 21 percent from the floor in the second half on that night.
In the title game Tuesday night, the Lady Vols will meet Connecticut, a 71-69 winner over Texas. The Lady Huskies, led by superstar Diana Tarausi with 26 points, overcame a nine-point deficit in the late going.
