Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/116434
2B Daily News – Wednesday, March 20, 2013 49ers sign veteran kicker Dawson, wideout Moore SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers have found their new kicker to replace David Akers, signing Browns veteran free agent Phil Dawson to a one-year contract. The Pro Bowl kicker announced earlier Tuesday via Twitter that he had joined the NFC champion Niners, who parted ways with the six-time Pro Bowler Akers on March 6 following a season in which he made only 29 of 42 attempts a year after he kicked an NFL single-season record 44 field goals. The 38-year-old Dawson went 29 for 31 on field goals last season in his 14th year with the Browns, making all 13 of his attempts from 40 yards or beyond, including 7 for 7 from 50-plus. The 49ers also have added depth to their NCAA new-look receiving group, signing wideout Marlon Moore to a one-year contract. The NFC champion Niners made the announcement Tuesday. Last week, San Francisco acquired Anquan Boldin in a trade from the Baltimore Ravens, who beat the 49ers 34-31 in the Super Bowl on Feb. 3 in New Orleans. The 25-year-old Moore, a Northern California native from Sacramento, played the past three seasons with the Miami Dolphins after joining them as an undrafted free agent in April 2010. He has 12 career catches for 244 yards and two touchdowns in 29 games. Mario Manningham is working his way back from reconstructive left knee surgery and Randy Moss isn't expected to return after one season, so Boldin and Michael Crabtree will lead the 49ers unit. With the Aggies holding onto a 42-39 lead early in the second half, the teams put on an offensive display that got the capacity crowd into the game. Liberty scored on five consecutive possessions, making all five shots from the field, while A&T countered by hitting four shots in a row. The last bucket in the sequence, Marshall's 3 from the right side, narrowed the gap to 52-51. After Jean Louisme ended both streaks — missing a shot and then stealing the ball at the other end — Austin Witter hit a rebound follow. The pace slowed considerably, more to A&T's liking. Underwood made two shots then drove the lane and hit a lefty layin. Seconds later, Adrian Powell swished a 3 from the left corner and the lead was suddenly back to 10 at 61-51. By that point, Liberty had not scored in almost 6 minutes, missing seven straight shots from the field. The Flames rebounded to get as close as four points, then the Aggies stretched it back to eight before Sanders scored on a three-point play in traffic and then made a 3 to make it 71-67. But who else made the play of the game but Underwood. He drove and was fouled with 1:49 left and popped in both free throws for a six-point advantage. The Flames made it tight, however. Marshall threw in a 3 from the last inch of the corner with 1:32 left, then with 11.2 seconds left he scored again on a baseline drive to narrow the lead to 73-72. With 7 seconds left, Middleton was fouled but missed the front end of the bonus situation, setting the stage for Sanders' wild race against the clock while going coast to coast. Liberty was only the second team to ever come into the tournament with 20 losses, matching Coppin State (16-20) in 2008. Amazingly, the Flames opened the season by losing their first eight games. Despite two players quitting the team during that discouraging period, others stuck it out and persevered. Still, they were run out of their own gym in their final home game, 83-68 by VMI, to fall to 10-20 on the season. But then came an incredible run through the Big South tournament including playing, and beating, both of the divisional leaders during the season. Their 87-76 upset of Charleston Southern in the conference title game on March 10 assured them of the Big South's automatic spot in the tournament. The Flames were making only their third trip to the NCAA tournament, having lost to No. 1 seed North Carolina 71-51 in 1994 and to top-seeded Saint Joseph's in 2004. A&T has a glittering, if now faded, legacy. The Aggies made it to the NCAA tournament seven years in a row 1982-88, but had fallen on hard times. They piled up 15 consecutive losing seasons until their late hot streak this year in the conference tournament pushed them above .500. They were headed nowhere just 12 days earlier, after a loss at home to Norfolk State in their regularseason finale dropped them to 15-16. NHL NBA (Continued from page 1B) WESTERN CONFERENCE GP W Anaheim 28 21 Los Angeles28 16 Phoenix 29 13 San Jose 28 12 Dallas 28 13 Northwest GP W Minnesota 28 16 Vancouver 28 13 Edmonton 28 11 Calgary 27 11 Colorado 28 10 Central GP W Chicago 29 24 St. Louis 28 16 Detroit 29 14 Columbus 30 12 Nashville 30 11 WESTERN CONFERENCE L OT Pts 3 4 46 10 2 34 12 4 30 10 6 30 12 3 29 GF 95 85 77 67 73 GA 69 71 82 74 84 L OT Pts 10 2 34 9 6 32 11 6 28 12 4 26 14 4 24 GF 73 78 69 78 71 GA 69 80 81 91 89 L OT Pts 2 3 51 10 2 34 10 5 33 12 6 30 13 6 28 GF GA 100 62 85 80 78 75 68 79 70 81 L.A. Clippers Golden State L.A. Lakers Sacramento Phoenix Southwest x-San Antonio Memphis Houston Dallas New Orleans Northwest x-Thunder Denver Utah Portland Minnesota Atlantic GP W L OT Pts GF GA Pittsburgh 31 23 8 0 46 110 81 Rangers 29 15 12 2 32 70 70 New Jersey 30 13 11 6 32 74 84 Islanders 29 13 13 3 29 86 96 Philadelphia30 13 16 1 27 81 92 Northeast GP W L OT Pts GF GA Montreal 29 19 5 5 43 92 73 Boston 28 19 6 3 41 82 60 Ottawa 30 16 8 6 38 77 65 Toronto 29 15 12 2 32 86 83 Buffalo 30 11 15 4 26 79 95 Southeast GP W L OT Pts GF GA Winnipeg 30 16 12 2 34 80 86 Carolina 29 15 12 2 32 84 82 Tampa Bay 29 13 15 1 27 96 86 Washington 29 12 16 1 25 79 87 Florida 30 8 16 6 22 74 110 —————————————————— Tuesday's Games N.Y. Rangers 3, New Jersey 2 Ottawa 5, N.Y. Islanders 3 Florida 4, Carolina 1 Columbus 4, Nashville 3 Buffalo 3, Montreal 2, OT Pittsburgh 2, Washington 1 Winnipeg 3, Boston 1 St. Louis at Vancouver, late Phoenix at Los Angeles, late Today's Games Tampa Bay at Toronto, 4 p.m. Minnesota at Detroit, 4:30 p.m. Dallas at Colorado, 6:30 p.m. San Jose at Edmonton, 6:30 p.m. Chicago at Anaheim, 7 p.m. Indiana Chicago Milwaukee Detroit Cleveland Southeast After Joel Vander Pol hit a free throw then rebounded his own miss, Speaks drove the right baseline for a basket. But A&T countered on a Beckford reverse layup after recovering his own blocked shot. Middleton then made a pair of foul shots and added a perimeter jumper from the left wing to make it 36-25. That 10-point spurt was part of a span where the Aggies scored on eight possessions in a row while turning a one-point deficit into the 11-point lead. MOVES Tuesday's Transactions L 21 30 33 44 45 Pct GB .687 — .565 8 .522 11 .343 23 .338 23.5 W 51 45 36 32 22 L 16 21 31 35 46 Pct GB .761 — .682 5.5 .537 15 .478 19 .324 29.5 American League TEXAS RANGERS—Optioned INF-OF Mike Olt, LHP Jeff Beliveau, RHP Wilmer Font and OF Engel Beltre to Round Rock (PCL). Reassigned RHP Yoshinori Tateyama, RHP Collin Balester, RHP Neal Cotts, RHP Evan Meek, INF Brandon Allen, INF Brandon Snyder, C Juan Apodaca and C Jose Felix to their minor league camp. National League ST. LOUIS CARDINALS—Released INF Ronny Cedeno. Reassigned LHP Tyler Lyons to their minor league camp. W 50 47 34 31 23 L 18 22 33 36 42 Pct GB .735 — .681 3.5 .507 15.5 .463 18.5 .354 25.5 CHICAGO BULLS—Signed F Malcolm Thomas to a 10-day contract. LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS—Signed G Maalik Wayns to a second 10-day contract. EASTERN CONFERENCE New York Brooklyn Boston Philadelphia Toronto Central Down 22-20 midway through the opening half, Witter touched off a rapidfire 10-0 run with a go-ahead 3 from the top of the key. Beckford hit a 10-foot jumper and then scored inside. Then, after Liberty's third misfire in a row, Underwood — who was a perfect 3 for 3 from the field for eight points in the opening half — hit a 3 from the left wing while falling down to make it 30-22. W 46 39 36 23 23 Atlantic EASTERN CONFERENCE They shot 58 percent from the field (15 of 26) in taking a 40-33 lead at halftime. They fell behind 9-2 early while making only one of their first four shots from the field, but then found the range against a cloying, scrappy Liberty defense. MLB Pacific Pacific But they roared through the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament, winning each of their first two games by double-figure margins and then showing some poise down the stretch of the semifinal and final to win close games against Delaware State and Morgan State, respectively. W 39 39 36 26 26 L 26 28 30 40 41 Pct GB .600 — .582 1 .545 3.5 .394 13.5 .388 14 W 42 36 34 23 22 L 26 30 32 46 45 Pct GB .618 — .545 5 .515 7 .333 19.5 .328 19.5 W L Pct GB y-Miami 52 14 .788 — Atlanta 37 30 .552 15.5 Washington 23 43 .348 29 Orlando 18 50 .265 35 Charlotte 15 52 .224 37.5 x-clinched playoff spot y-clinched division —————————————————— Tuesday's Games Indiana 95, Orlando 73 Denver 114, Oklahoma City 104 Milwaukee 102, Portland 95 L.A. Clippers at Sacramento, late Today's Games Miami at Cleveland, 4 p.m. Toronto at Charlotte, 4 p.m. Orlando at New York, 4:30 p.m. Milwaukee at Atlanta, 4:30 p.m. Brooklyn at Dallas, 5 p.m. Utah at Houston, 5 p.m. Oklahoma City at Memphis, 5 p.m. Boston at New Orleans, 5 p.m. Golden State at San Antonio, 5:30 p.m. Washington at Phoenix, 7 p.m. Philadelphia at L.A. Clippers, 7:30 p.m. Thursday's Games Portland at Chicago, 5 p.m. Philadelphia at Denver, 6 p.m. Minnesota at Sacramento, 7 p.m. NBA NFL BALTIMORE RAVENS—Signed DE Marcus Spears to a two-year contract. CAROLINA PANTHERS—Signed CB D.J. Moore. INDIANAPOLIS COLTS—Signed QB Matt Hasselbeck. JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS—Signed C Brad Meester to a one-year contract. MIAMI DOLPHINS—Re-signed OL Nate Garner. MINNESOTA VIKINGS—Signed G Seth Olsen. NEW YORK GIANTS—Signed WR Louis Murphy. SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS—Signed WR Marlon Moore to a one-year contract. TENNESSEE TITANS—Agreed to terms with OL Rob Turner. NHL DALLAS STARS—Recalled G Jack Campbell from Texas (AHL). Assigned G Richard Bachman to Texas. Placed F Ryan Garbutt on injured reserve, retroactive to March 14. FLORIDA PANTHERS—Recalled F Quinton Howden from San Antonio Rampage (AHL). MONTREAL CANADIENS—Reassigned F Mike Blunden to Hamilton (AHL). NASHVILLE PREDATORS—Recalled F Taylor Beck from Milwaukee (AHL). Placed F Paul Gaustad on injured reserve. NEW JERSEY DEVILS—Recalled LW Tim Sestito from Albany (AHL). Assigned G Jeff Frazee to Albany. Activated G Martin Brodeur from injured reserve. MLS CHIVAS USA—Announced an independent review panel rescinded the fine and suspension of D Joaquin Velazquez and is eligible for selection. NEW YORK RED BULLS-Signed F Peguy Luyindula. TORONTO FC—Waived MF Matt Stinson.