Jamar, Ward each score 23 as Griz dance
College men: Kareem Jamar scored 23 points and host Montana beat Weber State 85-66 on Wednesday night at Missoula to win the Big Sky Conference tournament and the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
Mathias Ward added 23 points as Montana (25-6) set a team record with 14 straight wins and closed with its best record since the 1992 season. The Grizzlies’ last loss was Jan. 14 at Weber State.
Montana will make its ninth NCAA tournament appearance.
Jamar, a sophomore guard, sank 9 of 12 from the floor, including 5 of 8 from 3-point range, and added seven assists. Derek Selvig scored 16 points and Will Cherry added 13.
• Lehigh engineers win: Gabe Knutson blocked Cameron Ayers’ baseline layup attempt with 7 seconds left and C.J. McCollum scored 29 points to help Lehigh hold off Bucknell 82-77 to win the Patriot League tournament at Lewisburg, Pa.
Lehigh (26-7) clinched its second trip to the NCAA tournament in three seasons.
• Blackbirds fly past Robert Morris: Julian Boyd scored 18 points, Jason Brickman had 11 assists and Long Island University’s fast-breaking Blackbirds (25-8) made it two straight Northeast Conference championships and NCAA tournament berths with a 90-73 victory against Robert Morris (24-10) in New York.
Wizards earn rare win over Lakers
NBA: Roger Mason led a spirited fourth-quarter comeback with nine points in the period, Kobe Bryant lost his shooting touch down the stretch, and the host Washington Wizards rallied from a 21-point, third-quarter deficit to stun the Los Angeles Lakers 106-101.
Mason hit three 3-pointers in the fourth, turning what had been a pro-Lakers scene into an unusually raucous show of home support for a team that’s 20 games below .500. The same arena that rocked to “M-V-P!” for Bryant in the first half was bellowing “Beat L.A.!” in the final minute.
The Wizards beat the Lakers for the first time since 2006.
Bryant scored 30 but went 1 for 10 from the field in the fourth quarter.
• Rose connects at buzzer: Derrick Rose drilled a long jumper at the buzzer, powering the Chicago Bulls to a 106-104 victory over the host Milwaukee Bucks.
Holding the ball for the last shot in a tie game, Rose pulled up just inside the 3-point line and hit it just as time expired. Rose scored 30 and Joakim Noah added 20 points for the Bulls, winners of eight straight.
• James, Wade power Heat: LeBron James had 31 points and 11 rebounds, Dwyane Wade added 18 points and set up Udonis Haslem for an alley-oop dunk with 12 seconds left, and the Miami Heat rallied to beat the visiting Atlanta Hawks 89-86.
• Thunder roll to 14th straight home win: Russell Westbrook scored 31 points, James Harden added a career-high 30 off the bench and the Oklahoma City Thunder roared back for a 115-104 victory over the visiting Phoenix Suns for their 14th straight home win.
• Love too much for Blazers: Wes Johnson scored 19 points to back Kevin Love’s 29 points and 16 rebounds in the Minnesota Timberwolves’ 106-94 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers at Minneapolis.
Johnson went 3 of 4 on 3-pointers and Luke Ridnour added 22 points for the Timberwolves (21-19), who moved into the eighth spot in the Western Conference playoff race. They own the tiebreaker over Houston, which lost earlier in the day.
The Blazers have lost four of their last five games.
Temple joins Big East football next season
MISCELLANY: Temple will join the Big East Conference for football next season and all other sports in 2013.
The Owls football program played in the Mid-American Conference last season, while all other Temple programs, including men’s basketball, are in the Atlantic 10.
The MAC confirmed the move and said the Owls will pay an exit fee of $6 million.
• Morgan scores three in U.S. win: Alex Morgan scored her first career hat trick and Abby Wambach added her 134th goal, leading the United States women’s soccer team over Sweden 4-0 in the third-place match of the Algarve Cup.
Morgan scored in the fourth, 33rd and 72nd minutes, and Wambach scored in the 36th in Parchal, Portugal.
Germany won the title, beating world champion Japan 4-3 in a wild finish. Germany converted a penalty kick in the 89th minute, Japan tied it 3-3 in the 90th and Germany scored in stoppage time.