FRIDAY SPORTS PAGE: ELKS STREAK CONTINUES

EDMONTON – It was a win wrapped up with some worry for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

Quarterback Matt Shiltz ran in a touchdown before leaving the game with an injury as the Tiger-Cats defeated the hapless Edmonton Elks 37-29 on Thursday for Hamilton’s second straight win.

“I’m proud of how we rallied,” said Hamilton head coach Orlondo Steinauer. “This was a short week. We had all types of reasons. They had the rest and we had to fly on a short week. Just credit to the coaches and the players.”

The Ticats improved to 2-3 on the season, but unfortunately lost Shiltz to a leg injury late in the third quarter. He had been filling in for the also-injured Bo Levi Mitchell.

Edmonton (0-6) has lost a CFL-record 20 consecutive home games, a string of futility stretching back to Oct. 12, 2019.

The loss tied the longest run of consecutive home losses among North America’s major professional leagues. Major League Baseball’s St. Louis Browns lost 20 straight in 1953 before becoming the Baltimore Orioles the next season.

Edmonton has also lost 10 straight games overall.

“All I can do is rely on things in the past, and unfortunately, we’ve had some similar situations like this in Saskatchewan and all I can say is what do you want me to tell you?” said Elks head coach and general manager Chris Jones. “There’s no magic formula, we’re going to have to keep grinding, keep working and keep believing.

“Pull for each other, nobody can do it by themselves, regardless of what they think.”

Michael Nuga knocked down a pair of free throws in target score time to give the Saskatchewan Rattlers (6-9) their second straight win and first in a home-and-home series against the Edmonton Stingers (7-9) on Thursday night.
 
Two days after sinking a game-winning three pointer in Winnipeg, Saskatchewan’s Justin Wright-Foreman led all scorers with 37 points—which ties the Rattlers single-game franchise record, previously set by Wright-Foreman on June 29 against the BlackJacks earlier this season.
 The Queen’s, New York guard also snagged 5 rebounds and shot 56 per cent from the field. But he also had seven turnovers on the night and credited his teammates for the victory.

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NBA champion point guard Jamal Murray headlines Canada’s extended senior men’s basketball team roster for the upcoming FIBA Men’s World Cup. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder will join Murray in Canada’s backcourt.

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A source says All-Pro defensive tackle Quinnen Williams and the New York Jets have agreed to a four-year contract extension worth $96 million. Williams is now the second-highest paid defensive tackle in the NFL at $24 million per year behind only the Rams’ Aaron Donald, who is making $31.7 million per year.

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Alex Galchenyuk’s time in Arizona is coming to a quick end. The Coyotes have placed the newly signed free agent forward on unconditional waivers and plan to terminate his contract following his arrest on multiple charges over the weekend. Galchenyuk was arrested Sunday on charges of private property hit and run, disorderly conduct, failure to obey, resisting arrest and threatening or intimidating.

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Novak Djokovic will carry winning streaks of 33 matches in a row at Wimbledon and 26 in a row at all Grand Slam tournaments into the semifinals at the All England Club. He faces Jannik Sinner on Friday morning for a berth in the final. The age gap between the 36-year-old Djokovic and the 21-year-old Sinner is the largest between male semifinalists at Wimbledon in the professional era.

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The PGA Tour is dropping a clause in its agreement with Saudi Arabia’s wealth fund over poaching. That’s after the U-S Justice Department raised antitrust concerns. The agreement is for the PGA Tour, European-based DP World Tour and Public Investment Fund to become partners.

(Canadian Press/CEBL Comms)