SUNDAY SPORTS PAGE: LIONS SKUNK ELKS 22-0

CFL

Dominique Rhymes scored a third-quarter touchdown, quarterback Vernon Adams Junior threw for more than 300 yards and the B-C Lions blitzed the visiting Edmonton Elks 22-0 in CFL action Saturday night in Vancouver. The Lions improved to 2-0, while the Elks slipped to 0-2. More than 33,000 fans attended the Lions’ season-opener at BC Place.

The Toronto Argonauts kick off their CFL regular season Sunday against the visiting Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The Tabbies, who lost 42-31 to the host Winnipeg Blue Bombers last Friday, are looking for their first win of the young season. The Argos had a bye in Week 1. Last night the BC Lions blitzed the visiting Edmonton Elks 22-0 to improve to 2-0. The Elks slipped to 0-2.

CEBL

The Vancouver Bandits (4-4) escaped with a narrow 92-89 victory over the Saskatchewan Rattlers (2-5) in a thriller at Langley Events Centre on Saturday night. Bandits’ big man Nick Ward struggled from the free throw line all night but found redemption with the game-winner at the charity stripe. Ward finished with a team-high 22 points on 8-13 shooting from the field and 5-11 from the line to go along with seven rebounds.

Elsewhere the Edmonton Stingers (4-3) used 44 points from their bench to notch their third victory in a row in a 92-68 win over the Montréal Alliance (3-6) on Saturday night.  Edmonton’s bench outscored Montréal’s bench by 25 points and nearly scored as many points as their starting lineup, which scored 48 points.  Captain Adika Peter-McNeilly led the way for the reserves, scoring 15 points on 45 per cent shooting. 

And finally Khalil Ahmad’s 19 points led the Niagara River Lions (4-4) as they handed the Ottawa BlackJacks (4-3) their first home loss of the season in a 93-82 win on Saturday night. The guard was not only a leader offensively with his 19 points and eight assists but was also a leader on the defensive end. His six steals ended up being a game-high and were also more than Ottawa’s entire team who managed just four takeaways on the night.

U.S. OPEN

A fan favourite. An underdog. A comeback story. All those storylines are in play heading into Sunday’s final round at the US Open. And, as luck would have it, they are all wrapped up in the same player – Rickie Fowler. One of the golf’s most popular personalities is emerging from a three-year slump. He’s heading into Sunday’s final round in Los Angeles sharing the Open lead with Wyndham Clark, who are both at 10-under-par. They have a one-shot lead over Rory McIlroy and three-shot lead over Scottie Scheffler.

AHL

Garrett Pilon scored at 10:01 of the first overtime period as the Hershey Bears edged the visiting Coachella Valley Firebirds 1-0 to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven Calder Cup Final on Saturday night. Shepard Hunter made 20 saves to post the shutout for the AHL Bears, who trailed the series 2-0 at one point. Game 6 will be played Monday night in Coachella Valley, California.

MLB

The Toronto Blue Jays, sitting fourth in the five-team AL East standings with a 39-and-33 record, will be aiming to win a three-game road series against the Texas Rangers on Sunday. The Jays, who gave up three homers in a 4-2 loss Saturday to the Rangers, won Friday’s opener 2-1 and are now 20-and-20 on the road. The AL West-leading Rangers won for just the third time in 10 games.

LaMonte Wade Junior hit a three-run homer, J-D Davis added a pinch-hit grand slam, and the San Francisco Giants routed the slumping Los Angeles Dodgers 15-0 on Saturday night for their season-high sixth straight victory. It was the Giants’ largest margin of victory over their NL West rival in 10 years. With the loss, the Dodgers dropped a home series to the Giants for the first time since losing three of four in July 2021.

CANADIAN GRAND PRIX

Max Verstappen won the 25th pole of his career and moved one step closer today to tying the late Ayrton Senna for Formula One victories as the two-time reigning world champion overcame wet conditions in qualifying at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal. Verstappen has won five of seven races this season. He will lead the field to green Sunday as he attempts to win his 44th career race. It would tie him with Senna for fifth on F1’s all-time winners list.

(Canadian Press)