Vasa Pusica had 24 points and eight rebounds to help the Northeastern men’s basketball team to a 75-61 win over Hofstra at Matthews Arena on Saturday, snapping the Pride’s 16-game winning streak, the longest in the nation coming into the game. Donnell Gresham added 18 points with four 3-pointers, Bolden Brace had 11 points and 10 rebounds, and Jordan Roland scored 10 points for the Huskies (13-9, 7-3 CAA). Pusica had a streak of made free throws end at 27, but notched his sixth 20-point game of the season. Desure Buie led the Pride (19-4, 9-1) with 22 points and the nation’s third-leading scorer, Justin Wright-Foreman, added 15 — 11 below his average.
Notre Dame maintains hold over BC
Nikola Djogo scored a career-high 21 points in his first start of the season to spark Notre Dame to a 79-73 win at Boston College, the Fighting Irish’s 13th straight over the Eagles. T.J. Gibbs added 19 points, Prentiss Hubb had 16, and John Mooney 15 for Notre Dame (12-10, 2-7 ACC), which halted a five-game losing streak. Ky Bowman led BC (11-9, 2-6) with 25 points and Jared Hamilton scored a season-high 17. Notre Dame saw its lead sliced to 69-68 on Hamilton’s 3-pointer from the left corner before Gibbs had a driving basket on the other end, and, after a turnover by BC, Djogo drove for a layup, making it 73-68 with 1:29 to go . . . Charlie Brown Jr. scored 20 points and Saint Joseph’s (10-12, 3-6 Atlantic 10) held on late for a 64-62 win over UMass (8-14, 1-8) in Philadelphia. Lorenzo Edwards added 14 points for the Hawks. Rashaan Holloway scored 23 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead the Minutemen . . . Tyler Scanlon had 20 points and 11 rebounds for his second straight double-double, Max Mahoney added 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting, and Boston University (11-12, 4-6 Patriot) took a 76-68 win to snap a 12-game home win streak by Colgate (13-10, 5-5). Javante McCoy added 10 points off the bench for the Terriers, who snapped Bucknell’s 15 game home winning streak earlier this season. Rapolas Ivanauskas had 24 points and eight rebounds for the Raiders . . . Bryce Aiken scored 12 points to lead a balanced attack and Harvard (10-7, 3-1 Ivy League) led all the way, holding Brown to a season-low point total in a 68-47 victory in Providence, R.I. Harvard led, 30-24, at halftime, then outshot Brown (13-7, 1-3) 60 percent to 26 percent in the second half.
UConn’s Collier hits milestone in victory
In women’s basketball, Napheesa Collier scored 20 points to reach 2,000 in her career, and No. 2 UConn (19-2, 8-0 AAC) held on for a 65-55 win at Cincinnati (14-8, 6-3). Collier became the fifth Husky with 2,000 career points and 1,000 rebounds, reaching the mark with a layup late in the third quarter. The 10-point deficit matched the closest in the teams' 20-game series, all won by UConn . . . Katie Nelson scored a game-high 22 points, 15 in the second half, and Nia Irving added 15 as Boston University (10-10, 6-4 Patriot) rallied from 17 down to take a 49-47 lead on a Lauren Spearman 3-pointer with 7:16 left before dropping a 62-58 decision to Bucknell (18-4, 9-1) at Case Gym. Kaitlyn Slagus led the Bison with 16 points . . . In women’s hockey, Kaitlin Tse, Dominique Petrie, and Lexie Laing had a goal and an assist apiece as Harvard (7-11-3, 6-8-2 ECAC) skated to a 4-0 shutout of Brown (5-16-2, 2-12-2) at Bright-Landry Center behind Beth Larcom’s 23 saves. Hayley Kliczko had 46 saves for the Bears.
SOCCER
Lletget sparks US in win over Costa Rica
Midfielder Sebastian Lletget scored and assisted in his return to the site of his career-interrupting foot injury two years ago, leading the United States men’s soccer team to a 2-0 win over Costa Rica in an exhibition match in San Jose, Calif. The victory makes Gregg Berhalter just the third coach to win his first two matches with the American national team, joining Bob Bradley (2007) and Robert Millar (1930). Lletget entered in the 63rd minute, scored in the 80th minute off a cross from Jonathan Lewis, then set up Paul Arriola in the 88th. Sixteen players from Major League Soccer started in a match that drew just 13,656. Because the game was not on a FIFA international date, the entire US roster was from MLS. Lletget got his only other international goal against Honduras in a World Cup qualifier on March 24, 2017, then sustained a Lisfranc injury to his left foot 10 minutes later. Lletget needed surgery and did not return to the LA Galaxy until the following March 4. He did not play again for the national team until last Nov. 15 . . . The US announced an exhibition match against Ecuador on March 21 at Orlando, Fla., marking the first time Berhalter will have his full player pool available.
BASEBALL
Red Sox reach deals with depth relievers
The Red Sox added a pair of relief pitchers on minor league deals Friday. According to a major league source, the team added 28-year-old righthander Brian Ellington and 33-year-old lefthander Dan Runzler. Neither pitcher received an invitation to major league camp. Ellington pitched for the Marlins in 2015 and 2016, working 58 innings with a 2.64 ERA. He struggled in 2017, resulting in seven homers in 44⅔ innings along with a 7.25 ERA. He was limited by biceps injuries to just 11⅓ minor league innings in 2018. Runzler pitched parts of four seasons (2009-12) with the Pirates and threw four innings for the Giants in 2017. He spent last year pitching for the independent league Sugar Land Skeeters . . . Oakland closer Blake Treinen will receive a $6.4 million salary for 2019 after winning his arbitration case. He asked for a raise from $2.2 million to $6.4 million, while the Athletics offered $5.6 million.
Basketball
Lakers’ James sits out against Warriors
LeBron James was ruled out for Saturday night’s Lakers game against the Warriors, two days after returning from a 17-game absence with a strained left groin suffered at Golden State on Christmas. Los Angeles coach Luke Walton made the announcement about James’s ‘‘load management’’ some 80 minutes before tipoff, saying James woke up Friday ‘‘pretty sore’’ after playing 40 minutes in a 123-120 overtime win Thursday night over the Clippers in his return. James had 24 points, 14 rebounds, and 9 assists in that game. The Lakers will play in Boston on Thursday . . . The WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx re-signed eight-time All-Star Seimone Augustus, bringing the shooting guard back for a 14th season. Augustus, who was drafted by the Lynx in 2006 out of LSU with the first overall pick, is in 11th place on the league's all-time scoring list.
MISCELLANY
Shiffrin skis to 13th World Cup win of season
American Mikaela Shiffrin won the last women's World Cup slalom before the world championships for her personal-best 13th victory of the season. The two-time overall champion finished 0.77 seconds ahead of Sweden’s Anna Swenn Larsson at Maribor, Slovenia. Wendy Holdener of Switzerland was 1.15 behind for her 20th career slalom podium without winning — a World Cup record. Only Swiss great Vreni Schneider has won more races in one season — 14 in 1988-89 . . . Kiki Bertens broke Aryna Sabalenka’s serve four times and fired nine aces in a 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 win in the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy semifinals in Russia. Bertens will face Donna Vekic, who beat Vera Zvonareva, 6-2, 6-2 . . . Ajla Tomljanovic beat Tamara Zidansek, 6-4, 6-1, at the Thailand Open in Hua Hin, to reach her fourth WTA final. Chasing her first title, Tomljanovic next faces 18-year-old Dayana Yastremska, who beat Magda Linette, 6-4, 6-3 . . . In the National Women’s Hockey League, Denisa Krizova, Jillian Dempsey, and Toni Ann Miano scored, Katie Burt made 25 saves, and the Boston Pride earned a 3-1 win over the Connecticut Whale at Warrior Ice Arena.
