The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast w/Jim Field.

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CLEVELAND (AP) — Cavaliers forward Kyle Korver has been excused from the team to be with family following the death of a younger brother in Iowa. The team issued a statement late Tuesday night saying Korver’s brother, Kirk, died earlier in the day.
“We extend our deepest condolences and heartfelt best to Kyle and his entire family as they go through this very difficult time,” the Cavs said.

Korver is expected to miss Wednesday’s home game against Toronto. Kyle Korver, who is in his second season with Cleveland, left the Cavs last week after his 27-year-old brother became seriously ill in Iowa. Korver played in Monday night’s home win over Milwaukee, scoring 12 points.

Korver’s personal situation comes one day after Cavs coach Tyronn Lue stepped away from the team for health reasons. The Cavs have also been dealing with an assortment of injuries as Rodney Hood, Tristan Thompson, Larry Nance Jr. and Cedi Osman have been sidelined.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Justin Harley hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer in overtime to give Graceland (Iowa) its first NAIA national championship with an 83-80 victory over LSU Alexandria on Tuesday night. After a timeout with 13.4 seconds left in overtime, LT Davis stumbled at the top of the 3-point arc, drawing the attention of two LSUA defenders, and found Harley open on the wing for just his second 3-pointer of the game. Graceland (29-10) won its 11th straight game, competing in its first NAIA Tournament.

Kansas City native Will Nelson led Graceland with 30 points and 12 rebounds and Davis added 22 points and six assists. The duo combined for nine of the Yellowjackets’ 13 3-pointers. Nelson scored 12 points in the first half, including five in Graceland’s closing 10-0 run for a 36-28 lead.

It was the second-overtime game in the past three title games — with the highest attendance, 6,377, since the tournament returned to Municipal Auditorium in 2002.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — For years, Iowa didn’t have much to worry about at linebacker.

The Hawkeyes head into spring workouts with question marks at all three spots after losing a veteran trio keyed by All-American Josey Jewell.

Iowa (8-5 in 2017) knew for the past few seasons that Jewell, Ben Niemann and Bo Bower, who combined for 122 starts, would anchor a defense that routinely finished among the best in the Big Ten. But such a luxury always came with the downside: Iowa would eventually need to break in three new starters at the same time at a position where experience, communication and leadership are crucial.

The Hawkeyes didn’t find much clarity during bowl preparation in December, so working toward building a unit that can be ready to go by September will be perhaps Iowa’s biggest challenge in spring workouts.

“It’s anybody’s ballgame right now,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said.

The Hawkeyes will open the spring with Nick Niemann, Ben’s little brother, at outside linebacker, junior Kristian Welch in the middle and senior Aaron Mends on the outside.

But being listed as a starter on the depth chart in March might not mean a lot — if anything — in August. Senior Jack Hockaday and Amani Jones also figure to crack a rotation full of guys heavy on special teams experience but light on snaps at their listed position.

Barrington Wade, a redshirt sophomore who has yet to take the field for Iowa, is listed as Niemann’s backup. Freshman Dijmon Colbert has moved from defensive back to linebacker to bolster Iowa’s depth, and there’s a possibility that safety Jake Gervase might move to linebacker could happen in the fall.

“Some guys have a lot of position flexibility, other guys maybe not as much. So the key for us right now is, I think, figure out who the best three (linebackers) are and where can we put them most effectively. And then, if we can find a fourth guy, a fifth guy, a sixth guy, just kind of take it a day at a time.”

Iowa’s formula for success under Ferentz, now in his 20th season, has been to lean on a bend but don’t break defense and a punishing running game that controls the tempo and limits turnovers.

But the Hawkeyes don’t know who’ll be their starting running back either.

Iowa lost a pair of seniors in Akrum Wadley and James Butler and will look to replace them with a thin group of largely untested youngsters.

Sophomore Toren Young, who’s listed at 5-foot-11 and 221 pounds, is listed as a starter. The Hawkeyes also return sophomore Ivory Kelly-Martin, who averaged 21.3 yards on 21 kickoff returns and ran for 184 yards in limited duty.

Toks Akrinbade is among a group of players being held out of spring practice for undisclosed medical reasons, and redshirt freshman Cam Harrell will work out at running back this spring after working with the defensive backs in the fall.

“We like our running backs. But there’s just not that many of them,” Ferentz said.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The dismantling of Iowa’s underperforming roster began Tuesday, as reserves Brady Ellingson and Ahmad Wagner announced that they were leaving the program.

The school says Ellingson, a redshirt junior, will graduate in May and seek to play a year as a graduate transfer at another school, while Wagner says he wants to give football a shot after three seasons playing basketball for the Hawkeyes. He hasn’t decided whether to stay at Iowa or play football at another school.

Ellingson, a 40-percent career 3-point shooter, averaged 2.8 points and 1.1 assists a game last season. But he couldn’t find consistent playing time even after fellow guard Christian Williams abruptly quit the team in November.

Wagner was a highly sought-after recruit in both basketball and football coming out of high school. But his hoops career fizzled in 2017-18 as he averaged just 1.7 points and 1.7 rebounds per game.

One possible option for Wagner would be to stay in Iowa City and join coach Kirk Ferentz’s squad, which never seems to have enough receivers. Ferentz held a news conference on Tuesday, but Wagner’s announcement came roughly an hour after Ferentz finished talking with reporters.

“My plan now is to train and get my body into football shape so I can be ready for when I decide where I will finish my athletic and academic goals,” Wagner said.

The Hawkeyes will bring in a likely starter at Ellingson’s position next fall in highly touted freshman Joe Wieskamp.

“Brady is a hard worker, a terrific teammate, and a good student. We wish Brady good luck in his future endeavors,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said.

Ellingson and Wagner’s departures will open up a pair of scholarships for the Hawkeyes. They’ve avoided using the graduate transfer rule in recent years, but anything might be possible after a disappointing 13-18 record in 2017-18 — their worst season in nearly a decade.

Iowa could use a veteran point guard who can attack the rim and open perimeter space for the likes of Wieskamp and fellow guard Jordan Bohannon, and it might also be in the market for another power forward after losing Wagner.

The Hawkeyes could even stash a scholarship for later use after adding just two freshmen in their latest recruiting class.

Iowa is also awaiting word on star forward Tyler Cook’s future.

Though Cook isn’t projected to be picked in this spring’s NBA Draft, he will go through the league’s evaluation process. Cook hasn’t hired an agent, meaning he could return to the Hawkeyes.

The Atlantic girls track team also competed on Monday at the Dan Lennon Invitational at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion.

Top finisher for the Trojans included Haley Rasmussen 5th in the Long Jump. The Sprint Medley Team finished 7th and Taylor McCreedy was 4th in the 800M Run.

Full Girls Results from Dan Lennon Invite

High Jump
2nd- Megan Witte, Lewis Central 5-2
T10th- Sophie Sykes, St. Albert 4-10
T10th- Josey Starner, Thomas Jefferson 4-10

1600M Run
13th- Madison Botos, Atlantic 6:09.26
15th- Gracie Springman, St. Albert 6:10.98

4x200M Relay
11th- Lewis Central 1:55.64

Long Jump
1st- Darby Thomas, CB Abraham Lincoln 16-11.25
2nd- Caitlyn Jones, CB Thomas Jefferson 16-10.75
5th- Haley Rasmussen, Atlantic 15-11.00
6th- Shelby Wilfong, CB Abraham Lincoln 15-09.00

Shot Put
1st- Lauren Payne, Lewis Central 41-09.75
7th- Catlin Spurgin, CB Abraham Lincoln 35-08.75
9th- Josey Starner, CB Thomas Jefferson 35-07.25

60M Dash
3rd- Darby Thomas, CB Abraham Lincoln 7.97

4x400M Relay
9th- CB Abraham Lincoln: Hayley Hartman, Taylan Keefer, Lexi Thomas, Marrisa Trotter.

3200M Run
8th- Moriah Heilesen, CB Abraham Lincoln 13:10.76

Sprint Medley
7th- Atlantic: Jessica Hartwig, Alyssa Derby, Haley Rasmussen, Taylor McCreedy 4:40.22

400M Dash
11th- Kennedy Goergen, Atlantic 1:09.34

800M Run
4th- Taylor McCreedy, Atlantic 2:33.20
9th- Kerigan Keefer, CB Abraham Lincoln 2:39.24
13th- Karsyn Rush, Atlantic 2:42.14

The Atlantic boys track team competed at the Dan Lennon Invitational at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion on Monday and posted some strong finishes.

Gratt Reed took the title in the 60 Meter Hurdles with a time of 8.46.  The Sprint Medley team for Atlantic took gold with a time of 5:45.26. Chase Mullenix won the 800 Meters with a time of 2:02.36.

The Trojans will prepare now for the outdoor track season to begin at Denison on Tuesday, March 27th.

Full Boys Results from Dan Lennon

Long Jump
10th- Gratt Reed, Atlantic
21st- Ryan Rohe, Lewis Central
29th- Herb Fant, CB Abraham Lincoln

60M Hurdles
1st- Gratt Reed, Atlantic 8.46
3rd- Ethan Bernard, St. Albert 8.76
6th- Tyler Blaha, St. Albert 8.94

800M Run
1st- Chase Mullenix, Atlantic 2:02.36
2nd- Craig Becker, Atlantic 2:05.69
10th- Luke Gronstal, St, Albert 2:12.28

3200M Run
4th- Steven Hornberg, CB Abraham Lincoln 11:24.72
5th- Bennett Heisterkamp, St. Albert 11:28.73
7th- Caden Tellander, CB Abraham Lincoln 11:24.72
8th- Connor Lancial, Lewis Central 11:45.37

Sprint Medley
1st- Atlantic: Zade Niklasen, Dillon Sonntag, Zeke Whetstone, Chase Mullenix 3:45.26
4th- St. Albert: Blake Rallis, Andrew Hanafan, Tyler Blaha, Kyle Barnes 3:49.79
9th- St. Albert B 3:51.79
10th- Atlantic B 3:53.52

1600M Run
14th- Austin Wickman, CB Abraham Lincoln 5:44.31

4x200M Relay
3rd- Atlantic: Gratt Reed, Zade Niklasen, Jayden Barnwell, Dillon Sonntag 1:36.39
4th- St. Albert: Blake Rallis, Tyler Blaha, Ethan Bernard, Andrew Hanafan 1:36.45

400M Run
3rd- Zeke Whetstone, Atlantic 53.81
5th- Sam Rallis, St. Albert 53.93
6th- Kyle Barnes, St. Albert 54.00
9th- Aiden Antisdal, St. Albert 55.97

High Jump
T11th- Thomas Fidone, Lewis Central 5-10
T16th- Spencer Ray, Atlantic 5-6

Shot Put
1st- Dane Theobald, Lewis Central 52-8.25
2nd- Logan Jones, Lewis Central 50-11.50
4th- Jasper Stottlemyer, CB Abraham Lincoln 48-02.00
10th- Matt Fagan, St. Albert 45-09

4x400M Relay
2nd- St. Albert: Blake Rallis, Kyle Barnes, Tyler Blaha, Andrew Hanafan 3:34.05
3rd- Atlantic: Zade Niklasen, Dillon Sonntag, Zeke Whetstone, Gratt Reed
7th- St. Albert B
9th- Lewis Central
10th- Woodbine

Graceland University in Lamoni will play for the national championship on Tuesday night in Men’s College Basketball NAIA Division I.

The Yellowjackets rallied in the second half of their semifinal win over LSU Shreveport (LA) 87-80 on Monday night.

LT Davis led the Yellowjackets with 28 points. Will Nelson added 22 and Dalton Payton had 14. Jeremy Deemer also had a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds. The 5th Seeded Yellowjackets outscored the Pilots by 19 in the second half to pick up the win.

Graceland will now square off against LSU-Alexandria in the National Championship game tonight at 7:00pm. The Generals defeated another Iowa school William Penn 84-75 in the other semifinal on Monday to reach the title game.

Tuesday’s championship will be available through a streaming broadcast on ESPN3 from Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium.

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast w/Jim Field.

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Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Buffalo and Central Michigan are crashing the women’s Sweet 16. The two 11 seeds from the Mid-American Conference pulled off stunning upsets of Florida State and Ohio State on the road to advance to the regional semifinals for the first time in school history.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jordin Canada scored 21 points and Japreece Dean added 16 points to lead third-seeded UCLA to an 86-64 victory over No. 11 seed Creighton in the second round of the women’s NCAA Tournament. UCLA (26-7) reaches the Sweet 16 for the third consecutive year and advances to the Kansas City Regional and will face Texas on Friday.

NEW YORK (AP) — From 11 pairs of sisters to a mother-daughter combination, the women’s NCAA Tournament is a family affair. Carly Fabbri plays for a Quinnipiac team coached by her mother, Tricia. Says daughter Carly: “Just being able to have the opportunity to play for her has been awesome.”

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — The only thing Bill Self was pleased about from the Jayhawks’ first-round win in the NCAA Tournament was the fact that they won. He wasn’t a whole lot more impressed with their second-round win. So as they head to Omaha, Nebraska, for the regional semifinals against Clemson, Self is hopeful that the best is yet to come. Kansas will play the red-hot Tigers on Friday night.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The NCAA Tournament has an altered landscape for the Sweet 16 after losing four of its top eight seeds. Top seeds Virginia and Xavier are gone, along with 2-seeds North Carolina and Cincinnati. That leaves Villanova and Kansas as the remaining No. 1 seeds, while No. 11 seeds Syracuse and Loyola-Chicago are the surprise teams vying to make it to San Antonio for the Final Four.