5/1/24 Hometown Broadcasting Sports Wednesday
1 May 2024 Sports
Khris Middleton and Bobby Portis each scored 29 points and the short-handed Milwaukee Bucks kept their season alive by routing the Indiana Pacers 115-92 in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series on Tuesday night.
Portis had the highest point total of his playoff career and added 10 rebounds to make amends two nights after he got ejected from a Game 4 loss. Middleton had his third straight game with at least 25 points, and he also contributed 12 rebounds and five assists.
The Pacers still lead the best-of-seven series 3-2 heading into Game 6 on Thursday in Indianapolis. The Pacers are trying to advance beyond the opening round for the first time since 2014.
Milwaukee, which has never won a series in which it trailed 3-1, made sure the Pacers wouldn’t clinch anything Tuesday. The Bucks held Indiana to its lowest point total of the season and won without injured stars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard as the Fiserv Forum crowd chanted “Bucks In Seven.”
Antetokounmpo has missed this entire series and hasn’t played since straining his left calf on April 9. Lillard sat out a second straight game after injuring his Achilles tendon in the Bucks’ 121-118 Game 3 loss on Friday. The Bucks won anyway, thanks to a balanced effort.
Malik Beasley scored 18 points. Pat Beverley had 13 points and 12 assists, and sparked a second-quarter run that put the Bucks ahead for good.
Tyrese Haliburton scored 16 points to lead the Pacers. Myles Turner added 13. Obi Toppin, Aaron Nembhard and Pascal Siakam had 12 each.
Beverley scored 12 points in the second quarter, helping the Bucks build a 53-48 lead at the half. The Bucks then scored the first nine points of the third period to make it 62-48.
Indiana got the margin down to nine midway through the third, but the Bucks outscored the Pacers 20-8 over the next 5½ minutes to put the game away.
Elsewhere in NBA playoff action the 76ers staved off elimination by beating the Knicks 112-106, but New York still leads their series 3-2. Cleveland edged Orlando 104-103 and lead 3-2 in their series.
Willy Adames hit a three-run homer and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Tampa Bay Rays 8-2 on Tuesday night in a game that included a nasty fight between the teams.
The fracas ensued after Jose Siri grounded out against Brewers pitcher Abner Uribe leading off the eighth inning. Uribe and Siri exchanged words near first base and things quickly became heated.
With an umpire standing between them trying to keep the peace, Uribe threw a punch at Siri, who then took a wild swing at the reliever. Milwaukee first baseman Rhys Hoskins tried to break up the fight but was knocked to the ground as both dugouts and bullpens emptied quickly before order was restored.
The animosity between Siri and the Brewers had been building all night, starting when he took a long look at his solo home run off Freddy Peralta in the third.
When Siri came up again in the sixth, Peralta drilled him with a 3-0 fastball, leading to ejections for Peralta and Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy. It was the second consecutive ejection for Murphy, thrown out of Monday’s game against the Rays for arguing an umpire’s call.
Adames drove in four runs and Brice Turang had three RBIs as the Brewers snapped their three-game losing streak.
eralta (3-0) struck out seven and walked none in 5 1/3 innings. The only hit he allowed was Siri’s home run.
Tampa Bay starter Tyler Alexander (1-1) gave up three runs and six hits in four innings.
Tyler Black made the most of his big league debut for the Brewers by getting hits in each of his first two plate appearances. Then he came within a few feet of his first career home run his third time up. Black wasn’t in Milwaukee’s starting lineup but didn’t have to wait long to make his debut. The Brewers’ No. 4 overall prospect entered as a pinch runner in the first inning after designated hitter Gary Sánchez tweaked his hamstring running to first on a fielder’s choice.
Brewers RHP Colin Rea (2-0, 3.25 ERA) starts the series finale Wednesday against RHP Zach Eflin (1-3, 4.08). First pitch is at 12:10.
Elsewhere in the NL Central Tuesday the Mets beat the Cubs 4-2, the A’s downed the Pirates 5-2, the Padres over the Reds 6-4 and the Tigers beat the Cardinals 11-6. The Brewers regained a half-game lead over the Cubs in the division, while the Reds are 2 ½ games out, the Cardinals 4 1/2 and the Pirates 5 games behind.
In the Midwest League Tuesday the Great Lakes Lions beat the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 6-4 at Fox Cities Stadium. The teams meet again this afternoon with the first pitch at 12:10.
The Green Bay Packers agreed to terms with eight rookie free agents. The agreements were announced Tuesday by General Manager Brian Gutekunst.
UNDRAFTED FREE AGENTS:
| No | Name | Pos | Ht | Wt | College | HS Hometown | |
| 49 | Peter Bowden | LS | 6-2 | 239 | Wisconsin | San Diego, Calif. | |
| 65 | James Ester | DL | 6-3 | 289 | Northern Illinois | Detroit, Mich. | |
| 44 | Ralen Goforth | LB | 6-1 | 227 | Washington | Bellflower, Calif. | |
| 35 | Jarveon Howard | RB | 5-10 | 215 | Alcorn State | Columbia, Miss. | |
| 67 | Donovan Jennings | OL | 6-4 | 323 | South Florida | Tampa, Fla. | |
| 68 | Trente Jones | OL | 6-4 | 305 | Michigan | Loganville, Ga. | |
| 60 | Rodney Mathews | DL | 6-1 | 311 | Ohio | Memphis, Tenn. | |
| 43 | Messiah Swinson | TE | 6-7 | 259 | Arizona State | Brookville, N.Y. |
Bowden was at the University of Wisconsin for five years and saw action in all 39 games over the past three seasons (2021-23). In 2021, he handled the snapping for all kicks and over the past two seasons he was the long snapper for all special-teams action. Bowden was named a Patrick Mannelly Award semifinalist in 2022 and a finalist in 2023. Last season, he also helped K Nathanial Vakos earn honorable mention All-Big Ten honors.
The Ripon boys and girls track teams competed in a triangular meet at Plymouth Tuesday. The host team won the meet with 83 points, the Tigers finished 2nd with 44 points and Kewaskum had 33.
On the girl’s side Kewaskum won the meet with 69.5 points, followed by Plymouth with 61 and the Tigers had 43.5 points.
Ripon’s next meet is Thursday at Berlin.
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