Bobcats

The Nets won for the first time this season, ending the worst start in NBA history at 18 losses by beating the Bobcats 97-91 on Friday night in East Rutherford, N.J. Brook Lopez had 31 points and 14 rebounds, and Courtney Lee scored a career-high 27 points in his return to the starting lineup in the Nets' first game under Kiki Vandeweghe , their general manager who will coach the rest of the season. Fans stood and cheered as the Nets won for the first time since April 13, when they also beat the Bobcats.

WASHINGTON - -The Washington Wizards had taken two steps forward, then took a huge step back Saturday night at Verizon Center, forgetting all the good things that they had done to record wins over the Philadelphia 76ers and Miami Heat and losing, 92-76, to the Charlotte Bobcats. The Wizards (5-10) just avoided matching their season low in points with a performance that might rank just north of putrid. Caron Butler led the Wizards with 19 points and Brendan Haywood had 10 points and nine rebounds, but no one on the Wizards could be pleased with his performance.

Sophomore defensive back Kenneth Turner intercepted three passes and junior Clifton Budd led the Bowie State offense with 54 rushing yards as the Bulldogs recorded a 14-0 homecoming victory over St. Paul's on Saturday to keep them unbeaten in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association and move them to 6-2 overall. Turner returned an interception 37 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter to give the Bulldogs a 7-0 lead. Midway through the fourth quarter, Larry Dixon (Dunbar)

0 Runners the Severna Park boys put in the top 10 in the Class 4A state title race - but the Falcons finished second overall. 2 Consecutive state championships the River Hill girls have won. 3 Top-10 finishers the Atholton boys had en route to winning the Howard County championship. 7 Seconds separating the Bel Air boys' top three finishers in the Class 3A state title meet - a big reason the Bobcats finished second overall. 49 Points Century's girls beat South Carroll by in the Carroll County championship race.

No. 2 Fallston gave starter Jordan Lozzi a big early lead, and the left-hander scattered six hits over 6 2/3 strong innings to help the visiting Cougars to an 8-2 victory over No. 12 Bel Air in an Upper Chesapeake Bay Athletic Conference game Saturday. Fallston (13-0, 9-0) staked Lozzi to a 6-1 lead in the second inning. The Cougars scored three runs in the first and second innings, and six of their first 10 batters scored. That was more than enough for Lozzi, who kept Bel Air (9-2, 6-2)

Dwight Howard had 20 points and 11 rebounds, and the Orlando Magic rode a hot second-half start to go ahead by 41 points and hand the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers their most lopsided loss of the season with a 116-87 blowout Friday night. Rashard Lewis had 22 points, and Hedo Turkoglu scored 13 for the Magic, which remained percentage points behind the Boston Celtics - but tied in the loss column - for the Eastern Conference's second seed. LeBron James finished with 26 points and nine rebounds but never found his rhythm, shooting 7-for-20 from the field.

In a close race for a playoff spot, the Charlotte Bobcats needed a victory, and what could be better than facing the woebegone Washington Wizards? Not so fast. Charlotte wasted a 20-point lead and fell behind by eight midway through the fourth quarter, Gerald Wallace missed a free throw that would have tied the score with 6.5 seconds left, and the eight-man Wizards beat the visiting Bobcats, 95-93, on Wednesday night. Wallace led Charlotte (31-40) with 21 points and 11 rebounds, and his layup while getting fouled cut Charlotte's deficit to 94-93.

Senior attacker Meggie McNamara scored two goals and added three assists to lead Towson to its second win in a row, a 13-7 nonconference victory over George Washington at the Colonials' Mount Vernon Athletic Complex yesterday. The reigning Colonial Athletic Association Co-Player of the Week, McNamara scored both of her goals during the first half as the Tigers (4-1) built a 10-2 advantage and earned their first victory at George Washington. The Colonials had won all three previous meetings against the Tigers on their home field.

DaJuan Summers (McDonogh) scored 21 points and No. 13 Georgetown (12-3, 3-2 Big East) had its best three-point game of the season in an 88-74 victory over No. 8 Syracuse last night. Eric Devendorf had 20 points and four three-pointers for the Orange (16-2, 4-1). No. 1 Pittsburgh 75, South Florida 62: The host Panthers (16-0, 4-0 Big East) struggled early for the second time in as many games since reaching No. 1. The Bulls fell to 6-10 and 1-3. No. 7 Michigan State 78, Penn State 73: The visiting Spartans (14-2, 4-0 Big Ten)

This time, there would be no late-game heroics. After falling behind early, then pulling out consecutive one-point victories in its two previous games, Towson saw its luck finally run out in a 71-59 loss to Colonial Athletic Association foe George Mason before an announced 1,507 at the Towson Center. Leading scorer Junior Hairston, who came into the game averaging 14.5 points for the Tigers, was held to seven points on 3-for-10 shooting. Since joining the CAA eight years ago, the Tigers (7-9, 2-2)