LOCAL

LU SOCCER PLAYERS TAKE 2 AWARDS

BEAUMONT — Lamar sophomores Lauren Lovejoy and M.J. Eckart earned Southland Conference women’s soccer player of the week honors the SLC announced Monday.

Lovejoy was named Goalkeeper of the Week, while Eckart was selected as Defensive Player of the Week after their efforts helped the Cardinals post road wins at Houston Baptist and McNeese State.

Lovejoy made 10 saves in a 2-1 win over second-place Houston Baptist and followed that up with a 1-save performance in a 1-0 win at McNeese State to record her second shutout of the season. Lovejoy ended the season with a school-record 162 saves, which leads the Southland Conference and ranks second in the nation.

Eckart, a midfielder, played all 180 minutes on the week and scored the game-winning goal against McNeese State. Eckart ended the season with seven points on three goals and one assist.

STATE

HARDEN DRAINS 37 IN ROCKETS’ FIRST WIN

HOUSTON (AP) — James Harden scored 37 points, and the Houston Rockets beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 110-105 on Monday night for their first win of the season.

It was the first loss for the Thunder, who won their first three games while the Rockets dropped their first three.

An 8-1 run by the Rockets made it 107-100 with about two minutes left. Harden capped that key stretch with a 3, knocking it down with Russell Westbrook right in his face.

Westbrook made a 3-pointer with 44 seconds left to cut the lead to 108-105, and Harden missed a 3 on the other end. But Westbrook and Kevin Durant both missed 3-pointers on the next possession and Dwight Howard made a pair of free throws with 5.7 seconds left to secure the victory.

Durant led the Thunder with 29 points, and Westbrook added 25 points, eight rebounds and 11 assists.

Harden was 12 of 26 from the field after a tough start to the season. He shot below 30 percent in each of the first three games.

DUNCAN WINS RECORD 954th TIME IN NBA

NEW YORK (AP) — LaMarcus Aldridge scored 19 points, Kawhi Leonard had 18 points and 14 rebounds and the San Antonio Spurs beat the New York Knicks 94-84 on Monday night to give Tim Duncan a milestone victory.

Duncan had 16 points, 10 rebounds and six assists in his NBA-record 954th victory with one team. He passed Hall of Fame point guard John Stockton, who went 953-551 with the Utah Jazz. Duncan, in his 19th season, is 954-381.

Tony Parker also finished with 16 points.

Carmelo Anthony scored 19 points for the Knicks but struggled to just 4-of-17 shooting while often guarded by Defensive Player of the Year Leonard. Anthony was coming off a season-best 37 points on Saturday in a victory at Washington.

Aldridge followed his best game with the Spurs, a 24-point performance in a 95-87 victory in Boston on Sunday, by shooting 8 of 15 and grabbing six rebounds.

Rookie Kristaps Porzingis had 13 points and 14 rebounds for the Knicks but left the game with 2:49 remaining when Anthony appeared to land on Porzingis’ head while taking a shot.

DALLAS WNBA TEAM NAMED WINGS

ARLINGTON (AP) — The WNBA team relocating to North Texas will be called the Dallas Wings.

The franchise moved from Tulsa, Oklahoma, after six seasons and will play at the 7,000-seat arena on the University of Texas at Arlington campus.

NATIONAL

VT COACH BEAMER TO RETIRE AFTER SEASON

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Frank Beamer has decided this will be his last season as Virginia Tech’s coach, ending a 29-year run in Blacksburg, Virginia, that made Beamer Ball synonymous with winning.

The 69-year-old is the winningest active major college football coach with 277 victories. He is 235-120-2 since taking over at Virginia Tech in 1987, when he drew laughter by saying the Hokies could win a national championship by focusing on recruiting in Virginia.