HEAT-HORNETS
Hornets beat Heat 78-76 for 8th win in 9 games
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) β Kemba Walker scored 15 points, Bismack Biyombo had 12 points and 12 rebounds, and the surging Charlotte Hornets edged the Miami Heat 78-76 on Wednesday night.
Charlotte won for the eighth time in nine games despite going without a field goal in the final seven minutes. The Hornets had a 56-41 rebounding edge against the Heat, who played without Hassan Whiteside and Luol Deng.
Miami had a chance to win the game on its final possession, but Chris Bosh missed a 3-pointer from the top of the key. Mario Chalmers ran down the loose ball and fired up another 3 that missed from corner.
Bosh and Dwyane Wade each had 17 points for Miami.
T25-NORTH CAROLINA-WAKE FOREST
No. 15 UNC beats Wake Forest 87-71 for 4th straight win
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) β Kennedy Meeks scored 12 of his 16 points after halftime to help No. 15 North Carolina pull away and beat Wake Forest 87-71 on Wednesday night.
Brice Johnson had 19 points as the other half of a two-headed inside attack that helped the Tar Heels (15-4, 5-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) score 50 points in the paint on the way to their fourth straight league win.
Freshman Justin Jackson added 17 points as the Tar Heels shot 69 percent (18 for 26) after halftime and 60 percent for the game.
The Tar Heels led 40-34 at halftime, but Meeks scored three straight baskets out of the break to push the lead to double digits and put UNC in firm control.
Codi Miller-McIntyre scored 20 points to lead the Demon Deacons (9-10, 1-5), who played tough in losses to highly ranked Duke and Louisville here earlier this month.
NC-WILMINGTON-COLL OF CHARLESTON
UNC Wilmington survives OT scare, defeats Charleston 58-56
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) β Addison Spruill had 11 points and 12 rebounds as UNC-Wilmington took an early lead in overtime and held on 58-56 over Charleston on Wednesday night.
Jordan Talley’s free throw gave the Seahawks a 57-54 lead with 1:03 left in overtime. Evan Bailey’s free throws for the Cougars cut the deficit to one with 40 seconds left.
Joe Chealey missed a potential game-winning jumper for Charleston with three seconds left and Freddie Jackson added a free throw for Wilmington.
Cedrick Williams and Spruill had the only field goals in overtime, pushing the Seahawks (10-8, 5-2 Colonial Athletic Association) out to a 56-52 lead.
Neither team scored in the final 1:40 of regulation. Talley had the last chance to win it, but his 3-point attempt in the final seconds was off the mark.
The Seahawks overcame 25.8 percent shooting by causing 20 turnovers.
Canyon Barry led Charleston (6-14, 1-6) with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
HORNETS-JORDAN-AWARD
Michael Jordan gets emotional after winning business award
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) β An emotional Michael Jordan fought back tears as he accepted an award for being named the Charlotte Business Journal’s Business Person of the Year.
The Charlotte Hornets owner said during a nine-minute speech Tuesday night that aired on the organization’s website that while he’s received many awards as a player, this one was different.
Jordan became emotional saying, “I’ve been criticized in a lot of different areas from a business standpoint, but I take pride in the ideas and concepts and views that come out of this organization to build the type of basketball program… that the city of Charlotte can be proud of.”
Jordan, who took over as the Hornets primary owner in 2010, says he’s committed to the organization long term and plans on winning multiple championships.
NASCAR-VICKERS-HEART
NASCAR’s Brian Vickers cleared to return to racing in March
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) β NASCAR driver Brian Vickers has been medically cleared to return to racing in March, just three months after surgery to repair a hole in his heart.
Vickers will miss only the first two races of the season before he returns to his Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota. NASCAR on Tuesday granted him a waiver to make him eligible for the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship should he qualify.
Team co-owner Michael Waltrip will drive the No. 55 for Vickers in the season-opening Daytona 500. A replacement driver for the March 1 race at Atlanta has not yet been named.
Vickers had surgery in December as doctors corrected an artificial patch his body was rejecting. Vickers received the patch in a 2010 procedure that first fixed the hole in his heart.
