SPORTS

Mulligan shines as UNH gymnastics wins

Staff and wire reports

CHICAGO — Danielle Mulligan, the East Atlantic Gymnastics League’s top-ranked uneven bar competitor, equaled her personal best and matched the highest bar score (9.925) scored by any EAGL gymnast this season to win that event and spearhead the University of New Hampshire gymnastics team to a 195.700-194.775 victory against the University of Illinois at Chicago on Sunday at the UIC Pavilion.

UNH improved to 11-6 on the season and 8-3 in non-conference competition.

The 2018 EAGL Championship, hosted by Towson University, will take place March 24 at 2 p.m. The Wildcats will compete against No. 18 George Washington, North Carolina, No. 23 North Carolina State, Pittsburgh and the host Tigers at SECU Arena in Towson, Md.

Through Sunday night’s results, UNH is ranked 34th in the RoadtoNationals.com rankings. The top 36 teams will qualify for the NCAA Regional Championships, which will be announced on March 26.

BU, NU, PC make hockey NCAAs

Hockey East champion Boston University, and league members Northeastern and Providence were chosen for the 16-team NCAA Division I tournament when that bracket was unveiled on Sunday.

Overall No. 1 St. Cloud State, Notre Dame, Cornell and Ohio State were named the top four seeds.

The championship playoff format involves four predetermined regional sites with four teams assigned to each site. The regional winners advance to the Frozen Four.

BU will play its first game against Cornell on Saturday (1 p.m.) in Worcester, Mass. The following game will pit Northeastern against Michigan.

Providence will play on Friday in Bridgeport, Conn., against Clarkson.

B’s sign Harvard star Donato

BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Bruins have signed Ryan Donato to a two-year, entry-level deal and say the U.S. Olympic star could play for them right away.

Donato had 26 goals and 17 assists in 29 games this season at Harvard. He led the United States with five goals and six points at the Olympics as one of its youngest players.

The 21-year-old is eligible to be in Boston's lineup Monday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets, a big boost to a Stanley Cup contender down the stretch.

Donato was a second-round pick for Boston in 2014, and the team retained his rights while he played for his father, Ted Donato, a former Bruin who has been the coach at Harvard since 2004.

NASCAR: Truex cruises to win

FONTANA, Calif. (AP) — Martin Truex Jr. cruised to victory at Fontana on Sunday, claiming the first win of the season for last year's NASCAR Cup Series champion.

After Kevin Harvick's quest for a fourth consecutive victory essentially ended with an early smack into the wall, Truex dominated his 16th career victory. He easily held off defending Fontana champ Kyle Larson, who was 11 seconds behind in second.

Truex finished fourth at Fontana last year, but his Furniture Row Racing Toyota was too quick for the field in a fairly clean race. Kyle Busch was third, and Brad Keselowski fourth.

Truex led 125 laps overall while winning both stages and winning a race for the third time in his career. He also accomplished the feat at Las Vegas and Chicagoland during his championship 2017 season.

Harvick's bid to become the 14th driver ever to win four straight races ended when he hit the wall after contact with Larson on the 37th lap. Harvick's car was repaired and he kept racing, but finished 35th.