TUESDAY SPORTS: Tickets on sale for Paladin playoff; Magwood honored; Watkins makes final Bilentnikoff list

Tickets for Saturday’s Furman-South Carolina State Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) playoff game at Oliver C. Dawson Bulldog Stadium in Orangeburg are now on sale at Furman. Tickets for the 1:00 p.m. game are $20 for adults, and South Carolina State is offering free admission into the contest for children 32″ or shorter. Get more information at furmanpaladins.com. Coverage of the game on Saturday will begin on 96.3 WGOG with the Paladin Pre-Game Show from Orangeburg at 12:00 PM.

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Furman linebacker Cory Magwood has been named Southern Conference Defensive Player of the Week for his performance in the Paladins’ 27-14, SoCon title clinching victory over Wofford on Saturday. Magwood, a 6-foot-1, 216-pound sophomore from Varnville headlined a Furman defensive effort with a game high 16 tackles, including a tackle for-loss, that helped key the Paladins to their fifth consecutive SoCon win and league record 13th championship.

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Clemson receiver Sammy Watkins is one of three finalists for the 2013 Biletnikoff Award. The honor is presented each year to the top receiver in college football. Joining Watkins as finalists are Brandin Cooks of Oregon State and Mike Evans of Texas A&M. Watkins has 78 receptions for 1144 yards and 10 touchdowns this year.

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The Furman men’s basketball team travels to Blacksburg, Va., on Tuesday to face the ACC’s Virginia Tech Hokies in a 7 p.m. contest at Cassell Coliseum. The game will be broadcast live on 96.3 WGOG beginning with the pre-game show at 6:30 PM. Furman enters the matchup at 2-2 after dropping an 89-55 decision at College of Charleston on Saturday night.

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The visiting San Francisco 49ers defeated the Washington Redskins 27-6 in Monday Night Football. 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick went 15 of 24 for 235 yards with three touchdown passes, while the Redskin’s Robert Griffin III was 17 of 27 for 127 yards and was sacked four times.

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In the NBA Monday, Jordan Crawford had 21 points, reserve Gerald Wallace added a season-high 17 points and the Boston Celtics beat the Charlotte Bobcats 96-86 for their second straight victory.

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Chicago Bulls star point guard Derrick Rose is out for the rest of the season, after undergoing surgery Monday  to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee, which he suffered during the Bulls’ game Friday against the Portland Trail Blazers. Rose, who was the 2011 NBA Most Valuable Player, had returned this year after missing all of last season when he tore the ACL in his other knee.

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The Los Angeles Lakers signed Kobe Bryant to a two-year contract extension Monday, keeping him with the franchise into his 20th season. The deal comes as the 35-year-old Bryant has yet to play this season while recovering from surgery in April to repair his torn Achilles tendon. ESPN reported that deal is worth $48.5 million, a cut from his current $30.45 million salary, but an amount that still keeps him among the NBA’s highest-paid players. If Bryant fulfills his contract, he’ll break John Stockton’s record of 19 seasons with one NBA franchise, in his case, the Utah Jazz.