TUESDAY SPORTS: Seneca girls lose; Gamecocks back in action tonight; USC freshmen honored

In high school basketball Monday, the Seneca girls fell to Westside 61-30. The Lady Cats will begin region play Friday against Walhalla.

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South Carolina returns from an 11-day break due to final exams when it hosts Manhattan at 7:00 PM Tuesday at Colonial Life Arena. The contest begins a stretch of five games over the course of the next nine days, including three contests competing in the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu, Dec. 22-25.

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South Carolina wide receiver Pharoh Cooper and linebacker Skai Moore have been named to the 247Sports.com True Freshman All-America second team. Cooper, a 5-11, 194-pounder from Havelock, NC rushed for 193 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries, caught three passes for 54 yards and a score, threw a TD pass and had more than 350 return yards.

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Kevin Higgins is stepping down as the head coach at The Citadel to accept a position on the staff of new Wake Forest head coach and longtime friend Dave Clawson. Higgins will be the assistant head coach and wide receivers coach for the Demon Deacons.

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The Baltimore Ravens beat the Detroit Lions 18-16 in Monday Night Football, getting the win in Detroit on a franchise-record 61-yard field goal by Justin Tucker with just 38 seconds left in the game. Tucker, in fact, did all of Baltimore’s scoring, kicking in six field goals. Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco was 20 of 38 for 222 yards, while Lions QB Matthew Stafford went 18 of 34 for 235 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions.

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The Atlanta Braves have added a needed veteran to their rotation after agreeing to a $4 million one-year contract with right-hander Gavin Floyd. The Braves also settled with pitcher Brandon Beachy on a new one year contract.

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In the NBA Monday, Kyle Korver sank three 3-pointers in Atlanta’s dominant third quarter, Al Horford scored 19 points and the Hawks beat cold-shooting Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers 114-100.

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Vitali Klitschko is leaving boxing for politics, giving up his WBC world heavyweight title on Monday to pursue a 2015 presidential bid in his native Ukraine, where he is a lawmaker and chairman of the opposition party. The World Boxing Council named the 42-year-old Klitschko a ”Champion Emeritus,” which allows him to challenge the new champion directly if he decides to resume his boxing career. Ukrainians have been protesting for weeks over President Viktor Yanukovych’s decision to turn away from closer ties with the European Union and move toward Russia instead, and Klitschko has taken an active part in the rallies.