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National Sports Headlines: 12/25/15

Sports

December 25th, 2015 by Ric Hanson

WASHINGTON (AP) — A personal familiar with the deal tells The Associated Press that second baseman Daniel Murphy and the Nationals have agreed to a three-year, $37.5 million contract, pending a physical. The 30-year-old Murphy hit .281 with a career-high 14 home runs and 73 RBIs for the New York Mets during the 2015 regular season. He also homered in the Mets’ last six NL playoff games, but he hit just .150 in the World Series and made a pair of critical errors

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Sebastian Janikowski hit a 31-yard field goal with 8:05 left in overtime before the Oakland Raiders stopped the Chargers on downs to complete a 23-20 triumph against San Diego. Derek Carr’s 3-yard touchdown pass to Michael Crabtree and two-yard toss to Seth Roberts on the two-point conversion put the Raiders ahead 20-17 with 4:42 to play in regulation. That was enough time for Philip Rivers to march the Chargers down field and set up Josh Lambo’s 45-yard field goal with 55 seconds left.

UNDATED (AP) — Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson missed practice again on Thursday while nursing a sprained ankle. Coach Mike Zimmer says the Pro Bowl back should be ready to play in Sunday’s game against the New York Giants. The Giants will be without wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., who will be serving a one-game suspension for his altercations with Carolina cornerback Josh Norman last weekend.

NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) — Jamauri Bogan rushed for 215 yards and four touchdowns to power Western Michigan past Middle Tennessee 45-31 in the Bahamas Bowl. It’s the first bowl victory in seven tries for the Broncos, who finished the season 8-5. Richie James had two touchdown catches and one touchdown run for 7-6 Middle Tennessee.

HONOLULU (AP) — San Diego dominated the Hawaii Bowl as the Aztecs scored TDs on a kickoff, an interception and a halfback option en route to a 42-7 rout of Cincinnati. The 11-3 Aztecs went ahead to stay when Rashaad Penny returned the opening kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown. Damontae Kazee’s eighth interception of the season set up Donnell Pumphrey’s 16-yard halfback-option pass to Dakota Gordon for a score, and defensive lineman Alex Barrett returned Hayden Moore’s third interception 43 yards for a TD that put the Aztecs ahead 42-0 with 9:04 to play.