ith 25.3 second remaining put the Pacers within seven to trail 71-64 at the half.3-POINT SHOOTOUTPortland finished with 16 3-pointers -- just one shy of tyi

BLAINE, Minn. Detlef Schrempf Jersey . -- One good putt saved the day for Tom Pernice Jr. Pernice moved into position Saturday for his second Champions Tour title, shooting a 7-under 65 to take a two-stroke lead over Tom Kite in the 3M Championship. He had a 13-under 131 total at the TPC Twin Cities after opening with a 66. The two-time PGA Tour winner had four straight birdies on the front nine, and added two more on Nos. 10 and 12. However, his approach shot on the par-4 14th buried in the bank of a hazard in front of the green. After a drop in the fairway, his next shot landed about 40 feet short of the hole. Likely facing a double bogey at best, Pernice instead curled in the long putt. "Youre not really thinking about making it. I just hit a good putt and it rolled right in perfectly," he said. With the momentum, he then birdied Nos. 15 and 18. Playing in the tournament for the first time, the 53-year-old Pernice will likely need to shoot a similar score Sunday to win his first tour event since the 2009 SAS Championship. He has been close this year, with two second-place finishes and three thirds in his 14 previous starts. "I really feel like my ball striking has come around," said Pernice, who worked on "a couple of things" with his instructor, E.J. Pfister, before last weeks Senior British Open. "My puttings been pretty good all year, so Im looking forward to the opportunity Ive got myself tomorrow. ... Its going to take another good score, thats for sure." The 63-year-old Kite, trying to become the oldest winner in the history of the 50-and-over tour, also shot 65 -- his lowest score at the course in five years. He birdied No. 2 and finished his front nine by going eagle-birdie-birdie to get to 9 under, and birdied Nos. 11 and 18, missing a 25-foot eagle putt on the finishing hole by less than a foot. "I got off to a great start yesterday -- I was 5-under par through seven and then I kind of sat on it the rest of the round and made a couple bogeys," he said. "Today, was just the opposite of that. I got off to kind of a slow start. I birdied No. 2, but had birdie putts on Nos. 1 and 3 and 4 and 5 and 6. ... They moved the tees up on No. 7 making that a drivable par 4. I hit driver to the front edge of the green and made about a 25-footer for eagle and that kind of jump-started my round today." Kite, who won the event in 2004, is winless on tour since the 2008 Boeing Classic -- 114 starts ago. "Im looking forward to being nervous tomorrow," he said. "Im anxious for that. It means youre doing something." Kite has battled swing issues all year, resulting in just four top-16 finishes in 15 events. However, he tied for 14th in the Senior British Open. "I played terrific over there last week, but I did not putt particularly well," he said. "Last week was very encouraging." Jay Don Blake, Rod Spittle and Corey Pavin were three strokes back at 10 under. Blake and Rod Spittle shot 66, and Pavin had a 69. "The scoreboard is bleeding out there, you see a lot of red," Kite said. Fifty-nine of the 81 players are under par. First-round leader Mark Wiebe, the Senior British Open winner Monday in a playoff, followed his opening 64 with a 71 to fall into a tie for sixth at 9 under. Kirk Triplett, who shot the days low round of 64, also was 9 under along with John Riegger (69) and Bart Bryant (69). Kenny Perry, coming off consecutive major victories in the Senior Players Championship and U.S. Senior Open, had a 71 to join Gene Sauers (66), Colin Montgomerie (69) and Jeff Brehaut (70) at 8 under. Derrick McKey Jersey . Varlamov made 33 saves and Ryan OReilly had a goal and scored in the shootout as the Avalanche beat the New Jersey Devils 2-1 on Thursday night. Brent Barry Jersey .H. -- Matt Kenseth made it 2 for 2 in the Chase, holding off teammate Kyle Busch to win Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. https://www.supersonicsjerseys.com/ . Cote was eligible to become a free agent Feb. 15. Cote helped running back Jon Cornish run for a league-high 1,813 rushing yards en route to being named the leagues most outstanding player. INDIANAPOLIS -- Paul George did what the three-time All-Star does best.He scored a season-high 37 points, including 13 straight in the fourth quarter, to lead the Indiana Pacers over the Portland Trail Blazers 118-111 on Saturday night.Thats the Paul George we are accustomed to, forward Myles Turner said. It was good to see him find that groove.George missed the game at Portland on Nov. 30 when the Pacers lost 131-109, and because of injuries and a five-game trip out West, he hadnt even played at home in more than two weeks.George made up for lost time, putting on a show with five 3-pointers and the fourth-quarter rally in his first game back at Bankers Life Fieldhouse since Nov. 23. Thaddeus Young hit a career-high six 3s while getting 24 points and nine rebounds, and Turner added 14 points for the Pacers, who had lost five straight regular season games to Portland.I thought Thaddeus was the biggest player of us all tonight, George said. I was the one who was there late in the game, but he was the one who kept us in the game.C.J. McCollum made a career-high seven 3-pointers and had a season-best 34 points for the Trail Blazers. Damian Lillard had 33 points behind five 3s.George scored 13 straight points in the fourth quarter for Indiana. He was fouled on the go-ahead basket with 4:36 remaining and completed the three-point play to give the Pacers a 108-105 lead.Indiana didnt even take its first lead until Al Jefferson was fouled on a basket and made the bonus free throw to put the Pacers ahead for the first time 99-98 with 8:34 left in the fourth quarter. Then McCollum scored seven straight points to give the Trail Blazers the lead again before George took over.The Pacers trailed by 20 points after Portland didnt waste much tiime taking a lead right from the start. Sam Perkins Jersey. Lillard, who scored 28 points in Portlands win over Indiana on Nov. 30, had a big first quarter with 19 points and five 3-pointers.Its the same thing, Lillard said. We start off the game well and we build a lead, but we know the other team is going to make a run. Were just not getting it done.He made back-to-back 3s to put the Trail Blazers ahead 26-11 with 5:59 remaining in the first, and McCollums 3-pointer with 8:09 left in the second quarter gave the Trail Blazers a 58-38 lead.George made back-to-back 3-pointers with under a minute to go in the first half. His 3 with 25.3 second remaining put the Pacers within seven to trail 71-64 at the half.3-POINT SHOOTOUTPortland finished with 16 3-pointers -- just one shy of tying their season best. It became a 3-point shootout during different stretches throughout the game. McCollum made one in the third quarter to put Portland ahead 82-73, but George answered with a 3 before McCollum made another. Young scored three 3s during a stretch in the third to cut the deficit to six.TIP-INSTrail Blazers: Their 44 points in the first quarter were the most Portland has scored in a quarter this season and the 13 points in the fourth was the fewest scored in a quarter. ... Lillard had nine assists. ... Mason Plumlee had eight points and nine rebounds.Pacers: Jefferson finished with 10 points off the bench. ... Monta Ellis had 10 points and five assists.UP NEXTTrail Blazers: Monday they travel to Los Angeles to play the Clippers.Pacers: Monday they host Charlotte and try to snap a four-game losing streak to the Hornets. ' ' '