Emotional Crenshaw emerges victorious at Masters

Cavs finally get last-second win over Jordan; Pacers shut down Hornets; Rangers lose again Taming the treacherous Augusta National greens with a confident putting stroke bolstered by Penick's reassuring words, Crenshaw shot a final-round 68 to finish at 14-under-par 274, one stroke ahead of Davis Love and three ahead of Greg Norman and Jay Haas. As his final putt dropped on the last green, Crenshaw bent over and clasped his head with both hands, overcome with emotion. ''I had a 15th club in the bag today and that was Harvey -- Harvey Penick,'' Crenshaw said. ''I don't know how I got through the week, I really don't know,'' he said. ''It was an emotional week. This place charges me up like nothing.'' It was a slam-bang finish after the day started with 12 players within four strokes of Crenshaw and third-round co-leader Brian Henninger. And it all turned, as always, on the tricky back nine at Augusta. The crunching blow came at No. 16 when, with Love safely in the clubhouse at 13-under, Crenshaw hit a brilliant 6-iron shot that showed great knowledge of the course, hitting well right of the hole on the par-3 and curling down the slope to within 3 feet. He knocked it in for the birdie that put him at 14-under and rode that exceptional sequence to a 12-footer for birdie at No. 17. He played No. 18 safely and made a bogey. ''I really don't think there was any stopping Ben,'' Love said. ''He was driven. He was charged and obviously he is one of the greatest putters ever.'' It was the second Masters title for the 43-year-old Texan, who won in 1984 and also has finished second twice and in the top 10 seven other times, certain proof he is one of the game's best putters. Remarkably, Crenshaw had no three-putt greens in the tournament. Crenshaw, who went to Austin, Texas, on Wednesday for Penick's funeral, saw the famed 90-year-old teacher Sunday, the day Penick died. ''I had one last lesson with Harvey,'' Crenshaw said earlier in the tournament. ''He said, 'Can you please get a putter and show me how you're stroking that ball?' And he said, 'Now, I want you to take two good practice strokes and then trust yourself and don't let that club get past your hands in the stroke.' " Cavaliers 79, Bulls 78 CLEVELAND -- The Cleveland Cavaliers may have found their Jordan-stopper. Bobby Phills hounded Michael Jordan into 9-for-26 shooting yesterday, including an errant 25-footer at the buzzer, as the Cavs held off the Chicago Bulls 79-78. The Cavs narrowly survived a Jordan-led charge that erased most of a 10-point lead in the final three minutes. Jordan finished with 21 points and Scottie Pippen 19 for the Bulls, whose six-game winning streak ended. Mark Price had 20 and Phills and John Williams 19 each for the Cavs, who ended a four-game losing streak. Cleveland led 77-67 and seemed headed for a comfortable victory. Against Jordan, though, the Cavs have learned they can take nothing for granted. He sank a three-pointer with 2:09 left, closing it to 77-72, and after Tyrone Hill made a baby hook for Cleveland, Steve Kerr and Jordan sank consecutive three-pointers to make it a one-point game with 9.8 seconds to play. Jordan, who went sprawling backwards on his three, complained that Price had fouled him -- ''Where's the foul, man?'' he said -- but didn't get the call. The Cavs threw the ball away on the ensuing inbounds play, giving Chicago time for the long three-point attempt that Jordan missed at the buzzer. · Pacers 97, Hornets 68 INDIANAPOLIS -- The Indiana Pacers took a major step toward their first NBA divisional title yesterday beating Charlotte 97-68 as their bench totally outplayed the Hornets' reserves. Indiana's reserves outscored Charlotte's 25-2 in the first three quarters, helping the Pacers build a 69-52 advantage and Indiana cruised home to take a three-game lead over the Hornets for the Central division lead. It was the fewest points allowed by Indiana since it joined the NBA in 1976, falling below the 71 the Pacers yielded to Boston last season. The win combined with Chicago's loss in Cleveland means the Pacers clinched home court advantage in the opening round of the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. It's also the first time that Indiana will open an NBA playoff series at home. Indiana got 39 points overall from its bench with Byron Scott scoring 11 and Sam Mitchell 10. Charlotte got 14 from its bench, but nine of them came in the final three minutes after the Pacers had opened an 88-56 advantage. · Suns 104, Trail Blazers 94 PORTLAND, Ore. -- Charles Barkley had a late breakfast with the media, then scored 24 points, 11 in the decisive third quarter, as the Phoenix Suns held on for a 104-94 victory over Portland yesterday. The Suns finished the season 5-0 against the Trail Blazers, their first series sweep of Portland since 1980. The victory moved Phoenix within a half-game of first-place Seattle in the Pacific Division. The Suns play the Sonics tomorrow night in Tacoma. Barkley was 5 for 5 from the field in the third quarter, when the Suns opened an 18-point lead. Phoenix led by as many as 20 before a late 10-0 run by Portland made it 95-85 with 2:57 to play. But the Blazers never got closer than eight the rest of the way. Clifford Robinson scored 26 for Portland, 18 in the first half. He was 3 for 10 in the second half. Jerome Kersey scored 15 of his 17 in the fourth quarter to become the fourth Trail Blazer to score more than 10,000 points in his career, · Bucks 102, Hawks 99 MILWAUKEE -- Glenn Robinson scored 32 points and had nine rebounds as the Milwaukee Bucks rallied from a 17-point third-quarter deficit for a 102-99 victory over the Atlanta Hawks yesterday. The Bucks trailed 93-87 with 1:59 left before they went on a 7-0 run over the next 33 seconds to take a 94-93 lead on Marty Conlon's basket. Johnny Newman started the spree with a three-pointer, a steal on the inbounds pass and another quick basket. Erick Murdock added a three-pointer with 45.4 seconds left and then made one of two free throws to put the Bucks up 98-95 with 20.8 seconds left. Tyrone Corbin pulled the Hawks within 100-99 with 4.2 seconds left, but Robinson added two free throws with 2.8 seconds for the game's final points. · Celtics 110, Bullets 98 LANDOVER, Md. -- The Boston Celtics, holding on to the last playoff berth in the East, have picked a good time to put together their longest winning steak of the year. Sherman Douglas scored 22 points as the Boston Celtics gained their fifth consecutive victory by handing Washington a 110-98 loss yesterday afternoon, extending the Bullets' losing streak to a season-worst 11 games. Gheorghe Muresan scored a career-high 30 points for Washington, which is three losses shy of tying a franchise record for consecutive losses. Muresan hit 13 of 15 shots from the field. Devils 2, Rangers 0 EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Martin Brodeur made 32 saves in posting his second straight shutout and Bobby Holik scored early in the third period to lead the New Jersey Devils to a 2-0 victory over the struggling New York Rangers yesterday. The win extended the Devils' unbeaten streak to a season-high seven games (5-0-2) and handed the Rangers their second straight loss and 10th in 12 games, a slump that has put their chances of defending the Stanley Cup in jeopardy. New York has only 11 games left and still has to catch eighth-place Hartford and hold off Montreal and Florida. New Jersey, which once again is starting to look like the team that came within a goal of going to the Stanley Cup Finals last season, is now just three points behind first-place Philadelphia in the Atlantic Division. With the shutout, New Jersey set a team record for minutes without giving up a goal. The Devils were last scored upon at 7:51 of the first period by Tampa Bay and have now gone 177 minutes, 9 seconds without giving up a score, including a 2-0 win over Ottawa. The old record of 1:48:22 was set in March, 1994.