Chargers nose tackle Brandon Mebane will miss the rest of the seaso

PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- Nigel Johnson launched the ball to the rafters and Corey Sanders ran around the court with his arms raised over his head in jubilation.It was a celebration that could have been mistaken for a team that just caused a major upset. Instead, it was a teams relief from escaping one.C.J. Gettys rebounded Corey Sanders missed layup and scored with six seconds left to give Rutgers the 77-75 win over Hartford on Friday.Corey was just able to split the gap of defenders and get to the rim and I have everyones back. Thats our team motto. I have your back and you have mine, Gettys said. So I was right there for the follow-up and luckily I was able to muster it in.Deshawn Freeman had a career-high 26 points and 10 rebounds for back-to-back double-doubles to help Rutgers escape an upset.When we came out of a huddle and D (Deshawn Freeman) said `I got it, we were down 10 and I felt pretty good. You dont get that often from players. I love when players, especially a player like him with a double-double tonight, says `Coach, we got it. We got it. They did, coach Steve Piekell said. They wanted to give me a heart attack, but they got it. C.J. (Gettys) was great at the end. He was a facilitator. We got him the ball in the middle of the zone and he made the right reads while D was able to finish a lot of plays. So, good leadership and a good team win.Mike Williams hit a 3-pointer with 2:05 left to cut Hartfords once 13-point second-half lead to 73-71 and bring the RAC crowd to its feet.Johnson stole J.R. Lynchs inbounds pass and scored to tie the game at 73 with 1:42 left. Johnsons layup off a pass from Sanders made it 75-73 with 47 seconds remaining.Hartfords George Blagojevic made a layup assisted by Jason Dunne on the following possession to knot the game at 75 with 24 seconds to play.Jalen Ross had 19 points and Dunne had 18 points to lead Hartford.We prepared. We know how good we can be. We just have to finish the game, Hartford coach John Gallagher said. This will be a great learning experience. Theres two ways to look at it -- you can go the devastation route, or you can say we can build off of this. Im going to choose to build off of it.BIG PICTURERutgers: Has its first 6-0 start since 1975-1976, when the team began 31-0 en route to the programs lone Final Four appearance. However, Rutgers hasnt been tested as the Scarlet Knights have not played a team with a winning record.Hartford: The Hawks backcourt seems to be coming together. Ross, averaging 23.2 points per game heading into the game, including two 30-point outings, Ross continued his hot start to the season, while Dunne followed up his first career double-double with another promising performance. Add in Lynch, and the three-guard set that started the game combined for 48 pointsPIKIELL CONTINUES DOMINANCE OF GALLAGHERPikiell has now won 17 of the last 18 games hes coached against Gallagher. The two used to face off regularly in the American East when Pikiell was the head coach at Stony Brook.NO REST FOR THE WEARYRutgers was coming off a 42-hour turnaround after a 7 p.m. start on Wednesday night and has played four games in the last eight days. Meantime, Hartford was playing its second of three games in a 96-hour span.UP NEXTRutgers: Has its toughest test of the season to remain undefeated at Miami on Wednesday in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.Hartford: Will look for its first road win of the season as its travels to North Texas on Sunday. T. J. Leaf Jersey . "No difference at all," chirped U.S. roommate and linemate James van Riemsdyk. "Its still the same cranky Phil. Jeff Foster Jersey . - Goaltender Philippe Desrosiers of the Rimouski Oceanic has broken a shutout record that was only three months old in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. https://www.cheappacers.com/1343k-myles-turner-jersey-pacers.html . -- Quarterback Will Finch threw for 252 yards and three touchdowns, and Yannick Harou rushed in two scores as the No. Bob Netolicky Jersey . Didier Drogba gave away the penalty that put Senegal one goal away from a major upset, but the veteran striker will get another chance -- probably his last -- at the World Cup after Salomon Kalous injury-time strike sealed the Ivorians place in Brazil next year. Darnell Hillman Jersey . Brad Jacobs and his Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., team took control of the game early. SAN DIEGO -- Chargers nose tackle Brandon Mebane will miss the rest of the season with a torn biceps.Mebane was hurt in Sundays 31-24 home loss to the Miami Dolphins, which dropped San Diego to 4-6.He joins a growing list of Chargers lost for the season, including wide receivers Keenan Allen and Stevie Johnson, running back Danny Woodhead, linebacker Manti Teo and cornerback Jason Verrett.Mebane signed as a free agent in the offseason after spending the previous nine years with Seattle.The Chargers raved about Mebanes leadership qualitiesBrandon is just a guy thats excited about playing football. He plays at a high level every week, defensive lineman Damion Square said Monday. Just to have a guy who comes from that caliber of program to come down here and give us a taste of it, because from the outside looking in you always wondered what it is that made those guys play like that in Seattle and just to get a guy from that group to come down here and give us a taste of that, I think you can see it in our defensive front.ddddddddddddPhilip Rivers threw four interceptions during a 13-minute span in the fourth quarter Sunday, including one that was returned 60 yards by Kiko Alonso for the winning touchdown with 61 seconds left.The Chargers have their bye this weekend.Players had meetings on Monday and then coach Mike McCoy is giving them the rest of the week off.Its a well-deserved break, McCoy said. The players have worked extremely hard and given everything theyve got up until this point. I thought they deserved some time away.The Chargers, who have lost 12 of their last 14 road games, visit Houston on Nov. 27.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '