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. Cheap Air Max Nz . Kuznetsov, who was selected by the Capitals in the first round of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, has been playing for his hometown team Chelyabinsk Traktor of the KHL. Discount Air Max Nz . -- Ty Montgomery had 290 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns, and fifth-ranked Stanford held on to beat No. http://www.airmaxnz.com/ ., and Rudi Swiegers of Kipling, Sask., took sixth spot on Saturday in pairs at the NHK Trophy ISU Grand Prix figure skating competition. Air Max Nz . On Tuesday, Ottawa placed forward Cory Conacher and defenceman Joe Corvo on waivers as trade rumours swirl around the Senators. Air Max Clearance Nz .com) - The Montreal Canadiens embark on their first road trip of the season as they head out west to battle the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. WASHINGTON -- When Dusty Baker first played in the minor leagues at age 18, he had only seen curveballs and never a slider.When I went to swing at it, it would like move right at the right time and I thought it was like an anti-bat repellant-type pitch, Baker said.Almost 40 years later, thats what the Washington Nationals manager sees in new closer Mark Melancons cutter. Melancon has continued to use that Mariano Rivera-inspired cutter, his curveball and fastball to near perfection since the Nationals acquired him from the Pittsburgh Pirates at the trade deadline.In his first five appearances for Washington, Melancon retired 15 of the 16 batters he faced, striking out seven and walking none. He has come precisely as advertised and looks to be the consistent solution to the Nationals closer problem.Hes not doing anything different than he was before we got him, Baker said. He doesnt give up a lot of hits. He gives up very few walks.Melancon is Mr. Steady and Dependable, having converted 30 of 33 save opportunities for the Pirates this season and now 2 of 2 for the Nationals. Thats a stark contrast to usurped Washington closer and 2015 trade deadline pickup Jonathan Papelbon, who allowed eight runs on seven hits in his final three outings before the trade and has three blown saves and a 4.37 ERA.In 50 games, Melancon has a 1.35 ERA, and hes spotless so far with the Nationals. He credits the seamless transition to catchers Wilson Ramos and Pedro Severino being on the same page with him.Im just attacking guys and trying to get ahead, Melancon said Wednesday. Its been smooth and great attitudes back there and willingness to learn on both ends of that. I think when you have those things, things usually click pretty well.Melancon knows a thing or two about adjusting to new catchers and new teams. The trade from Pittsburgh to Washington for left-handed reliever Felipe Rivero and pitching prospect Taylor Hearn was the fourth of his career.He was traded from the New York Yankees to Houston at the 2010 deadline, from the Astros to the Red Sox in the winter of 2011 and from Boston to Pittsburghh in the winter of 2012.dddddddddddd As a pending free agent, the 31-year-old righty wasnt shocked he got traded.Pirates general manager Neal Huntington knew he was giving up a stable back-of-the-bullpen piece, saying, While we anticipate he will be very productive for the Nationals over the next two months, the reality is hes staring free agency in the face. Melancon is making $9.65 million and will almost certainly get a substantial raise this offseason.With Papelbons contract up after the season, the Nationals could be among the top suitors for Melancon. But for now, theyre in first place in the NL East and trail only the Chicago Cubs for the best record in baseball, so the 2016 World Series is their focus.Melancons stability is a big piece of the road there for a team with a history of playoff failures, but hes still in the process of tinkering and trying to improve his arsenal. He has a strong rapport with Washington pitching coach Mike Maddux stemming from a 2014 trip to Japan that featured a series of exhibition games, and the two are working on adding a change-up and discussing mental aspects of closing.Hes extremely knowledgeable and fun to listen to, Melancon said. Everybody has a different twist on things, but he brings things to light that you never even knew were out there. Its really cool to learn from him. His experience is as good as anybodys.Melancon, who led the majors with 51 saves last season, has plenty of experience himself and is arguably at his peak as a professional pitcher. Baker has seen plenty of closers in his decades in baseball and comes away impressed.He mixes it up: fastball, cutter, curveball, Baker said. Before he had a super curveball, which was his main pitch, but now you cant sit on any one of those pitches. And hes pretty smart about what hes doing.Melancon learned the smarts from Rivera during his time with the Yankees. Melancon has carried on the tradition of the dominant cutter that Rivera made nearly unhittable. ' ' '