Saints

New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton returned to work Wednesday following a nearly yearlong suspension for his role in the team's bounty program. "We're at a point where it's time for closure. It's time for us as a team, it's time for us as a league, to take this next step forward," Payton said. Goodell lifted Payton's suspension Tuesday, nearly two weeks earlier than expected. Payton said he has not spoken to former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, who remains suspended indefinitely, and "I have no interest in talking to Gregg.

Sean Payton's season-long suspension for his role in the New Orleans Saints' bounty program was lifted by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on Tuesday, nearly two weeks earlier than expected. The decision allows Payton to attend the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., on Saturday, where some of the top college players available for the NFL draft will be competing. Payton, along with assistant head coach Joe Vitt, general manager Mickey Loomis, and four players including Jonathan Vilma, was suspended after an investigation found the club had a performance pool offering cash rewards for key plays, including big hits.

St. Joseph's was better in virtually every statistical category, but the reason the Hawks won their first game in three years over Penn had to do with energy. After arriving home 4 a.m. Friday from a 92-86 overtime loss at VCU, the Hawks summoned enough energy to run by Penn, 79-59, on Saturday in a sold-out Big Five game at the Palestra. "We are older, Penn plays extraordinarily hard but they just are not there experience-wise," St. Joseph's coach Phil Martelli said. "We had to bring energy and couldn't say we left all our energy Thursday night.

Erin Shields, an Archbishop Carroll graduate, scored a career-high 25 points to lead St. Joseph's to an 80-67 Atlantic Ten Conference win over George Washington on Thursday night in Washington. The Hawks (11-5, 2-0 A-10) led by 22 in the second half before the Colonials (6-10, 0-2) rallied to cut their deficit to 10. The Hawks hit 9 of 10 from the foul line in the closing minutes. Drexel 59, Hofstra 53 - The Dragons overcame a 15-point deficit to win the Colonial Athletic Association game against visiting Hofstra.

St. Joseph's basketball coach Phil Martelli and his team arrived back in Philadelphia at 4 a.m. Friday following Thursday's 92-86 overtime loss to Atlantic Ten rival VCU. And with the schedule, there was little time to rest since the Hawks meet Penn in Saturday's 5 p.m. Big Five matchup at the Palestra. The Hawks are 9-6 and 1-2 in the A-10. The two conference losses are to arguably the top two teams, Butler and VCU. And even though both games were close, Martelli isn't out for moral victories.

RICHMOND, Va. - Saint Joseph's head coach Phil Martelli said he did not learn anything new about the pressure VCU defense once he saw them in person here Thursday night before a sellout of 7,693. The No. 22 Rams are impressive both on tape and in person and they forced 20 turnovers and beat Saint Joseph's 92-86 in overtime in an Atlantic 10 Conference game before the 29th consecutive sellout at the Siegel Center.  Despite coming back from a 12-point deficit in the first half against a ranked team, Martelli felt his team let one slip away.  "We were not good enough.

PITTSBURGH - St. Joseph's has had a habit of blowing second-half leads over the last two seasons. Just when it looked as if that was going to happen again Saturday night, the Hawks held on for a 74-66 victory over Duquesne in an Atlantic Ten game at the Palumbo Center. St. Joseph's (9-5, 1-1 A-10) built a 10-point lead, 40-30, in the final minute of the first half, but watched Duquesne tie it at 51-51 on Quevyn Winters' three-point field goal with 9:35 left However, Ronald Roberts answered the three with a traditional three-pointer.

Ja'Quan Newton became the fastest player in Neumann-Goretti history to reach 1,000 career points, doing it Friday night as the host Saints topped West Catholic, 77-51, in Catholic League boys' basketball. The junior guard finished with 11 points to bring his career mark to 1,001. He scored his 1,000th on a pull-up jumper from the elbow. Troy Harper added 15 points and nine rebounds, and Hanif Sutton totaled 13 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 steals. Also in the Catholic League: Stephen Vasturia scored 28 points, and Miles Overton added 26 as St. Joseph's Prep cruised at Cardinal O'Hara, 66-49.

ARLINGTON, Texas - Tony Romo and the Cowboys are in the same situation they would have been if they had been able to complete their comeback against New Orleans. With the New York Giants losing later Sunday, Dallas' 34-31 overtime loss to the Saints didn't hurt its playoff chances. "It is disappointing, but most anything that we were coming up with, we had to win the Washington game next weekend," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said minutes after his team lost. Well, for the third time in five seasons, the Cowboys can get to the playoffs by winning their regular-season finale on the road against an NFC East rival, this time at Washington.

EAGLES (+6 1/2) over Redskins: Got a queasy feeling about the final home game for the Jolly Green Giant. On the one hand, it's a "win one for Andy" feel in the home finale and his last game ever as head Bird. On the other hand, we have five fingers, and five reasons why the Eagles will not win. Nick Foles, the offensive line, the entire defense, special teams, and, if healthy, RGIII. So, as you can see, Double V is conflicted. Are the five reasons enough to put me on Washington, or does the "win one for the moustache" trump everything?