A roundup of the sports information of the week
BASKETBALL—NBA: PHILADELPHIA (48-25) charged into first place in the Eastern Division, half a game ahead of the Celtics, with only two weeks left in the season. The 76ers started the week with a loss to the Royals but then took four straight, including back-to-back wins over Boston, 102-85 and 113-110. BOSTON (48-26) had lifted its lead to three games over the 76ers early in the week after beating the Hawks 120-95 and trampling the Knicks 140-104. Then the Celtics lost three in a row and first place for the first time this late in the season in 10 years. CINCINNATI (44-28), 3½ games back in third, relied heavily on Oscar Robertson's 150 points in winning three out of four, while NEW YORK (28-43) lost four and won one. In the West, LOS ANGELES (41-32) clinched at least a tie for first place by beating the Bullets in two out of three games and defeating the Warriors 125-123. Second-place BALTIMORE (34-39), seven games behind, won one and lost three. ST. LOUIS (31-38) climbed into third place—1½ games ahead of the Warriors—after a split with the Celtics and wins over the Pistons and the Knicks, as SAN FRANCISCO (31-42) defeated New York 114-112, then lost three in a row. DETROIT (21-53) won two and lost three.
BOATING—VAMP X, a 39-foot sloop owned and skippered by Robert E. (Ted) Turner III of Atlanta, led the Class A division and took overall honors with a corrected time of 3:04:24 in Miami's Lipton Cup, the third race on the Southern Ocean Racing Conference circuit. In the two other SORC races this season Vamp X won the St. Petersburg-to-Fort Lauderdale test and placed fifth in the Miami-to-Lucaya.
BOWLING—BILL LILLARD of Dallas defeated Ted Hoffman of Philadelphia 215-206 to take the $10,000 first prize in the PBA Miller Open in Milwaukee. The victory was Lillard's first since 1956, when he won the National All-Star title.
BOXING—California Heavyweight JERRY QUARRY fought to a 10-round draw with TONY ALONGI of Paterson, N.J. in Madison Square Garden (page 20). In two eight-round heavyweight bouts on the same card JAMES J. WOODY of New York won a decision over Lee Carr, also of New York, and JOE FRAZIER of Philadelphia, unbeaten in six fights, scored a TKO at 2:58 of the fifth round over Dick Wipperman of Buffalo.
Third-ranked Heavyweight AMOS (Big Train) LINCOLN of Los Angeles won a unanimous 10-round decision over New York's Billy Daniels.
CURLING—NORTH DAKOTA, skipped by Dr. Joseph Zbacnik, a Moorhead, Minn. dentist who curls for nearby Fargo, N.D., won the U.S. Men's Curling Association championship in Hibbing, Minn. by defeating Minnesota 5-3 in the final round. The California rink was second, with Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin (the defending U.S. and world champion rink from Superior) finishing in a three-way tie for third.
GOLF—FRED HAAS JR. of New Orleans, who just turned 50 in January, became the youngest golfer to win the Seniors title when he shot a par 72 in the final round at Palm Beach for a 286 total, defeating Dutch Harrison of Ellisville, Mo. and John Barnum of Grand Rapids, Mich., who tied for second, by two strokes.
HOCKEY—NHL: MONTREAL (33-17-8), with a 2-1-1 week, regained the lead and whisked three points ahead of CHICAGO (32-20-7), loser of two out of three. Bobby Hull tied the season record with his 50th goal in a 4-2 win over the Red Wings, but neither he nor his teammates scored again the rest of the week as the Hawks were shut out two nights in a row. TORONTO (28-20-9) climbed into third place, three points ahead of the Red Wings, by winning three in a row after tying the Canadiens 3-3. Two of the victories were consecutive shutouts (4-0 over the Canadiens and 5-0 over the Black Hawks) by rookie Bruce Gamble, who was called up from the minors at the start of the week to replace three injured Maple Leaf goalies. DETROIT (26-23-10) dropped two more games to run its losing streak to five before tying the Rangers 1-1. NEW YORK (16-33-10), with the tie and two victories over the Bruins, moved six points ahead of last-place BOSTON (15-37-6), which extended its latest losing streak to seven with three losses.
HORSE RACING—William Haggin Perry's BOLDNESIAN ($5.40), one of two 3-year-olds not eligible for the Kentucky Derby in a 12-horse field, won the $141,900 Santa Anita Derby in Arcadia, Calif., as favored Saber Mountain, unbeaten in five previous starts, finished second, two lengths back (page 24). Earlier in the week Ogden Phipps's Derby nominee BUCKPASSER, with Bill Shoemaker up, took the nonbetting $136,400 Flamingo Stakes at Hialeah by a nose.
Davis II ($85), an Argentine 6-year-old, was a surprise winner in the six-furlong Marlin Purse at Hialeah, as Time Tested finished a head behind in second and Country Friend came in third. Mrs. Richard C. duPont's five-time Horse of the Year Kelso, in his first start since September, was fourth.
SKIING—The UNIVERSITY OF DENVER won its sixth consecutive NCAA ski championship and 10th national title in 13 years on firsts in the downhill, cross-country and jumping and a second in the slalom at Crested Butte, Colo. LORIS WERNER of Western State College (which finished second) took individual scoring honors with 361.47 points.
SWIMMING—South Africa's 13-year-old KAREN MUIR cut her own 110-yard world backstroke record, set a few days earlier, by [3/10] of a second when she swam a 1:08 in the South African championships in Durban, South Africa.
At the Big Ten championship in Iowa City, INDIANA took its sixth straight title as its 800-yard freestyle relay team set a new American record with a 7:02.6, clipping 4.4 off Michigan's mark registered last year.
TRACK & FIELD—BOB SEAGREN of Glendale, Calif. became the world's first pole-vaulter to top 17 feet indoors when he vaulted 17 feet¼ inch at the AAU championships in Albuquerque (page 16). Earlier in the two-day meet six other world records were smashed. ART WALKER of the Southern California Striders lengthened his hop-step-and-jump mark to 54 feet 9½ inches, and a CHICAGO girls' team lowered the 1,060-yard medley relay record to 2:08.5. Tennessee State's WYOMIA TYUS clipped [1/10] of a second off the 60-yard dash mark with a 6.5, while her teammate, EDITH McGUIRE, bettered the previous record of 24.8 in the 220-yard dash three times, the last a 24.1. CHARLOTTE COOK, an 18-year-old from Compton, Calif., took the 440 in 54.2, knocking 1.4 seconds off the record set last year by July Amoore of Australia, and Mrs. ZSUZSA SZABO-NAGY of Hungary won the 880 in 2:08.6, shattering the 2:10.2 clocking by Cleveland's Madeline Manning last month. High Schooler BILL GAINES of Mullica Hill, N.J., who tied the world 60-yard dash mark of 5.9 in a qualifying heat, edged Richmond Flowers Jr. of Tennessee in the final. Both were timed in 6.0. Southern University's WILLIE DAVENPORT and THERON LEWIS set meet records in the 60-yard high hurdles (6.9) and 600-yard run (1:09.2) respectively, and JOHN McGRATH of Pasadena broke Gary Gubner's 1964 meet record by 1 foot 1 inch when he put the shot 64 feet 3½ inches.
At the IC4A meet at Madison Square Garden, Villa-nova's DAVE PATRICK broke the meet one-mile record (held by Fred Dwyer since 1953) by 1.4 seconds with a 4:06.7. and Georgetown's RICARDO URBINA ran the 1,000-yard in 2:08.8, chopping [8/10] of a second off the meet mark. TOM FARRELL of St. John's won the 600-yard run in 1:11.4, and Fordham's SAM PERRY took the 60-yard dash in 6.2. MARYLAND won the team title, breaking Villanova's four-year reign, with victories in the broad jump, shotput, high jump and pole vault.
Russia's ANATOLI MARKAROV and GALINA MITROKHINA both set new world indoor records at a meet in Leningrad. Markarov's 13:49.8 in the 5,000-meter cut 6.6 seconds off the old mark held by Alan Simpson of Britain, and Miss Mitrokhina's 100-meter run in 11.6 took [1/10] of a second off Tatiana Schelkanova's record.
MILEPOSTS—NAMED: Former Sportswriter DON RUCK, 37, as public relations director of the National Hockey League.
PROMOTED: FORREST TWOGOOD, 58, Southern Cal's basketball coach for 16 years (14-13 this season), to assistant athletic director at USC. Two-good's career record at Southern Cal was 256-179.
DROPPED: DIZZY DEAN, 55, who has been broadcasting baseball for 25 years, as sportscaster for baseball's Came of the Week. ""I am going to do everything possible to get back on the air," said Dean, a Hall of Fame pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs in the 1930s. "Baseball has been my life for 35 years."
