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A roundup of the sports information of the week
BASKETBALL—NBA: Eastern teams beat Western teams in nine of 14 games. CINCINNATI (8-2) retained its division lead by beating Chicago 110-104 on a 38-point third-quarter spurt. BALTIMORE (10-3) tied a club record with its sixth straight win, 109-107, over San Diego thanks to a last-second jump shot by Kevin Loughery. BOSTON (7-3) beat Milwaukee 98-97 on a Sam Jones jumper with 34 seconds left. DETROIT'S (6-4) Dave Bing had 71 points in two games and sank seven straight baskets and two free throws in a 122-118 win over San Francisco. PHILADELPHIA (4-4) won its only game, while NEW YORK (5-9) beat Seattle and then lost three straight. Milwaukee (2-8) didn't win a game. LOS ANGELES (8-4) was the only Western team over .500, beating winless Phoenix (4-5) 127-109 on Elgin Baylor's 40 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists. ATLANTA'S (6-6) Lou Hudson scored 26 in the second half, 39 altogether, in a 113-106 win at San Francisco. SAN DIEGO (5-5) split four games, as did SAN FRANCISCO (5-7), which squeaked by the Knicks 94-93 on a Jeff Mullins jump shot with three seconds to go. CHICAGO (5-9) handed SEATTLE (4-10) its seventh loss in 10 games. The Sonics managed a 114-112 win at Boston on Bob Rule's 37 points, 18 in the last period.
ABA: OAKLAND (7-1) led the Western Division and set a league scoring record with 153 points in a win over Indiana. MINNESOTA (4-1) beat Indiana 121-120, Connie Hawkins scored 42 and the Pipers retained their Eastern lead. KENTUCKY'S (5-4) red-hot Darel Carrier scored 48 points in his team's only win, 131-112 over Minnesota. NEW YORK (4-3) won two and moved into second place while MIAMI (3-3), which beat New Orleans 123-109 in the first regular-season ABA game ever played in Florida, slipped into fourth. INDIANA (2-7) won its second game, 112-107, at Los Angeles. NEW ORLEANS (4-3) rose to second in the West with spectacular 75% floor shooting in a 132-91 victory over win-less HOUSTON (2-3). LOS ANGELES' (2-3) Steve Chubin scored 27 as the Stars beat Dallas 123-117 for their only win. DENVER (2-4) won two games and rose out of the West's cellar, beating the Pacers 109-107 in overtime. DALLAS (1-4) beat the Mavericks 128-96 for its first victory of the season.
BOXING—Argentina's OSCAR BONAVENA, prep-ping for a Dec. 10 heavyweight title bout with five-state champion Joe Frazier in Philadelphia, scored a first-round knockout over Jimmy Fletcher.
FOOTBALL—NFL: BALTIMORE (8-1) held on to its share of the Coastal Division lead by burying Detroit (3-5-1), with a varied offense 27-10. Preston Pearson's eye-popping 102-yard kickoff return in the first quarter was the longest in the NFL this season. Terry Cole added a touchdown and Lou Michaels kicked two field goals. LOS ANGELES (8-1) stayed even with the Colts by edging Atlanta (1-8) 17-10. Ram Quarterback Roman Gabriel threw a 10-yard scoring pass to Jack Snow to break a 10-10 tie, after an intercepted pass and a fumble led to a Ram TD and field goal. CHICAGO (5-4) remained in a tie for first place in the Central Division with its fourth straight win, 27-19 over San Francisco (4-5), but there was little celebrating. Gale Sayers, the league's top rusher, injured his knee and won't play again this season. MINNESOTA (5-4) stayed abreast of Chicago with a 14-10 win over dying Green Bay (3-5-1). Defensive End Carl Eller blocked a 25-yard field goal attempt and Bill Brown clinched it with the winning touchdown. It was the first time since 1964 that any team has beaten Green Bay twice in one season. NEW YORK (6-3) climbed to within one game of Capitol Division leader Dallas (7-2) by beating the Cowboys 27-21. Fran Tarkenton threw two scoring passes, Pete Gogolak added two field goals and Spider Lockhart intercepted a pass with two minutes to play, icing the game. CLEVELAND (6-3) took over sole leadership of the Century Division with a 35-17 win over New Orleans (3-6) (page 28). Bill Nelsen passed for four touchdowns and Leroy Kelly scored three, rushing for more than 100 yards for the sixth time this year and the 16th time in his NFL career. ST. LOUIS (5-3-1) lost its share of the division lead by tying Pittsburgh (2-6-1) 28-28. The Cards nearly lost the game, but with less than a minute to play Johnny Roland scored from the one and Jim Bakken added a point. WASHINGTON (4-5) handed Philadelphia (0-9) its ninth straight loss, equaling an Eagle record set in 1940. Charlie Gogolak kicked three field goals.
AFL: KANSAS CITY (8-2) held a half-game lead in the Western Division after a seesaw 16-9 win at Cincinnati (2-8). On the verge of losing, the Chiefs rallied for 10 points in the final quarter with Robert Holmes scoring on a 27-yard dash to put the game away. SAN DIEGO (7-2) held on a half-game back, with a 27-17 win at Boston (3-6). Russ Smith ran for two touchdowns, John Hadl threw his 18th scoring pass of the season and Dennis Partee kicked a pair of field goals. Patriot Gino Cappelletti became the first AFL player to score 1,000 points. OAKLAND (7-2) stayed tied with the Chargers thanks to a 43-7 demolition of Denver (4-5). Elderly George Blanda, 41, passed for four touchdowns and kicked two field goals. His 94-yard pass play to Warren Wells was a Raider record. NEW YORK (7-2) got four field goals from Jim Turner in a 26-7 win over Houston (4-6), which virtually clinched the AFL Eastern title. Joe Namath didn't throw a touchdown pass for a sixth straight game, but he did set up two touchdowns and two field goals. MIAMI (3-5-1) moved into third with a 21-17 win at Buffalo (1-8-1). The Dolphins scored three times in the second half: on a pass, a run and a pair of passes that set up a TD, all by Quarterback Bob Griese.
GOLF—With birdies on the 15th and 18th holes, LEE TREVINO won the $25,000 top prize in the Hawaiian Open at Honolulu by two strokes over George Archer (page 26).
HARNESS RACING—NEVELE PRIDE, trotting's Triple Crown winner, was retired for the remainder of the season because of a chipped bone in his left front leg, suffered in winning his 21st of 24 races this year, at Roosevelt Raceway.
HOCKEY—NHL: MONTREAL'S (9-2-1) Bobby Rousseau scored three goals and had two assists in a 5-4 win over Pittsburgh, and the Canadiens held a three-point lead in the East Division. NEW YORK's (8-4) 2-1 win over Minnesota was its seventh straight over expansion teams. BOSTON (8-4) rose to tie the Rangers for second, partly because of a second-period, four-goal explosion in a 5-3 victory over winless CHICAGO (6-5). TORONTO (5-4-1) beat Minnesota 1-0, spoiling Coach John Muckler's debut. DETROIT'S (5-5-1) 6-5 win over the Black Hawks came on the season's first goal for Bruce MacGregor. ST. LOUIS (6-6-1) moved into a two-point lead in the West Division, but Blues fans talked only of Forward Red Berenson. His six goals in an 8-0 win over the Flyers tied the record set by Detroit's Syd Howe in 1944. LOS ANGELES (5-5-1) held second place, and rookie Goalie Gerry Desjardins notched his first NHL shutout, 2-0 over the Rangers. PHILADELPHIA (4-7-2) Goalie Doug Favell also had a shutout, his first of the season, and the Flyers held third place. MINNESOTA'S (4-8-1) Danny Grant came through with a hat trick to beat the Red Wings 6-4. It was his team's first win in eight tries with Eastern teams this season. OAKLAND (3-7-2) was winless. PITTSBURGH (2-8-2) beat the Seals 3-1, but lost three others and stayed in the West's cellar.
HORSE RACING—GALLANT BLOOM ($5.80) took the lead at the three-quarter pole and held on to win the $183,570 Gardenia Stakes at Garden State Park by 1¼ lengths over Shuvee.
TENNIS—ROY EMERSON beat Rod Laver 9-7, 6-4, 6-4 to win the men's singles in the first South American Open tournament at Buenos Aires.
The U.S. Davis Cup team beat India 4-1 in San Juan, P.R., to qualify for the Challenge Round in Adelaide on Dec. 26-28 (page 90).
MILEPOSTS—HONORED: DENNY McLAIN, Detroit's 31-game winner, unanimous choice for Most Valuable Player award, becoming the first American League pitcher to win both the MVP and the Cy Young awards.
DIED: Vern (Junior) Stephens, 48, a 15-year major league veteran with a .333 average in six All Star games, of a heart attack in Long Beach, Calif. Stephens played for four major league clubs, had his best years as a shortstop with the Red Sox.
DIED: Willis O. Hunter, 76, athletic director at USC from 1925 to 1957, at Altadena, Calif. Hunter was appointed AD after being backfield coach, and during his tenure Howard Jones produced the famed "Thundering Herd" Trojan football teams.
