- Publish date:
A roundup of the sports information of the week
BASKETBALL—NBA: BALTIMORE (30-10) held its Eastern lead and won its first game in four against the 76ers 117-112 as Wes Unseld scored 29 and grabbed 24 rebounds. The Bullets won another but lost two. PHILADELPHIA (27-11) lost to the Bullets but won two others, Billy Cunningham getting 27 in a 130-101 smearing of Los Angeles. BOSTON (24-13) got 11 of the first 12 points scored in the fourth quarter and kept moving to a 93-87 win over Phoenix. The Celts won another but lost two. NEW YORK (26-17) broke a club record with its 10th straight win, 111-103 against Detroit. In the previous game, 121-110 against Baltimore, Willis Reed scored 39 and had 22 rebounds. CINCINNATI (23-16) dropped to fifth place, a game behind the Knicks. The Royals split four games, and in a 113-109 win over Milwaukee, Oscar Robertson scored his team's last eight points, on six free throws and a field goal. DETROIT (14-24) took one game in three, a 127-107 win over Los Angeles, in which Dave Bing scored 30. Last-place MILWAUKEE (11-31) lost three straight, then beat Phoenix, veterans Len Chappell and Jon McGlocklin getting 33 and 28 points, respectively. In the Western Division LOS ANGELES (29-13) rolled along in first, winning three out of five. Jerry West scored 40, seven in overtime, to beat San Diego 131-126. Before losing to the Lakers ATLANTA (24-16) set a club record by beating Detroit for its 12th straight win. Nate Thurmond starred in two SAN FRANCISCO (18-23) victories. He had 24 points and 23 rebounds in a win at Cincinnati, and his three-point play with 52 seconds left beat Boston 104-102. Bob Boozer of CHICAGO (18-24) scored 33 as the Bulls beat Phoenix for their fifth victory in six games. Elvin Hayes got 29 points and 19 rebounds in the one win in three games for SAN DIEGO (17-23). SEATTLE (14-29) took one out of three. Len Wilkens sinking two free throws with five seconds left to beat the Suns 120-118. Last-place PHOENIX (8-33) guarded its reputation, losing four straight.
ABA: MINNESOTA (20-12) lost three straight but remained comfortably in first place. INDIANA (17-19) won four straight and is now five games out of the Eastern lead, 3½ better than last week. Fred Lewis sank two free throws with 20 seconds left to beat the leaders 103-102; it was the 11th win in 14 games for the Pacers. Third-place KENTUCKY (16-18) took three out of five and was only one percentage point back. Two percentage points behind the Colonels, in fourth place, was MIAMI (15-17). The Floridians won three games, and Willie Murrell's foul shot was the margin for the team's sixth straight victory, 92-91, over Los Angeles. NEW YORK (10-21) lost both its games and stayed last in the East. OAKLAND (29-4) maintained its Western lead, winning its 13th and 14th in a row, both without injured Rick Barry. Second-place DENVER (21-11) won three straight, rookie Walt Piatkowski getting a career high of 28 points, 16 in the fourth quarter of a 102-92 victory over the Chaparrals. Third place DALLAS (13-15) lost four straight. NEW ORLEANS (15-19) lost three out of four, squeaking by the Stars 112-111 in overtime on Reserve Guard Mike Butler's two foul shots with seconds left. Substitute Guard Jim Jarvis of LOS ANGELES (13-19) scored five straight points in the last 19 seconds of a 97-95 win over Dallas, but the Stars lost four out of five other games. Willie Somerset of last-place HOUSTON (8-22) had 66 points in victories over the Stars and the Chaparrals.
BOATING—The UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA won four out of five races on the final day to take its third Sugar Bowl Regatta in the last four years.
FOOTBALL—PRO: Behind 13-0 at the end of the first period, DALLAS got TD passes from Don Meredith and Craig Morton to beat Minnesota 17-13 in the ninth annual Playoff Bowl.
COLLEGE: OHIO STATE locked up the national collegiate championship by downing second-ranked Southern California in the Rose Bowl 27-16 (page 16). Third-ranked PENN STATE scored a last-ditch TD and a two-point conversion to beat sixth-ranked Kansas 15-14 in an Orange Bowl thriller (page 20). Chuck Hixson, the nation's top passer, threw two last-quarter TDs to lead SOUTHERN METHODIST to a 28-27 win over Oklahoma in the Bluebonnet Bowl. Fifth-ranked TEXAS easily beat Tennessee 36-13 in the Cotton Bowl. Jim Street's 78- and 79-yard TD passes to Cotton Speyrer, 279 yards of rushing to Tennessee's 83 and tough defensive play were too much for the Volunteers. Underdog ARKANSAS surprised Georgia with a 16-2 Sugar Bowl win. Razorback Flanker Chuck Dicus caught 12 passes, and Bob White kicked three field goals and a conversion to account for 10 Arkansas points. Another underdog, LOUISIANA STATE, capitalized on a last-minute drive led by unheralded Mike Hillman, and just beat Florida State 31-27 in the first Peach Bowl. Maurice LeBlanc plunged over from the three-yard line with less than three minutes to play for the winning score. Oregon State Fullback Bill Enyart was master of the mud as he slogged out two TDs to lead the NORTH to a 13-7 victory over the South in the Hula Bowl, although an 88-yard kickoff return by the South's O.J. Simpson set a Hula Bowl record. On another soggy field, some 4,500 miles east in Tampa, Bobby Douglass of Kansas threw for a TD and ran for another as his NORTH team beat the South 21-15 in the American Bowl.
HOCKEY—NHL: BOSTON (20-8-8) needed only two ties and a win to take a one-point East lead. The Bruins beat New York 4-2 on a goal, an assist and great defensive play by Bobby Orr. MONTREAL (20-10-7) beat Pittsburgh 4-3, but three losses dropped the perennial league leaders to second. CHICAGO (21-13-3) moved from fifth to third, winning three out of four on two-goal performances by Dennis Hull, Pit Martin, Bill Orban and Bobby Hull. Norm Ullman of TORONTO (19-10-6) had two goals in a 7-3 win over Oakland, and a hat trick in a 5-3 victory over the Rangers. Two late goals by Donnie Marshall gave NEW YORK (19-16-3) a comeback 3-1 win over Montreal, but two losses dropped them one place to fifth. Frank Mahovlich's hat trick and Gordie Howe's goal and three assists gave last-place DETROIT (15-16-6) its only win against two losses and a tie. ST. LOUIS (17-10-10), atop the West, played king of the mountain with the second-place Seals and beat them for the fourth straight time this season. The Blues won another and tied. OAKLAND (13-21-5) lost two but beat Philadelphia 2-1 with a 55-foot third-period goal by Carol Vadnais. LOS ANGELES (12-16-5) was winless in two games. PHILADELPHIA (9-19-9) lost once and tied twice. Fifth-place MINNESOTA (9-21-7) lost, then held a 2-2 tie with Boston, ironically on the night the Bruins took the East lead. Sixth-place PITTSBURGH (8-22-7) tied and lost, but helped Boston by downing Montreal 5-2.
MOTOR SPORTS—CHRIS AMON won his second straight New Zealand Grand Prix in a record 57 minutes, 55.4 seconds.
TRACK & FIELD—Olympic champion WILLIE DAVENPORT ran the 60-yard high hurdles in 7.2 seconds at the San Francisco Examiner's All-American Games, equaling a meet record.
MILEPOSTS—ELECTED: MAX BAER, one of the early swingers, who won the heavyweight boxing championship in his first try—and lost it in his first defense—to the Boxing Hall of Fame, in a poll conducted by Ring magazine. Baer died in 1959 at the age of 50.
REHIRED: GEORGE ALLEN, as head coach of the Los Angeles Rams. He was fired last month after a three-year record of 29-10-3.
DIED: FRED (BUZZ) BORRIES, 57, All-America halfback in his third season with Navy, 1934, and a member of college football's Hall of Fame, of a heart attack in Orange Park, Fla.
