
A roundup of the sports information of the week
BASKETBALL—NBA: BALTIMORE (51-21) lost three of four, and PHILADELPHIA (50-24) won three of five, so the 76ers moved to within two games of the first-place Bullets. Chet Walker scored a career high of 37 in one win, and Hal Greer became the sixth highest scorer in NBA history in another. NEW YORK (49-25), with two wins and a loss, is now only a game out of second and 6½ ahead of fourth-place BOSTON (42-31), which matched Baltimore's record for the week. The Knicks set a club record for wins in one season (48) when they edged Detroit 102-99. CINCINNATI (37-37), with Oscar Robertson joining Wilt Chamberlain and Elgin Baylor as the only active NBA players to score 20,000 points, won three and lost one, and DETROIT (29-45) was two and two. MILWAUKEE (23-50) dropped all four and is also due to lose Wayne Embry—a veteran of 823 season games—who will re-retire at the end of the season. LOS ANGELES (48-25) won two, lost one, as Chamberlain pulled down a team record 42 rebounds against the Celtics in a 105-99 overtime win. ATLANTA (44-29) gained half a game on the leaders, doing two for two. SAN FRANCISCO (37-38) won three of four but stayed in third; SAN DIEGO (30-41) split two to barely hang onto fourth, and CHICAGO (31-43) bid for a playoff berth with three wins and two defeats. SEATTLE (28-46), with a 2-1 week, and PHOENIX (15-59) brought up the rear, the Suns being rearmost with three losses. "We've got to win more games next year," sighed Dick Van Arsdale.
ABA: KENTUCKY (34-29) moved into a first-place tie with MIAMI when the Floridians won one out of three and the Colonels four of five, Louie Dampier and Darel Carrier combining for 68 points—including eight three-point baskets—in a 127-118 defeat of the Mavericks. INDIANA (36-32) rose to third, while MINNESOTA (33-30) fell to fourth—a season low. NEW YORK (17-47) broke another losing streak, this one at 10, against Los Angeles 120-110 but is losing Coach and General Manager Max Zaslofsky at season's end. Said Max: "It has been very frustrating...." In the West, OAKLAND (50-12) won all three games to remain in first. DENVER (39-26) won four, and Larry Jones set a record when he scored 30 points or more in 17 straight games. NEW ORLEANS (33-32) barely staved over .500; DALLAS (30-33) slipped further below aid LOS ANGELES (26-37) further still. HOUSTON (19-44) lost all five.
BOXING—LIONEL ROSE of Australia retained his world bantamweight title, defeating Alan Rudkin of Great Britain, in Melbourne. Rose reinjured his right hand halfway through the fight but hung on to win a split decision. Said Rose: "It gave me a lot of trouble when I fought Harada, too. I couldn't shake hands for two weeks and I'd just become champion."
CURLING—Bud Somerville's SUPERIOR (WIS.) rink successfully defended its U.S. men's title at Grand Forks. N. Dak., defeating Alaska 9-3 in the finals.
GOLF—KEN STILL. 34, of Tacoma, Wash, won the $115,000 Citrus Open at Orlando, Fla. by one stroke over Miller Barber with a 72-hole total of 278.
GYMNASTICS—LINDA METHENY of the University of Illinois took first in floor exercise and balance beam and was named all-round champion at the first women's intercollegiate championships in Springfield. Mass.
HOCKEY—NHL: Division-leading MONTREAL (40-17-9) gained no ground with a win. a loss and a tie. Yvan Cournoyer sparkled, getting a hat trick in the 5-3 defeat of the Maple Leafs, but Gilles Tremblay flagged and was sent to Arizona to recuperate from bronchitis. BOSTON (37-14-13) was also 1-1-1, as Phil Esposito got his 39th and 40th goals, increasing his league scoring record to 101 points. NEW YORK (35-24-7) won three, tied one and rose to third, displacing DETROIT (33-25-10), which was 2-1-1. In the Wings' 4-2 win over Montreal. Frank Mahovlich scored his 41st and 42nd goals. TORONTO (29-22-14), with two wins, a loss and a tie, held fifth over CHICAGO (30-29-7), which was 1-1-1 despite Bobby Hull's 49th and 50th goals: Hull has now scored 50 or more goals in a season for the fourth time. In the West? ST. LOUIS (34-21-12) lost two and won one but clinched the division championship when second-place OAKLAND (24-32-10) could only manage a tie against two defeats. LOS ANGELES (21-35-9) had two losses and a tie, and PHILADELPHIA (14-33-19) won one and tied two and is now only four points out of third. The Flyers traded Forbes Kennedy. who was recently suspended for insubordination, to the Maple Leafs. To date, Kennedy's main distinction is that he leads the league with 199 penalty minutes, an NHL record for forwards. MINNESOTA (17-37-10) split two, and PITTSBURGH (15-40-10) had a win and two defeats.
HORSE RACING—TOP KNIGHT ($4.80), ridden by Manuel Ycaza, won the $146,400 Flamingo Stakes by two lengths over Arts and Letters at Hialeah (page 52).
Nodouble ($10.60), a 4-year-old chestnut colt with Eddie Belmonte up, won the $145,000 Santa Anita Handicap by 1½ lengths over Gamely.
MOTOR SPORTS—DAVID PEARSON of Spartanburg, S.C. won the $82,500 Carolina 500 at Rockingham. N.C. in a Ford. Bobby Allison was second in a Dodge.
SKIING—The home snow advantage was of no avail to the U.S. skiers at Vail, Colo. as Austria won the American International Team Races with France second and the U.S. third (page 58).
SQUASH RACQUETS—MOHIBULLAH KHAN, representing Boston's Harvard Club, won his fifth consecutive national professional championship in Hartford. Conn., beating his cousin, Sharif Khan, 15-8, 15-10, 18-15.
In the US. women's amateur singles JOYCE DAVENPORT of Ardmore, Pa. won her second title 17-15, 15-8, 16-14, defeating Mrs. Terry Thesieres of Bala-Cynwyd, Pa., in Boston.
Harvard couldn't lose in the national intercollegiates. ANIL NAYAR. a Harvard senior from Bombay, beating Larry Terrell, a Harvard senior from Haverford, Pa., 18-16, 15-6, 17-7 at Yale.
TRACK & FIELD—VILLANOVA, led by FRANK MURPHY, LARRY JAMES, MARTY LIQUORI and ERV HALL, won its 10th IC4A title in 13 years at Madison Square Garden, scoring 46 points to runner-up Maryland's 32½. Murphy, an Irish Olympian, won the fastest 1,000 ever run in the East (2:07.1), but even more remarkable, ran it over the Garden's track, which has been notoriously slow. James's performance was equally phenomenal. Running against the clock, the Mighty Burner won the 600 in 1:09.2. the fastest ever on an 11-lap track and only .2 off Martin McGrady's world indoor record, which was set on Louisville's superb eight-lap track. Liquori won the mile in a meet record 4:05.3. and Hall won the 60-yard highs and was second in the 60-yard dash. At the European Indoor Championships at Belgrade. DIETER FROMM and BARBARA WIECK of East Germany set new world indoor records in the men's and women's 800-meter run—1:46.6 and 2:05.3, respectively. COLETTE BESSON of France, the Olympic champion, tied the women's 400-meter mark with a 54.0.
MILEPOSTS—RESIGNED: BOB WARD, 41, as head football coach at the University of Maryland, after two years and two wins, when his players revolted against his "inhuman and brutal coaching methods," which, they alleged, included constant ridicule, threats of the loss of athletic scholarships and such abuse as the punching of players.
DIED: FRED B. ALEXANDER, 88 former Davis Cup player and co-holder of the national doubles title from 1907 to 1910 and in 1917, in Los Angeles.