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A roundup of the sports information of the week
BASKETBALL—NBA: Milwaukee beat the San Francisco Warriors 118-107 to clinch a tie for its divisional title with 14 games remaining. Oscar Robertson, the new club assist-record holder paced the Bucks' 12th consecutive win with 26 points, one more than Lew Alcindor. The Midwest leaders then won the title by beating San Diego 139-104. In the Central Division, Atlanta lost to Boston 136-129 but beat Portland 118-107 and Buffalo 134-117 to move into second place, half a game ahead of Cincinnati (page 26). New York led Philadelphia by 4½ games in the Atlantic Division while Los Angeles had an 8½-game lead over San Francisco in the Pacific race.
ABA: Merv Jackson's tie-breaking basket with 36 seconds left led Utah to a 112-109 victory over Indiana and increased its West Division lead over the Pacers to 2½ games. Virginia lost to Pittsburgh 127-116 but defeated Carolina twice, 127-114 and 124-119, to hold a 9½-game East lead over Kentucky.
BOXING—VINCENTE PAUL RONDON of Venezuela scored a technical knockout over Jimmy Dupree of Jersey City in 2:58 of the sixth round at Caracas, Venezuela to capture the WBA light-heavyweight championship. Dupree, ranked No. 1 by the WBA, and Rondon, ranked No. 2, fought for the title declared vacant by the WBA when it penalized Bob Foster for failure to defend against Dupree within six months.
FIGURE SKATING—Three-time European champion BEATRIX SCHUBA of Austria won the women's world championship at Lyons, France. Miss Schuba compiled such a large lead in the compulsory program (89.5 points) that she had virtually clinched the title before competing in the free skating. Runner-up Julie Lynn Holmes of the U.S. finished 65.7 points behind the winner.
GOLF—JACK NICKLAUS won his second PGA Championship, at Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. (page 22), and became the first to win the four major pro tournaments—the U.S. and British Opens, the Masters and the PGA—twice. Nicklaus' seven-under-par 281 beat Billy Casper by two strokes.
HOCKEY—Records tumbled all week. The Boston Bruins, already possessors of many, established two more NHL marks while downing Vancouver 8-3. After coming from behind to tie 2-2, the Bruins scored three quick goals within 20 seconds to erase a 19-year-old record held by Chicago (all three scored by Bill Mosienko). In addition, Ed Westfall's goal made him the eighth member of the Bruins to score 20 or more goals this season. Chicago's Bobby Hull scored three goals for the 27th time in his 14-year career in a 7-5 triumph over L.A., to put him one ahead of Maurice Richard, who had 26 over 18 years.
HORSE RACING—The 5-year-old mare DRUMTOP ($28.80) won the $143,600 Hialeah Turf Cup from a crack field of males, including Fort Marcy, the 1970 Horse of the Year, who unexpectedly set the pace and faltered in the stretch to finish third. The Pruner was second.
Three leading candidates for the Kentucky Derby were defeated. At Hialeah, Bold and Able finished fourth in a 1[1/16]-mile, $10,000 allowance race won by THORN ($220.40). At Santa Anita, Diplomatic Agent was third behind BOLD JOEY ($19.80) and Fast Fellow in the one-mile, $33,950 San Jacinto Stakes. And at Oaklawn Park, in Arkansas, previously undefeated Staunch Avenger was second to BARBIZON STREAK ($7.60) in the six-furlong, $20,000 Southwest Handicap.
SKIING—It was a case of peaking too late: American BARBARA COCHRAN won it all at the World Cup races in Heavenly Valley, Calif.—first the slalom, then the giant slalom—to shut out the tough touring European stars. But there is only one event left in the season, next weekend in Sweden, and Barbara cannot catch the leader, Austria's Anne Marie Proell, who seems to have the championship cinched. In the men's division, Italy's GUSTAV THONI, 20, continued to lead the way, winning the slalom and the giant slalom, and increasing his lead. Only one racer, Frenchman Henri Duvillard, has a mathematical chance of catching him.
SPEED SKATING—Although she bettered her day-old world record in the 500 meters with a 42.75, Anne Henning of Northbrook, Ill. was runner-up to RUTH SCHLEIERMACHER of East Germany in the women's world sprint championship at Inzell, Germany. Miss Henning led by .02 points going into the final race but placed sixth in the 1,000 meters, while Miss Schleiermacher placed second and edged the American 175.73 to 176.61.
TRACK & FIELD—At the AAU championships held in Madison Square Garden and Columbia University's bubble, FRANK SHORTER missed the world indoor record by .8 of a second in the three-mile run. His time: 13:10.6. DICK RAILSBACK won the pole vault with 17'6¼", less than two inches short of the pending record. In the 35-pound weight throw, world-record holder GEORGE FRENN posted the second-best indoor mark of the season with 71'3½", beating runner-up Al Schoterman by almost four feet. Yugoslavia's SNEZANA HREPEVNIK shattered the meet record in the women's high-jump with a 6'½" leap, erasing Debbie Brill's mark by slightly more than an inch. World-record holder WILLIE DAVENPORT continued his monopoly of the AAU 60-yard hurdles, winning his third in a row and fifth in six years with a 7.0 clocking. Davenport either owns or snares seven world marks. Leon Coleman, frequent runner-up to Davenport, was second. JEAN-LOUIS RAVELOMANANTSOA ended Charlie Green's two-year reign in the 60-yard dash, nipping him by a step in 6.1. ABBY HOFFMAN of Canada overtook Cheryl Toussaint on the final lap to win the women's 880-yard run in 2:08.7.
Hildegard Falck of West Germany won the 800 meters in 2:03.3 in the finals of the German indoor championships at Kiel, surpassing the world record of 2:05.3 set by East Germany's Barbara Wieck.
The UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH, with Jerry Richey running a 3:59.7 anchor mile, set an American indoor record of 9:39.7 for the distance medley relay at the University of Delaware Invitational.
MILEPOSTS—NAMED: UPTON BELL, son of Bert Bell, late commissioner of the National Football League, as general manager of the Bay State (formerly Boston) Patriots. Bell, 33, who started as a ticket department assistant and rose to director of player personnel in 10 years with the Baltimore Colts, is the youngest general manager in the NFL's history. He replaces George Sauer, who becomes the club's chief scout in the Southwest.
BARRED: American tennis star ARTHUR ASHE from playing in the South Africa Open, for the third consecutive year, because "he is still persona non grata," according to Frank Waring, Minister of Sport.
RESIGNED: JOHNNY LONGDEN, as a trainer for the Frank McMahon Stables, where Longden worked after stepping down as a jockey five years ago. Longden's son Vance succeeds him.
DIED: GUY JOSEPH (Red) MACKEY, 65, dean of the Big Ten athletic directors; at Lafayette, Ind. During Mackey's 29-year career, Purdue's athletic facilities grew to include a $5.5 million, 14,000-seat basketball arena and a 69,000-seat football stadium—all without state appropriations.
DIED: CHARLES ARNOLD (Chick) GANDIL, 82, the reputed ringleader of the Chicago Black Sox scandal of the 1919 World Series; in a convalescent home at Calistoga, Calif. Gandil died nearly three months ago but his death went unnoticed until last week, because his local obituary merely listed him as being a retired plumber.
