A roundup of the week March 17-23

COLLEGE BASKETBALL—PRINCETON became the first Ivy League team to win the National Invitation Tournament, defeating Providence 80-69 at Madison Square Garden.

Delta State ended Immaculata's three-year reign as AIAW champion by defeating the Mighty Macs 90-81 at Harrisonburg, Va. (page 67).

Western Texas won the National Junior College championship by defeating Southern Idaho 65-57, at Hutchinson, Kans.

PRO BASKETBALL—NBA: In a re-run that has been playing for four straight years, the Boston Celtics again took the Atlantic Division championship. The clincher was a 90-81 defeat of the New York Knicks before a sellout crowd at Madison Square Garden. The Celtics also won three earlier contests against Houston, Detroit and Buffalo. The best the Braves could come up with during the week was a 117-112 victory over Houston, which had beaten them four nights earlier. The Knicks defeated Los Angeles and Phoenix back to back before running into Boston. Cleveland, in a race with New York for a wild-card playoff spot, won three (New Orleans, Washington, Chicago), then lost to the Bullets 100-97. Washington, which had already locked up the Central Division, took two other games as well. Chicago continued to lead the Midwest with two wins and two losses. Golden State, longtime leader in the Pacific, was 3-1, Seattle 2-1 and Portland 4-1.

ABA: The Denver Nuggets, who clinched the Western Division last week, continued impressively with victories over Kentucky, Virginia and Indiana. Denver had won 10 of its last 11 games, upping its home record to 36-2. In the East, the New York Nets put some distance (five games) between them and second-place Kentucky by winning four games, against Utah, Indiana (twice) and the Colonels. With that spurt the Nets just about locked up first place. The Colonels did not help their cause any by dropping all three of their games. The highlight of St. Louis' sole win was rookie Marvin Barnes hitting a career-high 54 points in an overtime defeat of Memphis. The Sounds won their other two games, while Virginia dropped three and won one. San Antonio came out on top in both its contests, as Utah dropped two but defeated Kentucky 100-92. Like the Colonels, San Diego went winless. Indiana had a 2-3 record.

BOWLING—DON HELLING of St. Louis defeated Jay Robinson 237-213 to win the PBA's Monroe Max-Air Open and $10,000 in New Orleans.

CROSS-COUNTRY—At the international championships in Rabat, Morocco, the UNITED STATES won team titles in the juniors' and women's divisions, while NEW ZEALAND took the team title in the senior division. IAN STEWART of Scotland captured the 12-km. senior race in 35:20, BOBBY THOMAS of Glendale (Calif.) Community College took the 7.8-km. junior race in 21:00 and JULIE BROWN of UCLA won the 4-km. women's race in 13:42.

GOLF—LARRY ZIEGLER carded a seven-under-par 65 for a 12-under-par 276 total, winning the Greater Jacksonville Open by two strokes over Mike Morley and Mac McLendon. Ziegler took home $30,000.

HOCKEY—NHL: The Philadelphia Flyers, defending Stanley Cup champions and consistently the leader in the Patrick, became the first team to clinch a division title with a 4-0 shutout of Minnesota after earlier wins over Los Angeles and Washington. The New York Islanders, fighting to tuck in behind Philadelphia, tied Vancouver and defeated Kansas City and Chicago (page 30). In the tight Smythe race, Vancouver held first by a point with a 1-2-1 week as second-place Chicago went 1-2. Norris leader Montreal defeated Atlanta 5-1 and Boston 2-1, but lost to Toronto 6-4. Los Angeles had a 3-1 record, including a 4-0 defeat of Pittsburgh in which Goalie Rogie Vachon posted his sixth shutout of the season. Buffalo strengthened its hold on first place in the Adams with triumphs over Toronto, the New York Rangers and Kansas City. Boston was in second with a 2-1 mark. An interesting footnote to the week was the announcement that the lowly Washington Capitals, with the worst season record in the league (6-62-5), were outdrawing the NBA Bullets, who had the best record in their league (55-20).

WHA: The Winnipeg Jets stayed in wild-card contention with victories over Edmonton, Vancouver, New England and Chicago. In the Whaler game, Golden Jet Bobby Hull came up with a goal and two assists to bring his season point total to 127, a record for the three-year-old league. Quebec, first in the Canadian, dropped three games, while second-place Toronto posted a 1-1 mark to stay within six points of the Nordiques. The Houston Aeros were 4-1, while New England was 1-3. Both teams have locked up their divisions. San Diego's scramble for a playoff berth was aided by victories over New England and Indianapolis, but the Mariners lost twice to Chicago. Vancouver, Edmonton and Minnesota each had one win.

HORSE RACING—GOLD AND MYRRH ($31.20), a 14-to-1 long shot ridden by Walter Blum, captured the $124,200 Gulfstream Park Handicap by a neck over favorite Proud and Bold, covering the 1¼ miles in 2:01[4/5] at Hallandale, Fla.

Master Derby ($10.80), Darrell McHargue up, won the 1‚⅛-mile $100,000 Louisiana Derby in 1:49[3/5] by a length over Colonel Power, at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans.

MOTOR SPORTS—RICHARD PETTY, driving a Dodge, claimed his first Atlanta 500 victory, edging Buddy Baker by .6 seconds on the 1.52-mile Atlanta International Raceway. Petty averaged 133.496 mph and earned $16,500.

SKIING—GUSTAVO THOENI of Italy won his fourth World Cup by defeating Ingemar Stenmark of Sweden, at Val Gardena, Italy (page 62).

TENNIS—VIRGINIA WADE earned $15,000, defeating Martina Navratilova, the Czech star who was forced to retire with an ankle injury, in the finals of the Virginia Slims of Dallas tournament, 2-6, 7-6, 4-3 (ret.).

TRACK & FIELD—In an extraordinary double, BEN JIPCHO of Kenya set professional indoor records in both the two mile (8:27) and the mile (3:56.2), which also was the third-fastest indoor time ever, at the ITA meet in Los Angeles (page 28).

MILEPOSTS—RESIGNED: EDDIE DONOVAN, as general manager of the NBA Buffalo Braves, after reportedly agreeing to become general manager of the New York Knicks. Donovan was formerly coach (1961-64) and general manager (1964-70) of the Knicks.

RESIGNED: TATES LOCKE, 38, as head basketball coach at Clemson, which is under investigation by the NCAA for possible recruiting violations.

DIED: JAMES (Babe) McCARTHY, 51, head basketball coach at Mississippi State (1955-65), of the ABA Kentucky Colonels (1973-74) and of three other ABA teams; of cancer; in Baldwyn, Miss.

DIED: JOE (Ducky) MED WICK, 63, the last National Leaguer to win batting's triple crown (1937); of a heart attack; in St. Petersburg, Fla. A Hall of Famer, he played 17 seasons with four teams—the St. Louis Cardinals (1932-40, 1947-48), Brooklyn Dodgers (1940-43, 1946), New York Giants (1943-45) and Boston Braves (1945)—compiling a lifetime batting average of .324.

DIED: CLARENCE (Biggie) MUNN, 66, athletic director (1954-71) and head football coach (1947-53) at Michigan State and an All-America guard at Minnesota (1931); after suffering a stroke; in East Lansing, Mich.

DIED: ASA BUSHNELL, 75, commissioner of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (1938-70), secretary of the U.S. Olympic Committee (1945-65); of a heart attack; in Princeton, N.J.