A roundup of the week March 19-25

COLLEGE BASKETBALL—THREE RIVERS COMMUNITY COLLEGE of Poplar Bluff, Mo. beat Mercer County Community College of Trenton, N.J. 60-59 in Hutchinson, Kans. to win the national J.C. title.

Old Dominion beat Louisiana Tech 75-65 to win the AIAW championship (page 62).

Indiana defeated Purdue 53-52 in New York City to win the National Invitation Tournament.

PRO BASKETBALL—The Central and Midwest races tightened as San Antonio and Kansas City, the respective division leaders, continued to falter. Led by Marques Johnson's 34 points, Milwaukee routed the Spurs 147-127, and Atlanta beat them 115-108 as reserve Guard Terry Furlow pumped in a career-high 30. San Antonio, loser of five of its last six, beat K.C. 123-116 for its only victory, while the Kings, losers of 10 of their last 13, beat only Chicago 114-103. Paul Westphal hit for 36 and Walter Davis added 30 to lift Phoenix to a 126-107 win over the Kings, who also dropped a 100-98 decision to Portland, winner of four in a row. Denver, which trails the Kings by a game and a half in the Midwest, upended Golden State 113-102 and Boston 137-113 behind David Thompson's 58 points to extend its winning streak to four. Paced by Calvin Murphy, who scored a season-high 38, Houston moved to within a game and a half of San Antonio with a 120-116 defeat of Atlanta, which is only two games back. Philadelphia swept a unique doubleheader from New Jersey for its fourth and fifth straight victories. The opener, which was a replay of the final 17:50 of a protested game played on Nov. 8, began with the 76ers ahead 84-81. It ended with them in front 123-117. The Sixers had won the original edition of this game 137-133 in double overtime. Philly took the nightcap 110-98 as Julius Erving, who finished the first game with 32 points, hit for 26. Atlantic Division leader Washington got 31 points and 22 rebounds from Elvin Hayes in a 119-106 win over New York. The Bullets then dropped a 124-114 decision to Detroit that halted their winning string at four. Seattle edged Boston 112-110 in its only start to maintain a two-game lead over Phoenix and a 2½-game margin over Los Angeles in the Pacific Division.

BOWLING—JOHNNY PETRAGLIA beat Bill Coleman 206-203 to win a $100,000 tournament in Milwaukee.

BOXING—LARRY HOLMES of Easton, Pa. retained his WBC heavyweight title in Las Vegas with a seventh-round K.O. of Puerto Rico's Ossie Ocasio (page 75).

Wilfredo Benitez of Puerto Rico scored a unanimous decision over New York City's Harold Weston in San Juan to retain his WBC welterweight crown.

FENCING—WAYNE STATE won the NCAA title in Princeton, N.J., defeating Notre Dame 119-108.

GOLF—LANNY WADKINS' five-under-par 283 won the Tournament Players Championship in Jacksonville. Second by five strokes was Tom Watson (page 24).

Nancy Lopez fired a 10-under-par 274 to win a $100,000 LPGA tournament in Las Vegas by two strokes over Donna Young.

HARNESS RACING—RAMBLING WILLIE, driven by Bob Farrington, became North America's richest harness horse by winning the feature at Balmoral Park in Crete, Ill. on Sunday in 1:59[1/5]. The $4,500 winner's share boosted the 9-year-old pacer's earnings to $1,367,637, $2,492 more than the trotter Savoir.

COLLEGE HOCKEY—MINNESOTA beat North Dakota 4-3 in Detroit to win the NCAA championship for the third time.

PRO HOCKEY—NHL: The Islanders, who are 3-1 against the Canadiens this season, beat them 5-3 in Montreal to clinch the Patrick Division title (page 20). The victory also put New York four points up on the Canadiens in the race for the league's best record. The winner will have the home advantage in all playoff series. The Islanders' lead was reduced to three points when they skated to a 3-3 tie with Pittsburgh, and Montreal, which has clinched the Norris Division crown, upended Washington 3-1. The deadlock with the Penguins snapped New York's winning streak at five—but extended its unbeaten string to nine. Earlier, Pittsburgh, undefeated in its last seven starts, routed the Rangers 5-1 behind Ron Stackhouse's hat trick. The Penguins also took a 3-1 decision from Adams Division leader Boston. The Bruins then halted Detroit's five-game winning streak by a score of 5-2. Two of the Red Wings' victories had been against the Black Hawks, who dropped seven in a row before skating to a 3-3 tie with Toronto. Chicago nevertheless enjoys a 10-point lead in the hapless Smythe Division, whose teams managed only one win and six points in 11 games last week.

WHA: Edmonton maintained a three-point lead over Quebec as both clubs—and all the league's other teams, for that matter—picked up four points by winning twice: Led by Real Cloutier's three goals and two assists, the Nordiques trounced the Oilers 7-2. Cloutier, who leads the league with 120 points and has 71 goals in 69 games, had another hat trick in a 7-6 loss to New England.

HORSE RACING—SPECTACULAR BID ($2.10), Ronnie Franklin up, won the Flamingo Stakes at Hialeah by 12 lengths over Strike The Main. The 3-year-old covered the 1‚Äö√Ñ√∂‚àö√±‚àö¬µ miles in 1:48[2/5] (page 69).

PLATFORM TENNIS—CLARK GRAEBNER and DOUG RUSSELL defeated Steve and Chip Baird 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 in Scarsdale, N.Y. to win the national championship. YVONNE HACKENBURG and LINDA WOLF beat Hilary Hilton and Annabelle Rogan 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 for the women's title.

SWIMMING—CALIFORNIA defeated USC 287-227 in Cleveland to win the NCAA championship (page 32).

Vladimir Salnikov of the U.S.S.R. broke the world record for the 800-meter freestyle at a meet in Minsk. His time of 7:56.43 was 5.11 seconds faster than the mark held by Bobby Hackett of Yonkers, N.Y.

TENNIS—MARTINA NAVRATILOVA defeated Tracy Austin 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 at Madison Square Garden to win the $275,000 Avon Championships (page 58).

John McEnroe beat Roscoe Tanner 6-4, 6-2 to win a $175,000 Grand Prix tournament in New Orleans.

MILEPOSTS—HIRED: As basketball coach at Pepperdine, JIM HARRICK, 40, who for the past two seasons had been an assistant at UCLA.

As basketball coach at Memphis State, DANA KIRK, 43, who had a three-year record of 57-23 at Virginia Commonwealth.

RESIGNED: As basketball coach at UCLA, GARY CUNNINGHAM, 39, who had a two-year record of 50-8, guiding the Bruins to two NCAA tournaments.

As basketball coach at Oral Roberts, LAKE KELLY, 44, who had a two-year record of 30-24.

SENTENCED: In Dallas, to five years in prison for selling cocaine, BOB HAYES, 36, former sprinter who won two gold medals at the 1964 Olympics and later played wide receiver for the Cowboys and 49ers.