A roundup of the week March 23-29
COLLEGE BASKETBALL—LOUISIANA TECH beat Tennessee 79-59 in Eugene, Ore. to win the AIAW national championship (page 67).
William Penn College of Oskaloosa, Iowa beat the College of Charleston (S.C.) 64-51 to win the AIAW Division II tournament in Dayton, Ohio.
Wisconsin-La Crosse defeated Mount Mercy College of Cedar Rapids, Iowa 79-71 to win the AIAW Division III tournament in La Crosse.
Tulsa beat Syracuse 86-84 in overtime to win the National Invitation Tournament in New York City.
PRO BASKETBALL—While Boston and Philadelphia were racing down to the wire in the Atlantic Division (page 76), Chicago ended the regular season as a team on fire. The Bulls extended their winning streak to eight with victories over Detroit (109-103), Cleveland (121-108), Atlanta (108-83) and, finally, Indiana (101-97) to edge the Pacers for second place in the Central Division behind Milwaukee. With San Antonio firmly emplaced as the Midwest Division champion and Phoenix on top of the Pacific, Houston, Golden State and Kansas City played musical chairs on the final day of the season for the last two Western Conference playoff berths. The Rockets clinched their spot despite a 135-109 loss at San Antonio. In that game Houston's Calvin Murphy went 4-for-4 from the line, for an NBA season-record .958 free-throw percentage (206 of 215), surpassing the .947 (160 of 169) shot by Rick Barry in 1978-79. Kansas City also clinched, with a 113-104 triumph over Dallas. The Warriors were left without a seat after their 96-92 loss at Seattle.
BOWLING—BO BOWDEN won his first PBA title by beating Marshall Holman 226-206 in a $130,000 tournament in Miami.
BOXING—SUGAR RAY LEONARD successfully defended his WBC welterweight crown with a TKO of Larry Bonds in the 10th round in Syracuse, N.Y.
Santos Laciar won the WBA flyweight title with a TKO of defending champion Peter (Terror) Mathebula in the seventh round in Soweto, South Africa.
CROSS COUNTRY—CRAIG VIRGIN of the U.S. beat Mohammed Kedir of Ethiopia by two seconds in Madrid, Spain to retain his world seniors championship. His time was 35:05 for the 7.45-mile course. GRETE WAITZ of Norway successfully defended her women's title with a clocking of 14:07 over 2.7 miles.
GOLF—RAYMOND FLOYD defeated Barry Jaeckel and Curtis Strange on the first hole of sudden death to win the rain-delayed $440,000 Tournament Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. All three finished regulation play with a three-under-par 285.
Bill Rogers shot a six-under-par 278 to win a $300,000 PGA tournament in Hilton Head Island, S.C. by a stroke over four other golfers.
Pat Bradley beat Debbie Massey by five strokes to win a $175,000 LPGA tournament in Costa Mesa, Calif. She shot an even-par 284.
COLLEGE HOCKEY—WISCONSIN won the NCAA title with a 6-3 victory over Minnesota in Duluth.
PRO HOCKEY—Though the Islanders won a showdown with St. Louis 5-3, they got only a 4-4 draw with Pittsburgh. Thus, the Blues, who went on to a 7-4 victory over Buffalo, retained the top spot in the standings with 104 points to the Islanders' 102. Wayne Gretzky was held to two assists in Edmonton's 7-2 loss to the Bruins, as he was once again doggedly covered by Boston's Steve Kasper. In four games this season, Kasper has held Gretzky to one goal and three assists. Gretzky matched those totals in the Oilers' next game, a 7-2 triumph at Hartford, in which Glenn Anderson had a hat trick. Another assist, in a 4-2 victory over Detroit, gave Gretzky 152 points on the season to tie the NHL record set by Phil Esposito in 1970-71. With four games to play, Gretzky's 99 assists put him within reach of another mark from the 1970-71 season: the 102 assists amassed by Espo's teammate Bobby Orr.
HORSE RACING—TAP SHOES ($3.20), ridden by Ruben Hernandez, defeated Well Decorated by a length to win the $178,000 Flamingo Stakes at Hialeah Park. The 3-year-old ran the 1‚Äö√Ñ√∂‚àö√±‚àö¬µ miles in 1:49[1/5] (page 22),
Woodchopper ($20.70), Jorge Velazquez up, beat A Run by a length to win the $190,300 Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds. The 3-year-old colt covered the 1‚Öõ miles in 1:50[4/5].
MOTOR SPORTS—DARRELL WALTRIP, averaging 89.530 mph in a Buick, won a 500-mile Grand National race on the .533-mile high-banked oval of the Bristol (Tenn.) International Raceway. He finished .5 seconds ahead of Ricky Rudd, who drove an Oldsmobile.
SKIING—With a second-place finish in Laax, Switzerland, PHIL MAHRE became the first American to win the overall World Cup, beating runner-up Ingemar Stenmark of Sweden, 266-260, in the final standings. Switzerland's MARIE-THERES NADIG won the women's title, 289-251, over countrymate Erika Hess.
SOCCER—As the NASL opened its 14th season, 32,315 at San Diego watched the Sockers defeat Vancouver 2-1 on a shootout goal by Kaz Deyna, who arrived from Europe five weeks ago. Los Angeles lost 3-0 at Seattle, with 30,328 in attendance, and Tampa Bay drew 25,343 for its 2-0 loss to Tulsa. The Jacksonville (nè New England) Tea Men—one of four NASL teams with new hometowns—had only 17,128 fans at their 1-0 victory over Toronto in the Gator Bowl.
INDOOR SOCCER—MISL: THE NEW YORK ARROWS defeated the St. Louis Steamers 6-5 in St. Louis to win their third consecutive league title.
SPEED SKATING—CHRISTA ROTHENBURGER of East Germany established a women's world records in the 500 meters with a time of 40.18 at a meet near Alma-Ata, U.S.S.R. NATALIA PETRUSYEVA of the U.S.S.R. skated to two world records, covering 1,000 meters in 1:20.81, and the 1,500 in 2:05.39. Another East German, 19-year-old Gabi Schoenbrunn, established a 3,000-meter mark of 4:21.70. And at the same meet, YEVGENY KULIKOV of the U.S.S.R. lowered his own men's world record of 37.0 in the 500 with a clocking of 36.91.
SWIMMING—Host TEXAS won the NCAA championship in Austin, defeating runner-up UCLA 259-189. Led by Rowdy Gaines of Auburn, who turned in a 42.38 in the 100-yard freestyle, 10 swimmers set a total of 10 American records.
TENNIS—JOHN McENROE beat Bjorn Borg 7-6, 6-4 to win a $175,000 tournament in Milan, Italy.
Martina Navratilova beat Andrea Jaeger 6-3, 7-6 to win the $300,000 Avon Championships in New York City (page 63).
MILEPOSTS—FIRED: As coach of the Atlanta Hawks, HUBIE BROWN, 47, who guided the team to a five-year record of 199-208. His assistants, Mike Fratello and Brendan Suhr, were named as interim co-coaches.
NAMED: As football coach at Wake Forest, AL GROH, 36, replacing John Mackovic, who resigned to become the quarterback coach for the Dallas Cowboys.
REACHED: An accord between the Olympic committee of Taiwan and the I.O.C. that will allow teams from both The People's Republic of China and Taiwan to compete in future Games. Taiwan agreed to use a new flag and emblem at the Olympics. Before the Lake Placid Olympics, China said it would be opposed to sending its teams unless Taiwan, which wanted to march under a pre-revolutionary banner, was barred.
DIED: MIKE HAILWOOD, 40, who was the world champion of Grand Prix motorcycle racing 10 times between 1961 and 1978; of injuries suffered in an automobile accident; in Birmingham, England.
Joel Halpern, 41, U.S. offshore powerboat champion in 1976 and 1977; of injuries suffered when his Cougar catamaran was struck by a boat driven by Alvin Copeland before the start of a race on Lake Pontchartrain near New Orleans.
Dr. Edward Lasker, 95, who won the U.S. Open Chess Championship five times between 1916 and 1921; of natural causes; in New York City.
