A roundup of the week March 18-24

COLLEGE BASKETBALL—FORT HAYS (Kans.) STATE beat Wayland Baptist 82-80 in overtime to win its second straight NAIA championship, in Kansas City.

PRO BASKETBALL—After the 76ers suffered their third straight loss to Cleveland and their worst (116-89) defeat of the season, coach Billy Cunningham commented, "I don't remember us handling the ball any poorer than we did tonight." It took a while for things to get better: The 76ers went on to lose to Kansas City (118-117 in OT) and Central Division-leading Milwaukee (131-112), before beating Denver, the Midwest's top team, 124-103 as Andrew Toney scored his first triple double (28 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists). And, of course, Philly still has a Doctor (22 points against Denver) in the house. Other teams aren't so lucky. The Nets, currently minus Otis Birdsong and Mike O'Koren, are league leaders in games missed because of player injuries (202), and coach Stan Albeck has tried 12 different starting lineups. The Knicks may have lost Bernard King, the NBA's leading scorer (32.9 average) for the rest of the season because of a twisted right knee suffered during a 113-105 loss to Kansas City. Seattle center Jack Sikma, who before this week had missed only eight games in eight years, will definitely be out for the rest of the season—ligament damage in his left ring finger was the foil. And Atlanta could suit up only eight players in a 91-86 defeat of the Cavs—guard Eddie Johnson and center Wayne Rollins were out with the flu. Boston, however, remained relatively healthy and chalked up wins over Milwaukee, Cleveland and Washington, stretching its lead to five in the Atlantic Division. Mark Eaton of Utah broke Elmore Smith's 11-year-old NBA season record for blocking shots as the Jazz lost 121-110 to the Clippers; Eaton now has 408. Pacific Division-leading Los Angeles rocked the Rockets 130-107, the Lakers' 13th straight win in Houston. Earlier in the week, however, Houston nipped Chicago 106-100 in a game that featured Rookie of the Year contenders Akeem Olajuwon and Michael Jordan. Olajuwon had 24 points and 21 rebounds, Jordan 31 points, four rebounds and seven assists. Overall, Olajuwon is averaging 20.9 points, 12.1 rebounds, and 2.38 blocked shots; Jordan is averaging 27.7 points, 6.6 boards and 2.33 steals. Who should be Rookie of the Year? Said Chicago forward Orlando Woolridge, "I'm just glad I don't have to make the final decision."

BOWLING—WAYNE WEBB edged Marshall Holman 198-192 to win a $150,000 PBA event in Milwaukee.

CROSS-COUNTRY—CARLOS LOPES and ZOLA BUDD were the men's and women's winners, respectively, in the World Cross-Country Championships in Val Do Jamor, Portugal. Lopes ran his 12,000-meter course in 33:33, and Budd 5,000 meters in 15:01.

FENCING—WAYNE STATE edged Notre Dame 141-140 for the men's crown, and Yale triumphed over Pennsylvania on touches 58-61 for the women's title at the NCAA championships in South Bend, Ind.

PRO FOOTBALL—Jacksonville's Mike Rozier (page 54) carried 38 times for 199 yards and four touchdowns as the Bulls beat Orlando 34-31 in OT. Houston, still undefeated and atop the Western Conference, beat Denver 36-17 and Portland 27-20. The Gamblers trailed Denver 17-13 in the third quarter, but then Toni Fritsch kicked a field goal, and Jim Kelly connected on 40-, 10-, and nine-yard touchdown passes. The damage could have been greater had a 53-yard bomb from Kelly to Vince Courville—originally ruled good—not been disallowed when the tape showed Courville was out of bounds. That was the first time the USFL's tape-review option led to the reversal of an official's call. During the third quarter of Los Angeles' 27-13 loss to Arizona, Express quarterback Steve Young hyperextended his left knee; he is listed as a questionable starter for this week's game against Oakland. Eastern Conference-leading Birmingham beat Baltimore 7-3; Oakland stopped Memphis 31-19; and New Jersey nipped Tampa Bay 28-24 in a battle of two of the league's top running backs. The Generals' Herschel Walker ran for 109 yards while Gary Anderson of the Bandits, the USFL's No. I rusher this year, gained only 28 yards.

GOLF—JAN STEPHENSON shot a two-over-par 290, beating Amy Alcott, Pat Bradley and Barbara Moxness by one stroke to win a $250,000 LPGA event in Glendale, Calif.

Curtis Strange, with a final round of 66, won the $950,000 Panasonic Las Vegas Invitational, the richest event in the pro tour's history, by finishing one stroke ahead of Mike Smith.

COLLEGE HOCKEY—RPI, Minnesota-Duluth, Providence and Boston College each won a two-game series and advanced to this week's NCAA championship at Detroit. RPI stopped Lake Superior State 7-3 and 3-3 (10-6 on goals); Minnesota-Duluth beat Harvard 4-2, 4-2; and Providence edged Michigan State 2-3,4-2 (6-5 on goals). In another close affair, BC against Minnesota, the Eagles lost 7-5, then won 4-1, winning the series 9-8 on goals. It was the first time BC had defeated the Gophers in eight tries.

PRO HOCKEY—"We're getting used to winning now," Winnipeg goaltender Brian Hayward said after the Jets' 5-2 victory over Minnesota. "It's just a quiet kind of confidence." That confidence was evident in their next game, a 6-4 defeat of Vancouver, in which the Jets scored two shorthanded goals. The win was a club-record eighth straight and helped solidify the Jets' No. 2 spot in the Smythe Division, 13 points behind Edmonton. Two days after beating Chicago 6-4, the Oilers were tied 3-3 by Toronto. After victories over Pittsburgh and the New York Rangers, Philadelphia, the Patrick Division leader, topped New Jersey and Montreal to extend its winning streak to 11, the longest in the NHL this season. Washington was 3-1 for the week, and Bobby Carpenter became the first U.S.-born NHL player ever to score 50 goals in a season. In the tight Adams Division race, Quebec and Montreal were tied for first, while Buffalo trailed by only one point. But forward Dave Andreychuk, Buffalo's top goal scorer (31), broke his collarbone in an accident at home and may be out for three weeks. St. Louis, still on top in the Norris, lost to Hartford and Toronto, tied Boston, then finally won a game, beating Minnesota 4-2.

HORSE RACING—PANCHO VILLA ($30.80), Frank Lovato Jr. up, beat El Basco by 3¾ lengths to win the $139,200 Bay Shore Stakes for 3-year-olds at Aqueduct, covering the ‚Öû-mile race in 1:22[1/5].

INDOOR SOCCER—The theme of the week seemed to be, "Let's walk all over Wichita." On Tuesday the Wings led 1-0 going into the fourth quarter but lost 3-2 to Eastern Division-leading Baltimore. On Friday, Wichita led 2-1 at the half against Kansas City, but three goals in the third put the Comets over the top. And on Sunday the Wings fell 8-7 in OT to San Diego, the Western Division front-runner. Earlier in the week, San Diego stopped Chicago, again in OT, as Steve Zungul connected at 6:58 of the extra period on a direct free kick awarded when Branko Segota was tripped outside of the box. The next night, the Sting was stung again: Las Vegas's Alan Mayer scored his fourth career shutout, and second of the season, en route to a 4-0 win over Chicago—the Americans' 18th win in 19 games.

SKIING—MARC GIRARDELLI of Luxembourg, the overall World Cup champion, won a record-tying seventh Cup slalom, in Heavenly Valley, Calif.

SWIMMING—TEXAS, with 643 points, won the women's NCAA Division I Swimming and Diving championship in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Second-place Florida finished with 400 points.

TENNIS—MARTINA NAVRATILOVA defeated Helena Sukova 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 to win the $500,000 Virginia Slims Championship in New York City (page 48).

MILEPOSTS—ARRESTED: On drug-and weapon-possession charges, former Yankee first baseman JOE PEPITONE, 44, in Brooklyn.

CHARGED: With rape, sexual battery and assault, football Hall of Famer JIM BROWN, 49, in Los Angeles.

NAMED: As president of the U.S. Olympic Committee, ROBERT H. HELMICK, 48, to replace John B. Kelly Jr., who died on March 2.

RETIRED: As basketball coach at the University of Kentucky, JOE B. HALL, 56, who had a 297-100 record in 13 years at Lexington. His Wildcats were the NCAA champions in 1978.

TRADED: By the New York Giants to the Houston Oilers, for a third-round draft pick, running back BUTCH WOOLFOLK, 25.