A roundup of the week March 25-31
COLLEGE BASKETBALL—VILLANOVA defeated Georgetown 66-64 to win the NCAA men's title in Lexington, Ky. (page 32).
Old Dominion University beat Georgia 70-65 to win the NCAA women's championship in Austin, Texas (page 90).
UCLA won its first NIT title by defeating Indiana, 65-62, in New York City.
PRO BASKETBALL—The Celtics and Sixers continued to scrap, as they have all season. With 15 seconds remaining, Philly had fought back from a 23-point deficit to within one. "In this league, you're not supposed to play a zone," complained Boston's Larry Bird, who nevertheless scored 24 points, 13 in the fourth quarter. Final score: Celtics 112, Sixers 108. Julius Erving, out with an ankle injury, could only watch as the Celtics took the series lead 3-2, the home team winning each time. In the Boston game, Moses Malone grabbed his 10,000th rebound; he's 16th on the alltime NBA list. On the Atlantic bottom, the Knicks not only lost Bernard King for the season (torn ligament and cartilage in his right knee) but also lost all four of their games. In the West, the division-champion Lakers had their sole March defeat—to Portland 116-113 in overtime—but then won their next three games. Midwest leader Denver defeated Utah 104-89, Kansas City 133-115 and Portland 129-117. The Portland victory was Denver's 20th straight at home. Houston, Dallas and San Antonio all clinched playoff berths. Central Division leader Milwaukee breezed through a perfect week, topping Washington, New York twice and Atlanta. Detroit also clinched a playoff spot, with a 127-110 victory over Houston. Cleveland (page 74), the comeback team of the year, won all three of its games to stay alive in the playoff picture; in a 117-94 win over Indiana, coach George Karl's reserves scored 64 points.
BOWLING—Top-seeded WAYNE WEBB won his second consecutive PBA event by trouncing Mark Williams 196-150 in the $130,000 Fair Lanes Open in Baltimore.
PRO FOOTBALL—It was not a banner week for the USFL. Two of the smallest crowds in Denver's three-year history (10,217 and 13,901, respectively) watched as the Gold beat Orlando 21-17 and San Antonio 16-2. Not only are the Gunslingers the league's third-worst team, but the IRS also came knocking this week for delinquent taxes. Tampa Bay owner John Bassett declared that his Bandits would not play a fall schedule in 1986. Said Bassett, "There's no point rowing a boat that's full of holes." The league office said he would be fined. But on the field some interesting football was being played. Defending champion Baltimore, 1-3-1 and without running back Kelvin Bryant (pulled left hamstring), upset previously undefeated Houston 27-14. Gambler quarterback Jim Kelly, the West's leading passer, was 33 of 51 for 393 yards in the losing cause. In the Eastern Conference, Birmingham held on to first place by stopping Jacksonville 25-18.
GOLF—CALVIN PEETE shot a 14-under-par 274 to beat D.A. Weibring by three strokes and win the $900,000 Tournament Players Championship in Ponte Vedra, Fla. (page 40).
COLLEGE HOCKEY—RENSSELAER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE edged Providence College 2-1 to win the NCAA hockey championship in Detroit (page 86).
PRO HOCKEY—Although Edmonton had a mediocre 2-2 week, Wayne Gretzky was his superlative self. In a 7-3 victory over Chicago on Sunday, Gretzky scored his 425th career goal and reached the 200-point mark in a season for the third time in his career. On Friday, Edmonton had lost to Hartford 8-7, but The Great One had assist Nos. 126 and 127, breaking his record of 125. During a 6-3 loss to Boston, teammate Jari Kurri became the third player in NHL history to score 70 goals in a season. In the Adams Division, Montreal went undefeated and took a two-point lead over Quebec for first place. St. Louis lost to Toronto (4-2), Montreal (5-1) and Quebec (3-1), and the second-place Black Hawks closed to within two points of first in the Norris Division. The 11-game winning streak of Patrick Division leader Philadelphia was snapped by Chicago, but the Flyers bounced back to beat the Red Wings 3-1, and the Rangers 3-0.
HORSE RACING—PROUD TRUTH ($4.40) finished a length behind Chiefs Crown but won the $265,000 Flamingo Stakes at Hialeah when Chiefs Crown was disqualified (page 71).
INDOOR SOCCER—Eastern Division-leader Baltimore retained a four-game margin over Chicago despite Blast losses to Los Angeles, 4-3, and Las Vegas, 5-3. In the West, leader San Diego also lost twice, to Minnesota 9-5 and then to second-place Las Vegas 6-5 in overtime.
SWIMMING—STANFORD won the men's NCAA swimming and diving championships in Austin, Texas (page 82).
TENNIS—JOHN McENROE defeated second-seeded Anders Jarryd 6-4, 6-1 to win the $300,000 indoor Grand Prix tournament in Milan, Italy.
Ivan Lendl beat Jimmy Connors, 6-3, 6-2, to win a $250,000 Grand Prix event in Fort Myers, Fla.
TRACK & FIELD—DENNIS LEWIS of Long Beach City College high-jumped 7'8" in Los Angeles to tie the American record set last year by Dwight Stones.
MILEPOSTS—ARRESTED: Three Tulane University basketball players, three other students and a convicted New Orleans gambler, in a case of alleged point shaving (page 36).
DISCONTINUED PLAY: The North American Soccer League. Formed in 1968, the league had 24 franchises as recently as 1980 but only two at its demise.
HIRED: As football coach at the University of Tulsa, DON MORTON, 37, who led North Dakota State (57-15) to the Division II finals in three out of the past four years.
RESIGNED: As athletic director at Arizona State University, DICK TAMBURO.
RETIRED: Veteran St. Louis (18 seasons) and Washington (one season) quarterback JIM HART, the No. 3 passer in NFL history (5,076 attempts for 2,593 completions and 34,665 yards).
REVERSED: Auburn basketball coach SONNY SMITH'S midseason decision to resign; after he led the Tigers to their first SEC title.
SIGNED: By the Los Angeles Rams, quarterback DIETER BROCK, 34, twice the Canadian Football League's Most Outstanding Player.
TRADED: By the Indianapolis Colts, quarterback MARK HERRMANN, 26, to the San Diego Chargers for a future draft choice.
UPHELD: By a Cook County circuit judge, the constitutionality of state and local laws barring the installation of lights at Wrigley Field, preserving it as the only unlighted stadium in major league baseball.
