1 . Mississippi Wins Independence Bowl SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) - During a roller coaster season, nothing came easy for the University of Mississippi football team. And the Rebels lived up to the script in their season-ending Independence Bowl victory. "That's about the way the season went - good times, bad times and in the end we had our backs to the wall," senior safety Jeff Noblin said after his last-minute interception preserved a 20- 17. victory over Texas Tech in the 11th Independence Bowl Saturday night. The bowl victory topped off an 8-3-1 season, Mississippi's best since 1971, and put a happy ending to a season that saw the Rebels break into the Top 20 for the first time in a decade and then get slapped with a two-year NCAA probation for recruiting violations. An emotional Coach Billy Brewer broke down in tears in the Rebel dressing room after presenting game balls to assistants Mickey Merritt and George Smith, who were released in the wake of the NCAA-ordered sanctions. "This victory means so, so much to all of us. It was a very emotional game. 1 think we won it in part for George and Mickey," Brewer said. "But this team has shown great determination and depth all season." Record-setting sophomore quarterback Mark Young and a big goal-line stand made the difference as Ole Miss spoiled the coaching debut of Texas Tech's Spike Dykes. "We showed people we could play. We made some believers tonight," Young said after smashing several Independence and Ole Miss bowl records by completing 31 of 50 passes for 343 yards. "We won't be on TV or get to come back to a place like this for another year, but we're not going to quit next year. We'll still be a good team," he said. Only seven of Ole Miss' top 46 players It was Texas Tech's first postseason trip in nine years. And the Red Raiders had their share of adversity, too. Coach David McWilliams was hired away two weeks ago by the University of Texas. Defensive coordinator Dykes got a fiveyear contract as McWilliams' suc• cessor and became the first head coach to debut in a bowl game and lose. Tech finished 7-5. Like top-ranked Miami and Texas A&M had earlier, Ole Miss victimized the Red Raiders' pass defense. Although Young didn't throw a touchdown pass, his completions set up all the Ole Miss scoring - touchdown runs of one yard by tailback Willie Goodloe and nine yards by fullback Joe Mickles and field goals of 21 and 48 yards by Bryan Owen. Owen's 48-yarder with 12:16 left to play snapped a 17-17 tie. Another winner was the Independence Bowl itself, which drew a record crowd of 46,369. The bowl had been trying for a long time to match teams from the Southeastern and Southwest conferences. Lakers Topple Houston Without Abdul- Jabbar By The Associated Press The Los Angeles Lakers' em- 48 •barrassing loss to the Houston Rockets in the NBA playoffs last season is becoming a distant memory. the With Magic Johnson collecting a off season-high 38 points and 16 assists, the Lakers outscored Houston 17-5 down the stretch for a 103-96 victory Sunday 19 night. Houston, with Twin Towers Akeem Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson, appeared to be the dominant power in the Western Conference just a few months ago. Today, however, Los Angeles is 19- 6 and the injury-plagued Rockets 9-15. The Lakers outrebounded the Rockets 48-37 despite the absence of center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, due to an eye problem. Forward A.C. Green had a career-high 16 rebounds and 18 points. In other games, it was Cleveland 104, Indiana 94; Portland 128, Washington 101; and Golden State 121, Seattle 112. Warriors 121, Sonics 112 Golden State forced 32 turnovers, most in the NBA this season, and Eric scored 27 ponent, outrebounding Washington 59- en route to its 11th consecutive home victory. Kiki Vandeweghe scored 29 points for Trail Blazers, Jim Paxson added 20 the bench and Kenny Carr had 18 points and 13 rebounds. Moses Malone topped the Bullets with points, but managed only five rebounds, seven under his average. Soccer Fans Blamed in Death SCARBOROUGH, England (AP) - The notoriously hostile fans of Leeds United partially were blamed Sunday for the death of a soccer club chairman who went to help police quell a riot in the stands of his semiteam. Barry Adamson, chairman of Scarborough, a part-time team from outside England's 92-club professional league, was butted on the head by a fan
