Lincoln Journal Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • 17

Confident Lakers Top Bucks to Overtake Warriors I-State Defends Crown cluding 12 straight midway through the fourth quarter, as Portland snapped a 21-game losing streak on the road. Petrie finished with 43 points. Knicks 106, Suns 104, overtime Bill Bradley hit a season-high 31 points to pace New York. Knick center Willis Reed, making his first appearance since being sidelined with a knee injury in November, played Vt minutes, scored four points and said he felt fine. Neal Walk led Phoenix with 18 points.

Associated Press The Los Angeles Lakers are back on top in the National Basketball Association's Pacific Division and their confidence is showing. i 1 don't think Golden State can win the rest of its games," said Jim Price after: the Lakers 1201-114 victory over Milwaukee Wednesday night, "so it's up to us to win the rest of our games. "I think our win against New York Sunday night picked us up after our two losses to Golden State. Then when Golden State lost to Milwaukee we all realized we were still in this." Price and backcourt mate Gail Goodrich combined for 51 points as the Lakers rallied in the second half to beat the Bucks. The victory left Los Angeles one game ahead of Golden State, a hope we can sustain it for the" last three games of the season." Goodrich scored 27 poirits Price 24, Connie Hawkins 21 and Elmore Smith 20 for the winners.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, named the league's Most able Player earlier in the day, led the Bucks with 27 points, but got only six in the second half before fouling out with 3:34 tq play. "Our guys hustled all the way," said Sharman. "I have to talk about the job (Bill) Bridges did on Jabbar. We sagged in the second half more on Jabbar and made it difficult for his teammates to get him the ball. "And Bridges made it almost impossible for him to turn around." Cornell Warner added 17 points and Ron Williams 16 for the Bucks.

110-107, loser to Seattle, in the 'battle for a playoff spot. The Lakers have three games remaining and the Warriors five fiames: Elsewhere in the NBA, At-; lanta dumped Boston Chicago edged Kansas City-Oni; aha 87-86; Detroit topped Hpus-ton 103-99; Capital downed Cleveland 101-91; Portland de- feated Philadelphia 113-106; and New York outlasted Phoenix 106-104 in overtime. Los Angeles trailed by six points at the half, 61-55, but broke it open in the third period, outscoring Milwaukee 44-27. The Lakers shot a sizzling 59 per cent from the floor during the quarter. "Emotion was the key factor for us tonight," said Los Angeles Coach Bill Sharman.

"I just. sion by one game over Detroit. Norm van Lier led the Bulls with 21 points, 16 of them in the second half, and Ray pulled down 19 rebounds. Pistons 103, Rockets 99 George Trapp scored 11 of his 17 points over the final 12 minutes as Detroit rallied from 10 points back. Dave Bing contributed 18 points, 10 in the final period, for the winners while Rudy Tomjanovich paced the Rockets with 37.

Bullets 101, Cavaliers 91 iElvin Hayes scored 34 points and collected 16 rebounds as Capital overcame a 17-5 period deficit. Cleveland played without Coach Bill Fitch who was absent without explanation. Blazers 113, 76ers 106 Geoff Petrie tossed in 30 points in the second half, in Sonics 110, Warriors 107 Dick Snyder's jump shot with 14 seconds left and a layup by Stan Watts eight seconds later accounted for Seattle's victory. Snyder wound up with 30 points. Golden State forward Rick Barry led all scorers with 36 points, 14 of them in the final period.

Hawks 99, Celtics 89 Pete Maravich pumped in 38 points as Atlanta beat Boston for the first time in six meetings this season. Maravich's outburst put him over 2,000 points for the season. John Havlicek topped the Celtics with 34 points. Bulls 87, Kings 86 Jimmy Ray's free throw in the closing minute proved decisive as Chicago held onto second place in the Midwest Divi Wednesday's American Basketball Association results: New York 103, Memphis 101; Utah 111, Denver 107; Kentucky 102, San Antonio 98; Indiana 104, Carolina 102; and San Diego 125, Virginia 122. Players, McGuire Likes Coaches UCLA's Chances In Tie Defending national champion Iowa State goes after its sixth straight Big Eight gymnastics title this weekend at Norman, Okla.

and according to University of Nebraska gym coach Francis Allen, there's not much to stop them. Nebraska came within eight points of the Cyclones at the Big Eight Invitational in Lincoln back in November, finally losing, 322.05-314.40, but a lot of things have changed since then. The Huskers have been without star all-around man Gene Mackie (third in the Big Eight Invitational) since that November meet, while the Cyclones have been steadily improving. "They (Iowa State) weren't ready to really compete yet at the Big Eight Invitational, but they'll be up for this one because it's the national qualifying meet," Allen says. "I saw them against Southern Illinois in January and I thought they were the best college team I've ever seen," the Husker coach continues.

"They've got the three best all-around men in the country (Doug Fitzjarrell, Mark Graham and Bob Roth) and some of the best specialists." None of this means that Allen is in any way disappointed with the way his team has performed. "We're probably as good as a team as we were last year when we finished second, and our individuals are a lot better," Allen says. Those he said are top candidates include: Floor Exercise Alan Everett, Duane West and Jim Unger. Pommel Horse Hal Traver and Steve Dickey. Parallal Bars Barry Cross.

Still Rings Pete Studenski. Horizontal Bar Unger and West. Vaulting Gary Jeurink and Unger. The meet begins Friday at 1:00 p.m. at the OU Field House with the compulsory session and continues with the optionals at noon, Saturday.

The meet concludes with the individual finals beginning at 7.30 p.m., Saturday. Ci finrttln journal mm The Nebraska football coaches were going to file an official protest Wednesday night. But they were too tired. Coach Tom Osborne; assistants Monte Kiffin, Warren Powers and Guy Ingles, plus Southeast High coach Wally McNaught and an assortment of other 'ringers', played a benefit basketball game at Johnson Gym against last year's Big Red seniors. The scoreboard credited the players with a 76-75 victory.

A double check of the scorebook later showed the clash really ended in a 75-75 tie. NU assistants Clete Fischer and Mike Corgan coached the coaches who were paced by Ingles' 22 points. Osborne, a standout athlete at Hastings High School and College, scored 14 points while Kiffin, a standout prep eager at Lexington, added nine more. Fullback Maury Damkroger, who sparked Lincoln Northeast to two Class A state basketball titles, led the players with 13 points, while Bob Wolfe scored 11. Daryl White, Frosty Anderson, Steve Runty and Brent Longwell were among the standouts for the players.

A crowd of 1,200 was on hand for the game which benefited the Volunteers in Probation program of the Lancaster County Juvenile Court. Jabbar Voted STAFF PHOTO BY WILLIS VAN SICKLE Over 200 people attempted the Rebounders Club-sponsored Nebraska basketball banquet Wednesday night. Honored with traditional wristwatches were graduating seniors Brendy Lee and Tom Novak, pictured above. Flanking them are Nebraska head basketball coach Joe Cipriano (left) and Bruce Rice, sports director of KCMO radio station in Kansas City, Mo. Rice was the featured speaker at the event.

GREENSBORO, N. C. (AP) -When coaches get to talking, the conversation frequently turns to the other man's team maybe to take the hex off their own team. Four coaches got together on a telephone hookup Wednesday to talk about their joint venture in the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament, the one which will determine the nation's basketball champion next Monday night. Of immediate interest was Saturday's semifinal round.

The nation's third-ranked Marquette meets sixth-ranked Kansas in the 1 p.m. EDT opener. A couple of hours later, second-ranked UCLA follows against No. 1 North Carolina State, whose only loss this season was to the Bruins. Marquette's Al McGuire, whose team doesn't have to meet them for an opener, said he would pick the UCLA Bruins by five or six points over N.

C. States Wolfpack. "If Big Red plays, he's dynamite," added McGuire, whose reference was to UCLA's Bill Walton. His observation isn't likely to get any argument. Coach John Wooden of UCLA calmly acknowledged that it was "very complimentary of Al," but professed that he did not know what McGuire was using as the basis of his prediction of a UCLA victory.

Wooden then observed that while he had not seen Kansas or Marquette play this season, he would have to give the edge to Marquette. Eventually, of course, the coaches got around to their own teams. Norm Sloan of N. C. State figures his Wolfpack is a much better team than it was when it was beaten by the Bruins by 18 points in St.

Louis last December. The Wolfpack hasn't been beaten since, which is a shade better than the Bruins can say as they match their 25-3 record against N. C. State's 28-1. N.

C. State's own 6-4 soaring, scoring bit of dynamite David Thompson appeared to be regaining his sharpness in practice after last Saturday's fall in the Eastern Regionals championship game with Pittsburgh. He suffered a slight concussion March 21, 1974 17 and a cut in his head that required 15 stitches. Coach Ted Owens of Kansas says matter of factly. "We're here to win, and quite honestly, our players haven't even thought about UCLA or North Carolina State." Wooden, whose Bruins have won seven straight national titles, and nine of the last 10, was asked if there had been an changes since the disastrous Oregon and Oregon State visits.

"We've changed all right," he replied. "We're playing a little better." Settell Award To Cradick Jan Cradick has been selected as the 1973 recipient of the Reynold (Ren) Settell Heart Memorial Award, honoring a Lincoln bowler whose good sportsmanship has helped promote better bowling in the city. Mrs. Cradick is the sixth bowler to be so honored with the award, which is given in conjunction with the annual Heart Fund drive conducted throughout the Lincoln bowling leagues. Previous winners included Bob Gant (1968); Stella Kaufman (1969); Bernie Kossek (1970); Maxine Meyer (1971); and Hal Feather (1972).

Harmon Joins West Stars Omaha Gene Harmon, Creighton University's 6-6 forward who has completed his varsity career as a three year scoring leader, has been selected for the 12th Annual National Association of Basketball Coaches East-West All Star Game. Harmon will play for the West team in the March 30 contest which will be played at the University of Dayton at 3:00 p.m. Huskers Defeated Gourmet Shooter Bailey-Still Trying to Improve Swim Meet Slated MVP A trapshooter once said that clay pigeons are best when "smoked." If this is true, then Big Spring's Bueford Bailey has to be considered a gourmet trapshooter. Bailey's taste for "smoked" (shattered completely) birds led him to the top of the Amateur Trapshooting Association's (ATA) average list when he "smoked" 99.34 per cent of 3,200 singles targets in 1973. Bailey said he didn't set out to be the top gunner among more than 90,000 competitors in the ATA.

"I always try to break as many targets as possible, but I didn't do anything in particular this year. I just had better weather to shoot in and shot better in the bad weather," he said. Bailey has been among the leaders in the nation since he began shooting seriously in 1955, placing in the top 10 ir the ATA 13 times, twice before as an average leader. And he keeps getting better. "Lots of people laugh when I say I'm improving but I think there's always room to learn and get better," Bailey said.

A 15-time ail-American, Bailey said he's never had a sore shoulder even though he's registered 71,250 singles targets. "I'm real tough if I use a real thick pad on my shooting vest," he said. But toughness is only part of what it takes to be successful on the trap range. "There are a lot of little things that make up a good trapshooter, but the most important are good reflexes and coordination," Bailey said. "Some shooters even have good eyesight," he chuckled.

NEW YORK (AP) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar of the Milwaukee Bucks was named winner Wednesday of the National Basketball Association's Podoloff Trophy as the league's Most Valuable Player. The 7-foot-2 center totaled 528 points to 451 for Buffalo's Bob McAdoo in balloting by players of the league's 17 member clubs. McAdoo leads the league in scoring and field goal percentage. Abdul-Jabbar is second in scoring and third in field goal shooting. 4Hat Trick' Especially Satisfying to Redmond By SMU Dallas.

Tex. Nebraska failed to hold a 9-8 lead and dropped a 10-9 decision here Wednesday afternoon to Southern Methodist in a non-conference baseball game. The scheduled second game of the doubleheader was rained out. It will not be replayed. Nebraska scored four runs in the sixth inning to assume a 9-8 lead as Dennis O'Doherty and Dick Anderson hit singles to drive in one run each and pinch-hitter Ken Bauder drove in two runs with a single.

But in the bottom of the seventh, Gary Healey threw one pitch to SMU designated hitter Rusty Bourquein and he connected for a 375-foot home run over the right field wall with a man on to provide the winning runs. MI third-baseman Jim Smith and Anderson each swatted two hits for Nebraska which dropped its third game of the season against no wins. The Huskers face Hardin-Simmons on Friday in a doubleheader at Abilene, Tex. NEBRASKA (9) SMI) (10) ab bl ab bi Smith, 3B ....5 3 20 Saqhvn.CF .3210 Glismn.rf ...3 2 00 Jarma.3B .4110 Andrsn. LF ...4 2 2 1 MoMtt.C 3211 42 12 Ridlhor lB 32 1 2 Miller, IB ....3000 Bourqen.dh .4135 Jadlwski.ph.

.1 000 Baslsk.RF .3110 Aksada.ss ...1 000 Gibsn.LF ...3010 EMIt.ss 1 000 SpeKe.2B ...2010 Baudr.ph ...1012 Holnqs.ss 2 0 0 0 Sharpe.2B ...200 1 Godmn.ph .1000 Miltnbrqr.C .4010 Jones.p 0 0 00 Benish.LF ...3000 Jonnsn.p 00 0 0 Fowlr.ph 1 000 Total ..2810101 Haavpr 0000 Healv.p 0000 Total ....33 9 76 Nebraska 004 104 0- 9 SMU 203 030 2-10 Miller, Hollings (5), Jarma; 2B -Gibson; Bourguein (2), Ridlehubor; SB Smith, Haas, Sayehorn; Jollett; SF Sharpe. IP ER BB SO Ginn 6 9 9 7 2 4 Healev (L.0-1) 0 I 1 1 0 0 Jones 4 79535 Johnson () 1 0 0 0 0 1 HBP Miller (bv Jones); PB -Mlltenberg; 2:10. The 5th annual Great Plains Indoor Swimming and Diving Championships will be contested Saturday and Sunday at the East High pool. The event will bring 38 teams with over 530 swimmers to the Capital City from 10 states. In addition to Nebraska, teams are entered from California, West Virginia, Illinois, Colorado, Iowa, Indiana, Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri.

The swimming events begin at 9 a.m. each day, with the conclusion of competition planned around 6 p.m. In addition, 50 divers will be competing at the Northeast Family YMCA starting at 1:30 Saturday afternoon and again at 9 a.m. on Sunday. All sessions are open to the public at no charge.

The meet, sponsored by the Lincoln Swim Club and sanctioned by the Midwestern AAU, is an age-group event with five divisions for boys and girls 8 and under, 9 10, 11 12. 13 14, and open. Swimmers must be 12 years or older to compete in the open division. Among the top nationally ranked swimmers scheduled to compete are Scott Stanard of the host Lincoln Swim Club who was ranked 4th nationally in the 11-12 age group in the 50-meter breaststroke and 6th nationally in the 100-meter breaststroke. Stanard recently turned 13 and will not compete in the next older age division.

1 Five girls from the state of Nebraska in the 13-14 age bracket all have registered national qualifying times. They are Barb Harris of the Lincoln Swim Club, Ann Watland and Cory Sehia of the Omaha West-side Club, Renee Magee, who swims for the Bellevue Swim Club and Melanie Jakok, of the Grand Island Swim Association. In an even younger category are Kevin Lilly and Siobhan Bedingfield from the Tulsa (Okla.) Hurricane Swim Club. Killy is among the top ten boys in the nation for his age group in the 50 and 100 freestyle, while Miss Bedingfield has recorded one of the best ten times in the nation for girls her age in the 100-vard backstroke. United Press International If there's anything a hockey player enjoys more than performing the "hat trick," scoring three goals, it's doing so against the team which traded him away and in the city he once played' for, so you might say Mickey Redmond couldn't possibly have enjoyed himself more Wednesday night.

He engineered the fourth hat trick of his career, but it was only the first time he did it in Montreal and the flashy Detroit winger had the added satisfac tion of putting it together against the Canadiens, the team which traded him away three years ago, in pacing the Red Wings to a 7-6 victory. "It's super to score three goals in Montreal where I used to play," said Redmond. "Our team is playing so relaxed because we know we're not in the playoffs. That's why it was such a wide open game." Redmond and Doug Roberts, who had a pair of goals, broke a 3-3 tie when they scored within a v. Ipl lit Bit pin iifflpililM space of 64 seconds in the final period and after Pete Mahovlich netted his second goal of the night for the Canadiens and Jacques Lemaire followed up with another 45 seconds later to cut the Wings' margin to 6-5, Henry Boucha fired home the winner for Detroit at 12:48.

The Vancouver Canucks, struggling to stay out of the cellar in the NHL East, rallied from a 3-0 deficit to beat the New York Rangers, 7-5. Don Lever, Gerry O'Flaherty and Jocelyn Guevremont had two goals apiece for the Canucks while Rod Gilbert scored a pair for the Rangers. Gil Perreault scored twice in the final 12 minutes giving Buffalo a 3-2 decision over Chicago. Perreault tied the score with his first goal at 8:53 of the final period, converting Rick Martin's pass and then beat Hawk goalie Tony Esposito again by rifling home Jerry Korab's rebound less than five minutes later. Pittsburth goalie Gary Innes made 29 saves but he let Ralph Stewart's third period shot get past him and it earned the New York Islanders a 1-1 tie.

Jean Pronovost accounted for the Penguins' only score in the second period. Sports Briefs Farnham Reappointed Washington running back Duane Thomas was released on bond following charges of criminal mischief. Thomas allegedly smashed the windshield of a car in which he saw his wife and two children. Other Sports Oklahoma's top golfer, Ted Mitchell, has quit the team. Mitchell is preparing for a pro career.

Football Kansas' offensive line coach Joe Spencer has resigned and Sandy Buda has been named to succeed him. Spencer has taken a similar position with the Chicago Fire of the new WFL. The Green Bay Packers have named Johnny Roland as an assistant coach. Roland, who played for Pack head coach Dan Devine at Missouri, will primarily be a college talent scout. AP WIREPHOTO Gov.

J. James Exon an-i nounced the reappointment' today of Harry J. Farnham of, Omaha to the State Racing Commission. Farnham 's new three-year term will expire March 30, 1977. No, it's not Halloween yet.

These are masks worn by National Hockey League goalies. The masks aren't good looking but they do provide protection for the hard-pressed netminders..