Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • 47

Chicago Tribune, Thursday, January 31, 1980 Section 4 3 WBL West stars squeeze out win Last-second call against Meyers ends East hopes rrnr-nfn in ii ii ii 1 1, ihii pi 1 1 1 iiiiiii, iiiiw in .1 v'. v'i 4'f. i ai -v 1 -i ii 1 L-L 4 'i rsJi I II if I -L. 1--. i ii mri -tiri in fimiii fc Tribune Photo by Phil Mascione a rebound during Wednesday's Women's Professional Basketbail League all-star game at Alumni Hall.

Ann Meyers of the East squad and the New Jersey Gems battles the West's Paula Mayo of the Houston Angels for UPI Telepftoto -Missouri center Steve Stipanovich grabs a rebound over the head of Kansas State center Jari Willis. Kansas St upsets struggling Mizzou aryland's desperation leaves Virginia defenseless Midwest By Bill Jauss ANN MEYERS, the best all-around player on the floor, was too much of a lady to' squawk about a referee's decision. So, Meyers just rolled her eyes toward the Alumni Hall ceiling, smiled, and shrugged when asked about the key call in Wednesday night's Women's Professional Basketball League all-star game. Meyers and the East team, rallying from 12 points down with 2:04 left, trailed 114-112 with nine seconds remaining when she tried for a steal and took the ball from Dallas rookie Alfredda Abernathy. was called for a foul.

Abernathy sank a free throw for her 22d point and the 115-112 final score. "Annie stole the ball clean," said East Coach Dean "the Dream" Meminger, the former Marquette star who coaches the New York Stars. Abernathy said the ref made the proper call. "She got me right on the arm," said Abernathy, the game's rebounding leader with 16. "I like that 16 on the stats sheet," said Abernathy, the league's rebounding leader.

"It's higher than my average 14.8, but my 22 points is bad. My average is 27.5." MEYER SCORED a modest 15 points, but the the New Jersey Gems' guard contributed 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 steals, and tough defense. She also took three charges and led the surge in the final two minutes. Neither Abernathy nor Meyers won the most valuable player trophy that Chicago's Rita Easterling earned in last year's first WBL all-star game. The MVP went to Milwaukee rookie Charlene McWhorter.

She scored a game-high 31 points in her 24 minutes, hitting 12 of 17 fcom the floor before fouling out with 7:02 to play. Mollie Bo-lin of the Iowa Cornets led the West with 25 points, 13 in the third quarter. "I hated being out of the game at the finish," McWhorter said, "but that's the only way I can play aggressively. I can't play any other way;" "Ann Meyers and Rita Easterling were getting me the ball," said McWhorter of the four baskets she scored during 15 straight East points late in the first half. That spurt earned the East its 57-56 halftime lead.

THE DIFFERENCE, Meminger and Abernathy agreed, was the West's 53-46 rebounding edge. "They were quicker. We were bigger," Abernathy said. "It worried us when they made that move at the end. We knew they'd run us, and we were trying to use the clock." "They had too many horses," Meminger said, "and he Coach Steve Kirk didn't substitute as much as we did.

I think we could have won if I substituted less, but this is an all-star game and everybody should play." Four of Kirk's reserves played 10 minutes or less. Only one East sub played as little as nine minutes. The East's 15-0 rush late in the first half came when Meminger teamed Meyers and Easterling in the backcourt. He didn't return to that combination, keeping Meyers at forward in the second half. "I HAD to keep J.

T. Janice Thomas in there," said Meminger of the New York Stars guard, "and Rita had a bad leg." Easterling scored three points and had six assists in her 24 minutes. Chicago's other all-star, forward Debra Rossow, scored seven points. College basketball Kentucky 64, Auburn 62 AUBURN, Ala. Freshman Dirk Min-niefield's jumper from the deep right-hand corner with one second remaining lifted Kentucky 18-4, 8-3 which had trailed by 13 points the first half, to a 64-62 SEC victory over Auburn 8-10, 4-7.

Kyle Macy led Kentucky with 14 points. Texas 59, Baylor 50 WACO, Tex. Rynn Wright scored 17 points and Rudy Woods added 14 helping Texas 17-5, 9-0 hold off a late Baylor rally for a 59-50 Southwest Conference victory. Baylor 8-11, 3-6 scored seven straight points and narrowed a 13-point lead to six. But Wright broke the drought with a basket, and Woods hit two free throws and then converted a three-point play with 1:33 left.

Ole Miss 66, Tennessee 61 KNOXVILLE, Tenn. Elston Turner scored 29 points, pulling Mississippi from a 15-point second-half deficit to a 66-61 upset of Tennessee in an SEC game. The loss was the fourth in a row for Tennessee 12-7, 7-4, which dropped out of first place. Mississippi 11-8, 5-6 got Turner, a Knoxville native, when the Vols made no effort to recruit him three years ago. lona 77, Wagner 73 NEW YORK-Jeff Ruland and Glenn Vickers scored 17 points apiece to lead lona 15-4 to a 77-73 victory over Wagner 11-6.

Wagner, which plays De Paul Feb. 21 in Madison Square Garden, was led by Daymo Yisar's 17 points. Yisar led a comeback that was blunted by Alex Middleton's two foul shots with six seconds left. From Tribune Wire Services CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. The trou-ble with playing defense is a good offensive play can still beat you, a lesson Virginia learned the hard way Wednesday night.

The Cavaliers had outscored Maryland 8-1 in 59 seconds to create a 61-all tie with 42 seconds left in their Atlantic Coast Conference game. They had waited while Maryland ran 32 seconds off the clock and called time out to set up a play. Then Virginia defensed the play so well Maryland had to abandon it but Ernest Graham's 22-foot shot with four seconds left dropped through and the Terps 15-3, 7-1 were atop the ACC after a 63-61 victory. "I thought we had this one won," Maryland Coach Lefty Driesell said. Terry Holland of Virginia 16-5, 5-3 thought the same thing.

"We missed a lot of our perimeter shots," he said. "And they were only giving us one chance." Virginia hit 44 per cent, Maryland 47. Albert King led Maryland with 18 points; center Buck Williams and Greg Manning had 16 each. Jeff Lamp, whose free throws tied the game at 61, had 20 for Virginia; Lee Raker had 14 and 7-4 center Ralph Sampson, who had an eight-inch height advantage on Williams, 12. Georgia 76, Florida 48 ATHENS, Ga.

Reggie Hannah, Florida's leading scorer, missed the team plane and thus wasn't around for the Gators' SEC game with Georgia. "He thought the flight was at a later hour," Florida assistant Elden Kamla said. "He feels bad about it." The rest of the Gators 4-14, 1-10 don't feel so hot either after Georgia 13-5, 6-5 walloped them 76-48. Duke 82, Wake Forest 61 WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. Mike Grain-ski 32 points, 11 rebounds and Gene Banks 28 points, 12 rebounds led Duke 17-3, 5-3 to an 82-61 ACC victory at Wake Forest 9-9, 2-61.

A 12-0 burst midway through the second half put the game away. Syracuse 93, Temple 77 SYRACUSE, N.Y. Center Bouie, whose four-year career with Syracuse has been highlighted more by defense and rebounding than scoring, hit a career-high 30 points to pace the Orangemen 18-1 to a 93-77 victory their 55th straight at home over Temple 12-6. "He still hasn't peaked yet," Coach Jim Boeheim said of Bouie. "He'll be better later this year and he's going to be even better next year." LSU 83, Vanderbilt 81 BATON ROUGE, took 30 points and 13 rebounds from Rudy Mack-lin and two clutch baskets from freshman Howard Carter for Louisiana State 15-4, 8-3 to hold off Vanderbilt 83-81 in a Southeastern Conference game.

"This game was an alarm for us. We were out there trying to coast, and you can't do that in this conference," LSU Coach Dale Brown said. Vandy 10-8, 4-7 never had a chance to tie in the final From Tribune Wire Services COLUMBIA, Mo. Kansas State's strategy was to let Rolando Black-man "Slip in and out." He did just that, scoring 21 points to give Kansas State a 66-64 victory over Missouri Wednesday night, leaving the Wildcats alone in first place in the Big Eight. Kansas State, 6-1 in the Big Eight and unbeaten in four conference road games, took a 36-31 lead after a seesaw first half and seized its biggest lead, 56-48, with 5:51 remaining.

Missouri, the preseason Big Eight favorite, fell to 4-3 in the conference. The Tigers are tied for third with Oklahoma; Nebraska is second. "We were playing too frantic on defense," said Missouri Coach Norm Stewart. "Offensively, we did a little better but we couldn't change the tempo of the game." Kansas State, which set a Big Eight record by hitting 16 of 16 free throws Saturday against Nebraska, hit 10 of 11 against Missouri. Nebraska 59, Oklahoma 58 LINCOLN, Naderer's 20-foot jump shot from the corner with 10 seconds left lifted Nebraska to a 59-58 Big Eight victory over Oklahoma.

Nebraska 14-7, 5-2 had a 15-point lead with left, but Oklahoma 13-6, 4-3 outscored the Huskers 24-2 during the next 9 minutes to take a 5-point lead that was wiped out during the final 2 minutes. Colorado 78, Iowa St. 68 BOULDER, Jo Hunter, hit 16 of 16 free throws and added three field goals to lead Colorado to a 78-68 Big Eight victory over Iowa State. Colorado, which converted 17 of 19 free throws, is 13-6 on the season and 34 in the conference. The Cyclones dropped to 8-11 and 2-5.

Oklahoma St. 71, Kansas 67 STILLWATER, Youman scored 22 points to lead Oklahoma State 7-12 overall to its first Big 8 victory in seven starts, 71-67 over Kansas. Darnell Valentine had 22 points for the Jayhawks 3-4 and 9-9. Aurora 85, IBC 79 AURORA COLLEGE 12-6, 5-2 hit all nine free throws in overtime and took an 85-79 Northern Illinois Intercollegiate Conference victory over Illinois Benedictine 14-4, 5-2 in the losers' gym in Lisle. Evansville 86, UWM 70 EVANSVILLE, Leaf scored 24 points to lead Evansville 12-61 to a 86-70 victory over Wisconsin-Milwaukee 5-U Bob Flood led UWM with 20.

North Park 96, Concordia 67 NORTH PARK completed a sweep of its 11 games in January by swatting aside Concordia 96-67. The kings 19-1 got 26 points, 22 rebounds, 9 blocked shots, 3 assists, and 2 steals from center Michael Harper. Northern III. 52, Valpo 48 VALPARAISO, Ind. Allen Rayhorn scored 21 points and hit a layup with 3:25 to play that put Northern Illinois 9-8 in the lead to stay in a 52-48 victory over Valparaiso 8-12.

Valpo had tied it at 45 when Julian Hudson made one of two free throws 20 seconds earlier. Jeff Simmons scored 14 for Valparaiso. Rayhorn scored 15 points in the second half. Millikin 73, Wheaton 56 DECATUR, III. Dave Kupish scored 21 points to help Millikin 5-3 in the CCIW, 7-9 overall pull away in the second half for a 73-56 CCIW victory over Wheaton.

Clyde Glass had 18 points and Dan Fiddler 16 for Wheaton 2-6, 7-11. Blackburn 88, Illinois Coll. 80 JACKSONVILLE, III. Ingram and Brad Eckols each contributed 19 points to lead Blackburn to an 88-80 nonconference college basketball victory over Illinois College. Tim Smith led Illinois College 4-10 with 27 points.

Blackburn is 10-7. Pacers just can't miss losing to Washington NBA roundup 76ers 121, Pistons 108 PHILADELPHIA The 7fiers found the antidote for their three-game losing streak play Detroit at home. The Pistons couldn't cope with Juluis Erving's fire power 27 points and rolled to a 121-108 victory over the NBA's worst team. Jazz 102, Nets 100 SALT LAKE CITY Ben Poquette scored 27 points to power the Utah Jazz to a 102-100 victory over the New Jersey Nets. Poquette was backed by 18 points each from Adrian Dantley and Allen Bristow.

The Nets were led by rookie Calvin Natt with 30 points 25 in the second half. MICHEUNMICHBUNMICHIUMMKHaHJM Soviets beat U.S. MOSCOW, Reutersl The Soviet. Union beat the United States 5-4 in a series of amateur boxing matches in Tbilisi Suns 122, Nuggets 114 PHOENIX, ArizPaul Westphal. Walter Davis, and Truck Robinson combined for 85 points, leading the Suns over Denver 122-114.

Westphal had 30 points, 18 in the second half, Davis had 29, 19 in the second half, and Robinson had 28, 15 in the last two periods. Denver played without forward George McGinnis again; team officials are trying to get him to consent to a trade to Indiana. TIRE SAVES YOU THE GAS SAVER i FREE BsrcrHTC ALIGNMENT with purchase af 4 Michelin Tires v.qhttvl.lpj BOXERS Fri. Fab. 1, IrOO P.M.

INTERNATIONAL AMPHITHEATRE, 43rd al Nalsttd From Tribune Wire Services LANDOVER, Johnson just couldn't miss Wednesday night even when he wanted to. The ex-Bulls forward scored a National Basketball Association career- high 41 points, but sealed the Indiana Pacers' 120-119 loss to the Washington Bullets by making a free throw he tried to miss with three seconds left. The Pacers, who lost for the only the second time in 10 games, trailed 120-117 when Johnson was fouled in the backcourt with three seconds left. He hit the first shot of a three-chances-to-make-two opportunity, intentionally missed the second, and arched the third high to make a tip-in easier but it rattled in. Washington, last year's runner-up in the playoffs but struggling badly at home nowadays, needed season-high point totals from Elvin Hayes 38 and Wes Un-seld 24.

Spurs 118, Rockets 111 HOUSTON San Antonio, noted for its offense, held Houston without a field goal for the last three minutes and spurted to a 118-111 victory over the Rockets. Houston center Moses alone led all scorers with 29 points. The Spurs got 25 points from George Gervin and 24 from James Silas. Celts 110, Cavs 103 BOSTON The Cleveland Cavaliers paid the price for their four-overtime victory over Los Angeles the night before, running out of gas in the fourth quarter and falling to the 110-103 to the Celtics. Boston's Larry Bird, benched twice in the first half because of 2-for-ll shooting, had 15 points and 12 rebounds in the second half.

Kings 99, SuperSonics 97 SEATTLE Otis Birdsong's 20-footer with a second to play Wednesday night lifted the Kansas City Kings past the SuperSonics 99-97. Birdsong, who led all scorers with 28 points, cut loose from the left corner, despite the defense of Seattle guard Dennis Johnson. The Kings had wiped out a big Seattle lead in the second quarter when reserve Billy McKinney scored 12 of his 14 points. Guard Phil Ford added 16 for the Kings and forward Bill Robinzine had 24. Seattle forward Lonnie Shelton, who scored 14 first half points, paced the Sonics with 23.

It was the Kings' third consecutive victory and Seattle's third loss in a row, the Sonics' longest losing streak this season. coupon- Bulls vs. Los Angeles Lakers at Chicago Stadium, 7 p.m. HWT. 10 Rds.

3 i Free MOUNTING FIRST QUALITY "NO" SECONDS COOKIE WALLACE 1 JAMES "OUICK" TILLIS vs. 12-0-12 KOs 34 32 5 9 3 175 Lbs. 10 Rds. zx NOBLE MURRAY SUTHERL1N0 II! VI 73 S3 SI US inn lii tj its ii 11-2-2-S KOJ 134U KOs WHITEWALLS REG. IIS I) SALE 134 IS S0 S41.SS S4S.SS MM S4S.IS S51.95 tan 49.91 151 SS4.95 S47.9S $129! 175 Lbs.

10 Rds. VI! 51 VII IS Villi 15)5? UW! VSIS1 VM4I I1IJ0 Villi VMII Villi Villi Villi SALE I5M5 $56.95 $63.95 i $69,95 ft $73.95 $79.95 $83.93 $86.95 8121 ni.ii SIMS 99 191.15 HSJl SlRJi IB-IIIIM-II) 115-13 ik-hidiehii-u) its-Miiiinm-uui) 306-14 IS (6RTS-14 IS) 115-IIIIIIKIin-Utli) unit-ill Lakart' coach Assistant Paul West-head, until Jack McKinney recovers from Injuries suffered In a bicycle accident. Lakere' record 37-17, second in the Pacific Division. Lakara' atrengtha The Lakers are rolling tight along under Westhead, despite his reputation as an Intellectual. McKinney, critically hurt Nov.

8, is making steady progress. The coach scouted a game in Denver last week, watched his team from the stands In Portland, and works In the office. He's expected back before the season ends, but the doctors will decide exactly when. In the meantime, Westhead has the Lakers running and hustling, blending Kareem AbdukJabbar's pivot dominance with the flashy moves of Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Norm Nixon. It adds up to the NBA'a best-shooting team; the Lakers are hitting at a .537 clip.

Lakara' weakneseee On defense, the Lakers cant match up well against guard-rich teams like Seattle and they do not tight through picks aggressively. Depth also can be a problem, especially when AbdukJabbar is in foul trouble. But rookie Mike Cooper plays tough defense at guard or forward. Lakara' Injuries Forward Don Ford was In traction for a back problem last week, so he probably won't play Thursday. Johnson Is back at top form after a pulled groin muscle limited his floor time for a few games.

Bulla' update The Lakers will come In smarting from tour-overtime, 154-153 toss to Cleveland Tuesday the" longest game In their history. The battered Bulls get four days off during the Alt-Star break to ponder the remote chance of a miracle playoff drive In their last 29 games. vs. IIS II IS 115 II II IIS II I) IIS It I IS 14 IIS 14 ISS IS IIS IS HENRY SIMS 63 greg Mcpherson 10-3 I11UI lurt-ii) CALL FOR OTHER SIZES 1 147 Lbs. 10 Rds.

JOSE SANTANA vs. BRUCE FINCH 17-1-17 KOs 25-4 I 3 KLi tires Dei Plaints Downtrs Grove 0k Lawn imoiPM ill opt iiiii. an rvjRl 297.7690 960-4510 638-1281 M-M! Plus Other Bouts Titkcti $53 Rlngild, $15 lex, $10 loliany ON SAll AMFHITHIATM IOX-OFFICI, CAll 927-SSSO All TICKITRON OUTIITS SEARS AND WARDS, CALL 454-6977 MKHIUN MICHBUN MICHEUN MFCHEUN.