The News and Observer from Raleigh, North Carolina • 45

The News and Observer SPORTS United Press International Leander Green's run helps set up East Carolina touchdown Sutton helps ECU win Ind Independence By CHIP ALEXANDER Staff Writer SHREVEPORT, La. Through a long and distinguished movie career, actor John Wayne has always been known as a showstopper. And it was obvious the "Duke" was the crowd favorite Saturday at the third annual Independence Bowl. But Wayne, who accepted a "Spirit of Independence" award at halftime, was forced to share top billing. It's just that East Carolina's Pirates were in no mood to be outshone.

With its vaunted defense helping it to an early first-half cushion and darting fullback Ted Sutton igniting the Buc offense, ECU ripped pass-minded Louisiana Tech, 35-13. The Pirate defenders, led by defensive player-of-the-game Zack Valentine, forced seven Tech turnovers. It was the first bowl activity for East brought zip code statistics into the game. Bulldog quarterbacks Eric Barkley and Keith Thibodeaux, dodging a heavy rush most of the afternoon, could connect on just 18 of 52 passes. Tech did roll up 263 yards throwing, but suffered three interceptions.

"They're tough, real tough," admitted Barkley, a freshman who was forced to go most of the way after Thibodeaux, last year's offensive MVP, was knocked senseless by the head hunting Pirates and taken to a hospital. "They blitzed on every down. We didn't execute very well, but they had a lot to do with it. We just didn't have time to throw." Louisiana Tech, which could get just 12 yards rushing, put itself in a big hole early in the game, fumbling at its 16 and 19 yardlines. See PIRATE, page 13 Carolina in 13 long years, and as the sec- East.

Car. onds ticked away Saturday, the elation on Lou. Tech '86 3 0- 35 13 ns 3 run (Lamm (Lamm kick) kick) the ECU sidelines demonstrated just how -Green much the victory meant to the Bucs. EC-Collins LT-Spruiell 1 32 run pass (Lamm from kick) Thibodeaux LT-FG Swilley 36 (Swilley kick) "All we've wanted all along was a LT-FG Swilley 36 chance to show what kind of football we can EC-Sutton 45 run (Lamm kick) play," said a jubilant Sutton, who slashed A -Hicks 2 run (Lamm kick) his way for an Independence Bowl record 143 in 17 carries. First EC LT yards downs 17 18 "I think we proved everything we set out Passing Rushes-yards yards 67-278 33-12 Return yards 54 263 to do in this game.

We came to play and 97 6 Passes 4-14-0 stuck it to them." Punts 18-52-3 And it was the Pirates wire-to-wire. 2-2 4-4 Fumbles-lost Penalties-yards 7-65 0-0 Forcing three early Bulldog fumbles, the Bucs hit the Southland Conference champs ECU: Green 17-41, INDIVIDUAL Hicks 13-23, RUSHING Collins 9-18, Sutton 17- with a quick 21-0 deficit before Wayne had 143, Washington 2-34, Wiley 2-0, Hawkins 1-2, Greer 2-28, Cobb 1-1, Harrell 1-minus 2, Gallaher 1-minus 11. Totals even found his seat. 67-278. East Carolina then let Tech which was LOUISIANA TECH: Thibodeaux 4-minus 12, Yates 12- 19, Clark 6-28, Barkley 7-minus 24, Barrios 1-minus 7, a 24-14 winner over Louisville in last year's Johnson 1-3, Leviston 1-2, Vernasco 1-3.

Totals 33-12. Independence Bowl creep to within 21-13 ECU: Green 4-13-0-54, Collins PASSING in the third quarter before sprinting away LOUISIANA TECH: Barkley 0-1-0-0, 12-39-3-160, 0 Totals A Thibodeaux 4-14-0-54. 6- for good. 13-0-103. Totals 18-52-3-263.

The hungry Buc defenders, ranked sec- ECU: Gallaher 3-33, Washington 1-21. ond nationally in total defense, virtually LOUISIANA TECH: Spruiell 7-130, Giordano 3-67, Yates 2-13, Pree 1-7, Willis 1-17, Johnson 1-9, Leviston 1-7, Coates defused Tech's passing attack, which 1-4, Clark 1-10. Angelo State rips Elon 'McALLEN, Texas (AP) Angelo State, paced by Mark Embry's passing and Jerry Aldridge's running, scored three early touchdowns and held off a feisty Elon College challenge to take a 34-14 victory in Saturday's NAIA Division I football title game. In the inaugural City of Palms Bowl, running back Aldridge carried for 119 yards on 29 carries and two touchdowns as he topped the 100-yard mark for the 17th straight game. The Rams of San Angelo, Texas, opened the scoring on their first possession when Embry hit tight end Eldredge Beverly, who made a juggling catch to cap a 13-play, 67-yard drive with 8:39 left in the first quarter.

Embry, who completed 19 of 36 passes for 197 yards, also spearheaded a second-quarter, 78- yArd drive that culininated in a 14-yard touch- Sunday, December 17, 1978, section II Tar Heels survive scare to upset Michigan State By JOE TIEDE Sports Editor CHAPEL HILL Board-charging North Carolina had firm control over thirdranked Michigan State for 39 minutes Saturday night. But the last minute counts, too, and the visiting Spartans nearly turned things around before the Tar Heels escaped with a 70-69 decision. Down by seven with 1:24 left, the Spartans threw a mighty scare into the highly vocal home crowd of 10,000. They scored six straight points and had the last shot with two seconds left. But a 10- foot jumper by center Jay Vincent bounced off the rim, enabling the Tar Heels and their loyal supporters to breathe a collective sigh of relief.

"It was a strange game," coach Dean Smith commented afterwards. "I thought we had the game pretty much put away when Al Wood missed that dunk and had the technical that turned it around." Carolina was leading 68-60 when Wood drove in for a stuff that bounced out. He was also called for grabbing the rim, Michigan State sank the one-shot technical and added a field goal, cutting the margin to five with little over 1:30 left. See CAROLINA, page 8 MICHIGAN STATE MP Charles. 37 Kelser.

35 Vincent 35 Johnson 40 Donnelly 36 Gonzalez Busby Lloyd Totals. ..200 CAROLINA MP 30 O'Koren 38 Wolfe. 19 Virgil. 16 Colescott 34 Wood. 30 Yonakor 21 Doughton Wiel.

Budko Totals ..200 FG FT TP 7-10 0-0 14 8-11 2-2 no 18 7-13 0-0 14 7-13 4-5 18 1-5 1-1 0-0 0-0 0-2 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-1 0-0 31-55 7-8 27 12 69 FG FT TP 4-10 2-3 10 40 5-6 8-11 10 18 2-4 0-0 -00 1-6 0-0 4-9 2-2 7-20 0-1 NO 3-5 0-0 3-3 0-0 0-0 0-0 000. 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 29-63 12-17 31 11 70 MICHIGAN STATE 29 40 69 CAROLINA 34 36 70 Total Fouls: Mich. St. 20, Carolina 11 Fouled out: Kelser, Donnelly. Turnovers: Mich.

St. 20, Carolina 12 A 10,000 Rich Yonakor wings pass between Earvin 0 Earvin Johnson called college's most complete cage player. Page 8. Johnson, and Terry Donnelly Wolfpack survives ek blues By LU ANGEL Staff Writer It's exam week at many area colleges and the ill effects came down hard on both State and UNC-Wilmington Saturday night in Reynolds Coliseum. After a poor shooting first half by both squads, the Wolfpack spurted near the end of the half, got itself in gear midway through the second period and went on to record its seventh win a 75-51 triumph before 8,300 fans.

"I thought it was a rather typical game between two teams in the midst of exams," said Wolfpack coach Norm Sloan. "The lack of sleep and practice time hurt us. We weren't sharp. We couldn't seem to get anything rolling. "We had some rather sub-par performances by individuals, but I attribute that 100 percent to the exam schedule.

I hope we get that behind us before we go to Maryland (Wednesday night)." Hawkeye Whitney led State with 13 points, 11 of those in the second half. Tony Warren had 11 and Tiny Pinder 10. Although the action was fast-paced in the opening minutes, neither team could get any continuity offensively. After having played over 13 minutes, the two teams could only manage a total of 27 points between them. But then came the crucial final two minutes in the half, a time when many games are won or lost.

With State leading 20-19, the Seahawks elected to work the ball slowly for a good shot. But the alertness of Warren and Art Jones muffed the plan. The two fleet-footed Wolfpackers ignited several fast break baskets off steals which woke up the sleepy crowd and sent State into the locker room with a 28-19 lead. The Wolfpack regained its shooting eye in the second half, connecting at a 64.5 percent clip compared to 32.4 percent in the opening twenty minutes. State outscored the visitors 21-10 in the opening 8 minutes of the second half to run away with the victory.

"Sometimes you play bad, sometimes you play good," analyzed State guard Clyde "the Glide" Austin. "It's hard to put the blame on any one thing. We just weren't quick tonight. The guys that came off the bench near the end of the half helped create the spurt we needed." Seahawk coach Mel Gibson felt his team had a golden opportunity to build a lead in the opening minutes, but couldn't overcome shooting woes of its own. 004 MICHIGA 33 Staff photo by Tom Reed "I thought defensively we played very well in the first half," said Gibson, whose team is now 5-2.

"We still had a great opportunity (to win) even at the beginning of the half, but we couldn't hit Gibson praised the Wolfpack's board strength and also the play of UNC-W senior forward Dave Wolff. "They are just awesome on the boards," he said. "They play bad, you play good and they can still beat you by 20." 33 Staff photo by Dixie D. Vereen Glenn Sudhop blocks Dave Wolff shot to win title fourth-quarter touchdowns to put the game away. Angelo State, the Lone Star Conference champion, rolled its record to 14-0 while Elon finished at 11-2-1.

The Rams' victory marked the ninth time in 10 years the LSC champion has taken the NAIA Division I title. Elon 07 7 0-14 Angelo St. 15 0 13-34 ASU -Beverly 4 pass from Embry (kick ASU -Garrett 14 pass from Embry (Ratliff failed), ASU -Aldridge 5 run (Jenkins kick) Elon -Maynard 45 pass from Currin (Rippy kick) Elon -Currin 1 run (Rippy kick) ASU -Gutierrez 5 run (Jenkins kick) ASU -Aldridge 2 run (kick failed) A Elon ASU First downs 14 34 Rushes-yards 34-43 60-245 Passing yards 165 197 Return yards 6 40 Passes 9-27-5 19-36-0 Punts Fumbles-lost 1-1 4-3 Penalties yards 7-64 12-114 See PACK, page 10 UNC-W MP Jones. 28 36 Cooper 24 Peterson .21 Taylor. 31 8 Davis.

19 Tobin. 12 6 Calipari Verba Totals. .200 N.C. STATE MP Pinder 24 Whitney 30 19 Austin 22 Warren 20 Sudhop. 13 Perkins 12 Parzuch 16 13 Matthews 24 Nevitt Wolf.

2 Totals. ...200 FG FT TP 7-12 6-11 20 2-9 0-0 APP 1-2 0-1 5 2-6 0-0 2 3-8 0-0 2-4 0-0 2-8 0-0 3-5 22-59 31 51 0-1 0-1 0-0 0-0 0-2 E833838 FG FT TP 4-9 2-2 00 10 6-12 1-2 13 4-8 0-0 a 2-9 0-0 4-9 3-3 0-0 0-1 1-3 0-0 4-6 0-0 2-6 3-6 4-5 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 1-1 1-2 32-68 11-18 37 14 75 UNC- 19 32 51 N.C. State 28 47 75 Total Fouls: UNC- 19, N.C. State 17. Fouled out: Cooper.

Turnovers: UNC- 24, N.C. State 14. A 8,300. down pass to flanker Alvin Garrett. Aldridge added a 5-yard scoring run with 1:21 left in the first half.

The Fighting Christians, who had not been able to generate much offense in the first half, then called on a trick play to pull off a 45-yard touchdown bomb from quarterback Mike Currin to receiver Willard Maynard. Maynard, who did not go into the Elon huddle, sneaked up the sideline unnoticed and was wide open when he took Curran's pass at Angelo State's 20. Maynard outran the Rams' defensive backfield to post Elon's first score. Elon, a heavy underdog, pulled to within one touchdown early in the third quarter when quarterback Curran sneaked in from a yard out after the Elon defense picked up an Angelo State fumY ble at the Rams' 26. But Angelo State added two Radio-TV 10:00 Football: Independence Bowl East Carolina vs.

Louisiana Tech, replay (WYNA-1550) 1:00 Football: Dallas at New York Giants (WWAY-Ch. 3, WNCT-Ch. 9, WTVD-Ch. 11) 1:00 Football: Cleveland at Cincinnati (WRET-Ch. 36) 2:00 Football: Buffalo at Baltimore (WECT-Ch.

6, WITN-Ch. 7, WPTFCh. 28) 2:00 Basketball: Atlanta at New York Knicks (WTCG-Ch. 17) 4:00 Football: Minnesota at Oakland (WWAY-Ch. 11, WNCT-Ch.

9, WTVD-Ch. 11) 7:30 Hockey: Boston at New York Rangers (Ch. 13).