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Show Page HERALD Pmv.. Utah. Sunday. February 24. 1980 Sports: uaars Dribble Pas? Cow boys, 39 What's happening on the national cene, state and local sports, columns Jnd opinions By MARION DUNN Herald Sports Editor - BYU's basketLARAMIE. Wyo ball team followed tradition and rut down the strings after beating Wyoming 0 to wrap up undisputed possession of the WAC championship here Saturday afternoon but then had to 39-3- fight for their trophies. As soon as the Cougars had the ball Dur-ragame, Alan Taylor lifted Devin Steve and basket one under Anderson boosted Scott Runia on the other end. Durrant and Runia took down the nets and Runia put his around his neck. Durrant handed his to Taylor and said, "this is yours." And the two seniors wore the badges of triumph into the dressing room. But Wyoming came after them. The Cowboys had a jayvee game scheduled and said they needed the nets. This was the way what started out as a bitter, bitter battle ended. Once burned is twice learned. The Cougars suffered their only conference loss to Wyoming when the Cowboys held onto the ball in the Marriott nt Center After that game Cowboy coach Jim Brandenburg said his stall was something he would do on the road but would never do at home BYU coach Frank Arnold didn't believe him. Saturday before one of the biggest crowds of the season here, 6189. Brandenburg did what he said he would never do at home. He took the air out of the ball. But BYU was ready and beat him at his own game. The Cougars went with five players all the way and Fred Boo' Roberts. Devin Durrant, Alan Taylor. Scott Runia and Danny Ainge played one of the finest games of their lives. They had to do everything just about perfect. They never lost their cool. They forced Wyoming into crucial errors and they took control and held on to it. One of the fans was Danny Ainge's father, Don. Walking away from the floor, Don Ainge said of his son. "this was the best game Danny has ever played. And BYU's coaching job was the best coaching I have ever seen." It certainly was Ainge was the floor leader and made an unbelievable shot that could have meant the whole ballgame although it came in the first half. Wyoming had tied the score at l. regained possession and thought they had the last basket of the half when Mike Jackson banked in a with four seconds to play. But Ainge got the pass, dribbled just past the center line, jumped and fired a that swished the net right at the bell. That took away any momentum the Cowboys might have gained and the second half belonged to the Cougars. With two minutes to play BYU had a 8 lead but had been playing excel30-2- lent four corners basketball and Wyoming was forced to foul. Runia hit both ends of a Ainge then made six free throws and Taylor added the front end of another. BYU had been working on dcfensing the Cowboys and did this very well. Arnold started his players in a 3 zone, then went yo-y-o by switching to a e. 2-- when the ball went to the left side and back to a if it went to the right. And right down the line Arnold Uj Brandenburg. When the Cougars got a lead they went into ball control. They mixed the four corners with an stall and they capitalized enough times to take the lead and keep it. The victory boosted BYU's record to 22-- 4 with two home games remaining. The Cougars became the first team in WAC history to win every road game in conference play. They swept New Mexico and UTEP, put San Diego State and Hawaii in the bag and looted Ft. Collins and Laramie after tiptoeing out c. Salt Lake. That gave them an 1 in the conference and, if they beat Hawaii and San Diego State next week, they will become only the third school in conference history to go through league play with one loss. Arizona State did this in the early years of the conference when it had fewer members and New Mexico did it two years ago. Ainge scored in double Figures for the 2--3 ut 11-- Laramie? You shiver a lot. You stay away from open doorways. You think about Sonja Henie movies and you find yourself listening for sleighbells. Or else you sit in your motel room and fantasize about BYU's basketball team gaining the NCAA Final Four next month. The Cougars end their regular season on the afternoon of March 1 against San Diego State in the Marriott Center. On March 2 the NCAA tournament committee teams will announce the and the pairings for this year's tournament. BYU will be seeded into the NCAA tournament as WAC champion, but which regional the Cougars will play in and whether or not they will be seeded into the second round depends upon the NCAA Committee's opinion of the Cougars' won-los- s record and schedule. One thing is certain. BYU will not play on Sunday. This means the Cougars will go to one of the following four sites for first and second-roun- d games: Weber State, Nebraska, Purdue or Greensboro. N C If the Cougars are 24-- 4 or 23-- 5 they are almost a cinch to stay in the Far West and should be assigned to the games at Weber State. This could mean a confrontation with Weber. Three Utah teams should be in the NCAA, BYU as WAC champion, Weber as Big Sky king, and Utah State as PCAA champion. Okay, what are the Cougars' chances of making it past the first two rounds to the regionals i The Cougars shot 56 percent from the field, getting 13 of 23 Taylor had 11 points, Runia eight. Roberts four and Durrant one. But in this game it wasn't the points you scored but how you controlled the ball that counted. Taylor, Roberts and Durrant were awesome under the boards with Taylor getting six rebounds and all three of them making numerous blocks or forcing bad shots underneath. Runia, Ainge and Durrant carried the brunt of the ball control portion and did very well. Wyoming shot 64 percent in the first half, but this was shut down to 25 in the second and 38 for the game. In the second half BYU outscored the Cowboys 21-1- 2. Charles Bradley led Wyoming with 12 points and Bill Garrett had six. Brandenburg had high praise for the Cougars, saying, "BYU is a fine basketball team, no, change that, a tremendous team. We wish them all the good things to come in the NCAA - piavoffs. I think if they put it together and have a little luck they are good enough to represent the West. They are " so strong at so many positions. BRIGHAM YOt NG fg II re 13 IS Durrant Roberts Taylor Ainge l 1 22124 I 5 2 2 74 S Runu a pf 3 - 3 11 1 I 2 15 1 13-14 7 38 10 TOTALS FG"t 1st Half 615 2nd Half WO Game 565 FT, 1st Halfl 000 2nd Half 733. Game 764 WYOMING h fg aue reb pf 24 M Gamed Theswvitj Johnson 7 2 2 04 4 54 04 Wrapp Treece McOeadon . 3 2 2 l 5 1 10 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 2 TOTALS Ft 1 04 Hamilton FG. 4 t 4 42(22: 3 Bradley ti i 5 IS 2 0 1 30 1st Half 643 2nd Half 250 Game 385 1st Half 000 2nd Half 000 Game 0OU Officials Tunney and Fincnon Attendance 6889 BYU II vo IS 12 30 LAKE PLACID, N Y. (UPI) Eric n Heiden's icecapades boosted the nation's pride another notch Saturday with a record fifth gold medal in speed skating but the excitement was tempered a bit when Linda Fratianne failed to beat East Germany's Annet Poetzsch for the women's figure skating Jie. Less than 12 hours after Heiden scored his triumph, Fratianne lost out to Poetzsch for the title as "Queen of the Ice." Poetzsch, who had come into the final free skating program with a '..light lead skated flawlessly and held on to her lead despite a fine performance by Fratianne. Dagmar Lurz of West Germany took the bronze medal. Admittedly inspired by the United States' 3 hockey victory over the Soviet Union Friday night, Heiden sped to a world record 14 minutes, 28.13 seto become conds in the the first athlete in Winter Olympics' competition to win five gold medals. "I thought I could win one or two gold medals but I thought five was out of the question " said Heiden. "You guys (the news media ) said I could win five but it went in one ear and out the other." "I felt pretty good " said Fratianne. who fell during a warmup routine. "I'm very happy it's over. This has been just a strain on my nerves. Thursday night I felt a little more on. Tonight I was just pushing it." In other gold medal events Saturday Hanni Wenzel of Liechtenstein won the women's special slalom the Soviet cross Union took the country relay and Jouko Tormanen of ski jump. Finland won the 4-- 10,000-mete- I u Weber Jayvees Win - four-minu- te Tucson and advancing from there to the Final Four in Indianapolis? Will you buy I know that's going out on a limb because every team in the NCAA playoffs has to be a winner and a potential champion. Some very good teams from outside such as DePaul last this area will undoubtedly play year here in the West. And the West has some great teams of its own 50-5- such as Oregon State, Washington State. Arizona State and the Utah schools. In addition I think UTEP will make the playoffs, but they could be sent to another area. But is BYU good enough to be a bet? Well, this BYU team has done something no other team has accomplished in the history of the Western Athletic Conference. It has won every WAC game on the road. This has never been done before. It might never be done 50-5- 0 again. Coach Frank Arnold has done a superlative job of bringing this young team along so that it plays the run and gun game to near perfection and also plays stubborn, unyielding defense at times. In Danny Ainge and Scott Runia the Cougars have a pair of matched guards that can shoot and play with anyone in the country. And Steve Craig takes nothing away from this when he is cn the floor. One can't say too much about the present play of sophomore forwards Fred Boo' Roberts and Devin Durrant. As sophomores they have played the best in the country And they are in the class themselves. Any super-sta- r NCAA rival who fails to build its Royal Edwards scored 29 Weber Clubs Idaho St. and offensive help from Tim got points Utah (UPI) Bruce ColOGDEN, and Brian Doolan, Eric Watson lins pumped in 30 points Saturday night Devincenzi as Weber State's junior varrecord to set a Big Sky career-scorin- g sity toppled Utah Technical College at and pace Weber State to an Provo-Ore3 Saturday night. 7 conference win over Idaho State. Watson added 15 to the Wildcat total, Devincenzi chipped in 11 and Doolan BYU Women Win had 10. Led Tina Gunn and Jackie Beene. by 23 Mike with UTC led Joe Tait points. Hatch had 14, Steve Rowley 13 and Karl who combined for more than 55 points in each game, BYU's women's basketAnderson 12. ball team defeated New Mexico UTAH TECH 183) Anderson 6 04 12. Hatch 7 04 14. Thompson 3 04 6. Friday night in Albuquerque and beat Texas-E- l Pace 2 34 7. Tait 10 4 23. Bills 0 04 0. Rowley 5 Paso 8 Saturday night in 13. Longshore 4 04 8. Totals 37 El Paso. Weber State Jayvees (84) Gunn scored 41 and Beene 20 to lead 9. Devincenzi 5 29. Salem 4 Edwards 13 4. 15. Doolan 5 04 10. Jones 2 11. Watson 7 BYU to the victory over New Mexico. Davis 0 04 0. Allen 04 2. Cameron 1 04 2. Gunn and Beene again dominated the Woolstenhulme 04 2. B. Tate 0 04 0. Totals 39 scoring against UTEP as Gunn had 35 Halftime score: Weber 38. UTC 35. Total fouls: and Beene 22. No other Cougar scored 10 or more points, but seven others Weber 14. UTC 12 Fouled out: Doolan. had four or more points. each Meet OGDEN FIGURE SKATER Linda Fratiaone earned the silver medal in women's skating Saturday night, finishing behind East Germany's Annet Poetzsch. Fratianne skated well in her free skating routine, but wound np .7 of a point behind Poetzsch at the end of competition. (UPI Telephoto) AMERICAN at rs Late Notes 16th-rank- 84-8- 81-6- ml What Are Odds on Cougars? - time, finishing with 15 only four at intermission. one-ma- Marion Dunn' What do LARAMIE, Wyo. you do on a February night in after having Heiden, Fratianne Earn Olympic Medals Oregon State Gymnasts Win It was supposed to be a showdown between two nationally ranked gymnastics powerhouses, but apparently someone forgot to tell Oregon State as the Beavers swept to victory over BYU and Iowa State in Saturday's triangular meet in the Smith Fieldhouse. Number four ranked Oregon State looked impressive as the Beavers took four of the top six all around spots enroute to a 143.35 score, easily outdistancing the number seven ranked Cougars' 138.35 and Iowa State's 130.10. After the match, BYU coach Debbie Hill said Oregon State was a really good, solid team, adding that "they beat us all the way through the match." The afternoon did provide one bright spot for BYU as Jan Shelley, looking fully recovered from her injured ankle, captured the vaulting exercise with a 9.2 score. She was also second on the balance beam with a 9.25 score and the runner-u- p in floor exercises with a 9.2 effort. Shelley finished second in the all around competition, behind OSU'S Mary Ayotle. Ayotle scored 36.3 and Shelley recorded a 36.1. The remaining individual events were all captured by Oregon State. The Ducks' Linda Parker took the balance beam with a 9.55 score, Kris Felming won the uneven parallel bars with a 9.25 score and Ayotle's 9.55 gave her the floor exercises' victory. Iowa State did not have a single gymnast score amongst the top six in any of the day's events. 77th straight plans around stopping those two could be in for a bad licking. There is just no telling how good those two will be when they are seniors. But if the Cougars are going to make it to the Final Four, the key player will be the man who serves as the "Iron Fist in BYU's Velvet Glove," center Alan Taylor. Basketball is a big man's game. Taylor is the big man on and 240 the BYU team. At Taylor has worked with the weights until he is as strong as anyone in college basketball. Taylor can handle the give and take, the rough and tumble, that goes with playing pivot in college ball today. In fact, the rougher the play the better Taylor seems to like it. In one game last year Taylor was assessed a technical foul for complaining about what he considered a ticky foul called on him. "Ref, let us play. This is a man's game," Taylor told the 6-- official. Taylor plays basketball like a man's game. He is the best big man in the conference with only L TEP's Anthony Burns and Terry White and Utah's Tom Chambers close to him in class. With two regular season game3 n left and at least one game Taylor still has a chance to replace the legendary Kresimir e Cosic as the Cougars' rebound leader. Cosie s record is 919. Taylor had 865 going into Saturday's game with Wyoming. He has been averaging just over 10 per game but starts each game with 15 as his goal. If he can average 15 for the final three regular-seaso- n games he will have 910. This would leave him only nine post-seaso- 92-7- 0 3 3-- 93-7- 3 1 2 1 1 behind Cosic with at least one more game to play. And no one can overstate the importance of Taylor's board work in this team's success. If , Taylor dominates the boards the Cougars dominate the game. It's that simple. But with the rough play inside Taylor can get into foul trouble. What happens then? What happens if Taylor is forced to spend much of the game on the bench? Well, freshman Greg Kite, the from Houston, has been impressive this winter. He played 12 minutes against CSU Thursday and took down nine rebounds. Taylor had 17 so the two had 26 between them. 1, er see any problem at all if I go out and Kite has to replace me," Taylor said while watching "I don't America's Olympic hockey team upset the Russians Friday night. "We both get the rebounds and we both are playing good defense. He is the toughest player I go against all year because we battle in practice and no fouls are called. That might hurt us during a game. We go at each other so hard in practice it carries over into the game. And sometimes we go up harder than we have to and commit an unnecessary foul because we are accustomed to playing each other that physical in practice." So, I think the Cougars have a 0 chance of getting to and through the Far West regionals this year. The Cougar starters are all premier players. Led by Craig and Kite the bench is very strong. The Cougars are exceptionally BYU's basektball team just might find out in person if it rains in Indianapolis in the springtime. 50-5- Gymnastics The BYU gymnastics team will face Utes Whip Rams Indiana State in a match set for 5:30 FT. COLLINS, Colo. Danny p.m. Monday on the main floor of the Smith Field House. Indiana State is Vranes scored 27 points and Donnie ranked in the top 10 in the nation. Rice added 20 as Utah defeated 4 in a Western Colorado State Utes Swamp Cats Athletic Conference game Saturday SALT LAKE CITY Utah used its night. depth to advantage to swamp BYU 5 in a dual swimming meet Saturday. Juab Wins Rick NEPHI to May scored 30 points, According Cougar coach Tim Powers, the meet was closer than the including the last one with four seconds final score indicates, however A pair left in overtime as Juab downed Manti in Region Eight play Saturday of Cougar swimmers won their events Val Jones added 18 for the Wasps. with Evan Kirschner taking the (631 freestyle in 9:44.74 and Mark MANTI Russell 5 44 14. Sorensen 4 8. Jorgensen 2 04 4 in McGregor winning the 13. Abegglen 3 04 2 11. Petersen Squire 6 1:43.8. Teammate Andy Seibt was se- Baxter 5 11. Totals 26 II 19 - 98-8- - 78-3- - 64-6- 3 1000-meet- 7 cond at 1:45.7. Ian Hubble finished second in the butterfly at and Kevin Leichner was fourth in 200-met- the 50 1:5-5.- freestyle at 21.517. JUAB 64 May 12 64 30. Jones 7 4 Howarth 4 04 8 Robinson 0 4. Pav 0 Totals red 12 12 i McCalferv 2 IW) All 18 0 0. 26 Manti 11 27 44 61 63 Juab 15 33 50 61 64 BYU Baseball Team 4th in Desert Cossic - LA i VEGAS a 2 overall record is the result of BYU's baseball performances at the second annual Desert Gassic over the weekend. Although the Cougars finished the tourney with a 1 record, tournament play continued through Sunday without the Cougars and BYU will have to wait to see where it places. 6-- 4-- Most lecently. the Cougars secured and the wins over Cal Irvine, on SaturUniversity of San Diego. day to go along with a 10--1 victory over the University of New Mexico on Friday. In the New Mexico game, shortstop Cliff Pastornicky had two sterling catches on line drives to prevent extra base hits, but the junior also injured his arm prior to that game. Sophomore Mark Adamiak filled in for Pastornicky as short during the 6-- 5. 7-- Saturday games. The game marathon with the Anteaters, prolonged beyond the normal two-homark by an eighth inning homer by BYU's Kurt Lee. The Irvine game was more like "the comeback kids," for BYU. with Rich Thorn bunting down the third base line to bring in Jeff Burton for the winning run. The San Diego game was more like the "Cardiac Kids," with USD scoring four runs in the top of the seventh inning before BYU's George Gowland came in for the save. Gowland came in during the last inning with the bases loaded and secured three outs from three batters. Sunday play in the tcurnev involves who is currently at and Nevada-La- s Vegas or Nebraska. The Cougars' next action is this com-inweekend with a pair of doubleheaders at Boise State. Cal-Irvi- was an 0 g |