Banner Graphic, Volume 13, Number 174, Greencastle, Putnam County, 31 March 1983 — Page 6

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The Putnam County Banner-Graphic, March 31,1983

Wittman candidate for Big Ten MVP BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) Randy Wittman’s selection as Indiana University’s most valuable player for 1983 gives him a shot at the Big Ten MVP trophy awarded annually by the Chicago Tribune, school officials say. Wittman, who was lU’s leading basketball scorer this season, started 125 of 133 games during his IU career that began in 1979. His career was interrupted in 1980 by a fractured ankle. The senior had his finest overall season in 1983, leading the Hoosiers in scoring with an 18.9 average while shooting 54.3 percent from the field and 82.4 percent from the free throw 4ine. He ranked third on the team with 135 rebounds, second with 87 assists and second with 31 steals. He led the Hoosiers in scoring in 17 games with a high of 33, hitting 16 of 21 field goal attempts in a game against lowa. In his career, Wittman started more games logged more minutes finished fifth on the all-time scoring list with 1,549 points. A graduate of Ben Davis High School in Indianapolis, the 6-foot-6 Wittman has been an Academic All-American the past ; two years. “Randy had an outstanding year and an outstanding career,” Coach Bob Knight said Wednesday. “His contribution to Indiana basketball was as good as any player we’ve ever had here. He’s a tremendous credit to Indiana basketball as a student and an athlete, both on and off the court. There’s no question he is the most valuable player in , the Big Ten.” Speedway reserved seats are sold out INDIANAPOLIS (AP) The Indianapolis Motor Speedway has sold all of its reserved seats for the 500*roile race May 29, earliest sellout in the track’s history. • Speedway officials say the laSt of the 235,000 tickets for reserved seats were sold March 25. Spokesman A 1 Bloemker • said he believes the heavy interest in this year’s race is a simple result of last year’s excitement. The 1982 race ended with Gordon Johncock nipping Rick Mears by a car length. - A spokesman for the track’s ticket office agreed with 'Bloemker, noting that about 80 percent of the ticket orders • for this year’s race arrived within days of last year’s 500. . “It took us all summer to open, read and process all the ticket requests we got the first week of last June,” the •spokesman added. “We always have a large number of people who renew the same seat every year, but usually we •still have bleacher seats available until the middle of May.” Qualifications set BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) About 50 bike-riding teams will attempt to qualify Saturday for the 33 starting positions ! in Indiana University’s Little 500 bicycle race April 23. .; Qualifications will begin at 8:30 am. in the Little 500- ; Soccer Stadium. Each team attempting to qualify has three ; chances. A qualification rurt will consist of four consecutive ; laps with each team member riding one lap. The 33 teams and their starting positions race day will be ; determined by the speed of the qualification run. In case of bad weather, qualifications will be postponed un- ; til April 3. Spectators are invited to qualifications, which are free. The Little 500, which was the subject of “Breaking Away,” a 1979 movie, is sponsored annually by the IU Student Foundation.

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Tim Weaver had his eyes and his bat on the ball Wednesday afternoon for the DePauw University baseball team. The freshman centerfielder rapped out a perfect four-for-four game at the plate during the Tigers' 9-8 vie-

Defense and patience how Bulldogs top Demons

NEW YORK (AP) - “At first, we probably didn't know what to expect with all that goes with the National Invitation Tournament,” admitted Fresno State Coach Boyd Grant. In the end, he and his Bulldogs learned what it was like to win it. “This is our biggest victory ever,” Grant said after Fresno State dealt DePaul a 69-60 defeat Wednesday night in the championship game of the 46th annual NIT at Madison Square Garden. “Winning it here is like a dream.” The Bulldogs beat DePaul the same way they’ve been beating teams all year in the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference, where they finished fourth with a patient offense, despite a 30-second shot clock here, and an intense defense that ranked second in the natron. “We wanted to make them have trouble handling the ball,” said junior forward Bernard

Meyer will return NEW YORK (AP) DePaul’s Ray Meyer, the winningest active college basketball coach, said Wednesday night that he will return next season for a 42nd year. Meyer, 65, said he would come back after his Blue Demons lost to Fresno State 69-60 in the National Invitation Tournament championship game. “To quell any rumors, I will be back next season,” said Meyer, whose DePaul teams have won 697 games. “I have made some committments to my players, and I will be back for another season. ” Meyer said Wednesday night’s outcome ‘had no bearing on my decision.” DePaul, often ranked No. 1 in the past, had lost its first NCAA tournament game in each of the last three years before going to the NIT this season.

Thompson, who scored a gamehigh 22 points. “We came out with good intensity and it seemed to bother them. ” Fresno State, 25-10, overcame a shaky start in which they fell behind 10-2 and trailed 30-29 at halftime. The smaller Bulldogs, who had beaten Texas-El Paso, Michigan State, Oregon State and Wake Forest on their way to the final, inched ahead midway through the second half and then salted away the game

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tory over Augustana. Batting leadoff, Weaver connected for two doubles and two singles. However, DePauw lost the second game and enters Thursday's 1 p.m. game with lUPUI at 8-5. (Banner-Graphic photo by Steve Fields).

from the foul line, extending a 56-55 lead with 4:40 left to a 67-56 margin in the final seconds. “Give their defense credit,” said DePaul’s 65-year-old coach, Ray Meyer. “It was no fluke. We shot 25 of 74 from the floor. There’s no possible way you can win with shooting like that.” Meyer, the winnigest active coach in college basketball 697 victories in 41 seasons had hoped an NIT cham-

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pionship might help ease recent disappointments. In the last three seasons, aided by AllAmericans such as Mark Aguirre and Terry Cummings, the Blue Demons had often been ranked No. 1 but had been knocked off each year in their first NCAA tournament game. “We really wanted to win this for Coach Meyer,” said Bernard Randolph, a senior who saw his four-year career end on yet another unfulfilled note. “When it was over and I heard the final horn, 1 thought ‘that’s it, I’m all done,”’ said Randolph, who led DePaul, 2112, with a 13.7 scoring average this season. “You can’t dwell on the past.” Randolph, who had 13 points before fouling out in the final minute, was joined on the NIT all-tourney team by teammate Tyrone Corbin who had 12 points and 16 rebounds along with Thompson and Tyrone Bradley of Fresno State and Dave Hoppen of Nebraska. Ron Anderson, named the NIT most valuable player, had 14 points for Fresno State. Kenny Patterson added 12 for DePaul.

CHEVY

Freshmen continue to shine

By STEVE FIELDS Banner-Graphic Sports Editor When a baseball team scores 12 runs, on 16 hits and commits only two errors during a doubleheader it sounds like reason enough to celebrate a sweep, right? Not always. DePAUW UNIVERSITY rallied to beat Augustana 9-8 in the first game Wednesday afternoon at Blackstock Field, but lost a 4-3 eight-inning heartbreaker to Augustana in the second. The split sends the Tigers into Thursday’s 1 p.m. home game against lUPUIndianapolis with an 8-5 record. Freshman Tim Weaver had a perfect four-for-four game at the plate, including two doubles, and junior Scott Benson came out of the bullpen to shut down Augustana’s potent timber in DePauw’s eighth win of the season. Weaver lashed out two singles and two doubles and scored two of DePauw’s runs. The centerfielder drilled a double to cap a two-run fourth inning that tied the game 6-6. Along with scoring two of DePauw’s runs, the leadoff hitter got into scoring position the other two times on base. BENSON CAME ON in relief of starter Bob Cohen. The junior pitched four innings of shutout baseball before Augustana touched him for two in the bottom of the seventh inning. He allowed two runs, on three hits, walked two and struck out one. Cohen pitched three innings, but was hit hard seven times, allowed six runs, walked one and struck out two. Augustana got into Cohen quick, as Jeff Neubauer blasted the game’s first pitch over the leftfield fence. After the Tigers used a single, two Augustana errors and a Scott McMahon sacrifice to take a 2-1 lead, the visitors moved back in front 3-2 with a Mark Menich two-run homer in the second. With one swing of the bat, freshman David Chalmers got DePauw back into the baseball game. Augustana built a 6-2 lead during the first 2Vfe innings, but half of that four-run margin was whipped out when Weaver led off the third with a double

Cardinals going to fly as usual

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) Louisville Coach Denny Crum says he won’t be changing his strategy when his No. 2 Cardinals meet topranked Houston .in the semifinals of the NCAA basketball tournament this weekend. “We’re not going to change what we do,” Crum said Wednesday. "We’ve got to do what we do best.” That includes using the press on defense, Crum said, despite the danger of allowing Houston’s ball-dunking big men to go unchallenged underneath the basket. “Their rebounding and board play is going to give us some problems,” Crum said. Houston Coach Guy Lewis said 7-foot sophomore Akeem Olajuwon will lead that effort. Asked what Olajuwon does best, Lewis said, “Rebounding, scoring, shooting and blocking shots.” The comments came Wednesday during the first joint news conference by the four coaches whose teams have made it to college sports’ biggest event. Lewis, Crum, Georgia’s Hugh Durham and North Carolina State’s Jim Valvano talked with reporters via a telephone-conference call. Crum and Lewis said they believed the attention given to their Saturday semifinal game is overblown and that the winner is no shoo-in against the victor of the other semifinal. But they’re not looking past Saturday to Monday’s cham-

and Chalmer looped a home run over the right field fence. DePAUW USED THREE Augustana’s game total seven errors to tie the game and win it. Catcher Doug Sarsany singled to lead off the gametying fourth inning and went to second on an overthrow by his counterpart. One out later designated hitter Ben Hohman ripped a double to score the run. Hohman moved from second to third on Tim Vieke’s single and scored on Weaver’s second double. Sophomore Newt Crenshaw ripped a two-run triple after errors kept DePauw’s fifth inning rally alive. Freshman Mark Phillips reached first on an error and was safe at second when Augustana dropped what appeared to be a sure double play ball back up the middle. WITH PHILLIPS ON second and Sarsany safe at first, Crenshaw crushed a towering triple to score the two teammates. The triple was the last of DePauw’s five extra base hits. DePauw didn’t hit as well and Augustana didn’t commit as many errors during the second game. After striking out the first two batters in the eighth inning, now 2-1 John Oviatt gave up three consecutive singles to Augustana for the winning run before striking out the sixth batter of the frame. When Crenshaw led off the eighth with a walk t!*-: hopes of at least tyinj the game again were high. Bu the next two batters popped up bunts and Crenshaw was d >ubled off first base to end the g. me. CHALMER ANr Bill Chestnut led DePauw’s hitting with a pair of singles each. Chestnut drove home Phillips with the second run in the two-run Tiger sixth on his second hit. Chalmer’s two-out single scored Chestnut with the tying run. Going the distance Oviatt allowed eight Augustana hits, three earned runs, struck out seven and walked six in his first collegiate loss. Augustana 123 000 2-8-10-7-DePauw 202 221 x-9-11-1' WP-Bcnson (4), Cohen and Sarsany; LP-' Milboume (5). Hafertcfe and Lundlnr. Augustana 010 011 01-4-8-& DePauw 100 102 06-3-5-1 WP-Astling (5), Menich and Piarowski, I.undine (5); LP-Oviatt and Sarsany.

pionship game. “All I’m thinking about is Louisville,” Lewis said. “If we were trying to think about North Carolina State or Georgia, we’d be back in Houston late Saturday night.” While Lewis and Crum may want to downplay the semifinal game, Durham likes the limelight right where it is. “The attention to Houston and Louisville is not a surprise,” Durham said. “When you’ve got the number one and two teams playing against each other, they should receive a lot of attention.” Valvano got to say the least during the conference because of technical problems with the call. But even through the static, it was clear he was in good spirits. “We have become a professional pep rally,” Valvano said, adding that there have been four rallies of 5,000 to 6,000 people at the school since the Wolfpack upset Virginia on Saturday. One reason for the Wolfpack’s elation has been the play of guards Dereck Whittenberg and Sidney Lowe, and that has Durham worried. “They have the most experienced backcourt in the country,” the Georgia coach said. However, he said he expected junior guard Vem Fleming to slow Whittenberg’s rapid-fire scoring because the 6-5 Fleming is four inches taller.