The Jackson Sun from Jackson, Tennessee • 15

The Jackson Sun, Jackson, Tennessee, Tuesday, January 31, 1 978 3 A Jackson State wjryy rs hin Up Keeps Mi KvMC: esoite Losses ri lift V-r 1 By DAN MORRIS Sun Sports Staff After a double loss to visiting Columbia State, one might have expected some weeping and wailing from Jackson State's basketball coaches Monday night. Not so. Though disappointed with losing, both Jim Hart and Jeff Hopkins expressed pride and optimism in their respective JSCC teams. "We played about as well as we could play," declared Hart, whose Generals dropped a 101-96 decision. "I was real pleased with our effort.

I feel if we continue to play like we have in our last two games, we'll make the (junior college) playoffs." "Most of our remaining conference games are at home, and I believe a team will be able to make the playoffs with five (league) losses." continued Hart, whose squad is now 6-9 overall and 1-4 in conference action. Columbia State, now 13-5 overall and 3-2 in league muscled its way past the Generals with superb performances from forward Kenneth Offut and sophomore center James Dumes. Dumes, a 6-foot-6, 230-pound dominator, helped dump the Generals with 18 rebounds and 27 points, including six slam dunks. Offut contributed 28 points. "They just physically beat us inside," said Hart.

"Dumes is bigger and quicker than anything we have. He's what you call a man." Columbia Coach Gene McBee said he's had trouble keeping the big guy in his lineup. "He usually gets in foul trouble," McBee said of Dumes. "But we backed off and didn't play much defense tonight let him play ball." Columbia led 52-45 at intermission and held a 13-point advantage with 16 minutes remaining. But JSCC, sparked by Jerry Robertson and Larry Robinson, cut that lead to four, 66-62, at the 12:25 mark.

Columbia, controlling the boards, managed to stay on top with inside baskets. Dumes completed his performance appropriately, breaking the century mark with a final slam dunk. The Chargers hit 47 of 83 attempts from the field (56 percent) and 7 of 12 free throws. Robertson, JSCC's gifted forward, paced his club with 29 points and 12 rebounds. Robinson added 20 points.

The Generals made 42 of 86 shots from the field (49 percent) and 12 of 21 free throws. Columbia 77, JSCC 76: Coach Hopkins' Lady Generals staged a dramatic comeback but fell short while suffering their first conference loss. Down 71-60 with less than six minutes remaining, JSCC's women made key steals and forced crucial turnovers to pull within one. 73-72. at the 1:29 mark.

Back-to-back jump shots by Vanassa Chism kept the Lady Generals only a point behind, but Columbia's Josephine Wright sank two free throws with seven seconds left to ensure her team's victory. "I'm very proud of our effort," said Hopkins, whose unit is now 8-5 overall and 4-1 in league action. "Columbia is the defending conference champ and they have everybody back from last year's team. We gave them all they wanted tonight and showed a lot of character by battling back at the end." "We're, still in the conference race," Hopkins continued. "The top two teams in our division go to the Region 7 junior college tournament.

We've only lost to Columbia, and VJ. I i Sun Photo bv Bill Cox Jackson State's Larry Robinson (24) goes up for a shot JSCC. Robinson netted 20 points in the Generals' in Monday's game with visiting Columbia State at 101-96 loss. game-high 13 rebounds. Columbia, now 8-4 overall and 5-0 in conference play, was led by Wanda Beckham's 32 points.

Wright contributed 23. Complete results in Scoreboard. we've got one more shot at them. We've got to make some defensive adjustments, but we're playing good basketball now. "Columbia just shot well and did the things it had to do to win it tonight." JSCC had won six straight five on the road prior to this loss.

It shot 42.8 percent from the field against Columbia and made 10 of 16 free throws. Ann Jones led the Lady Generals with 22 points while Renee Ellis added 20 points. Becky Dye came off the bench to net seven' points and a Union Women Win Special To The Sun Eleven of thirteen from the field. Two of two from the free throw line. Eight rebounds.

Twenty-four points. That was the final statistics for Union's Beverly Pryor last night, as she led the Lady Bulldogs to their eleventh win with a 75-63 victory over Belmont College. The game was much closer than the final score indicated, as Union only led 38-36 at intermission. Belmont gained the lead within the first four minutes of the final half as Reba Harris hit on a jumper to give the Rebelettes a 41-40 lead. The lead swapped hands four different times and was tied on seven occasions until the Lady Bulldogs outscored Belmont 16-4 in the final five minutes.

Sandra Lewis finished the game -with 22 points and Colleen Johnson and Janice Terry each contributed 1 1 Harris led Belmont with 20, wh ile Susan Swink chipped in 14. Union outrebounded the visitors 36-30 with Pryor, Johnson and Terry each hauling in eight caroms. Union, 11-2 overall, returns to action at home Saturday, hosting the University of Northern Lane Drops Knoxville Scoring the final ten points of the game. Lane College broke a 69-69 tie in the closing minutes to record their ninth win of the year with a 79-69 victory over Knoxville College. Andy Hollins and Ozell Williamson led the Dragons in scoring with 21 and 19 points respectivley.

Eaglettes Win Lambuth's women devastated Christian Brothers College 81-24 Monday night in basketball action. Prep Poll By The Associated Press Bolton, with one loss in 20 outings, and undefeated Nashville Bellevue and Memphis Melrose are atop their classes for the fourth consecutive week in the Associated Press Tennessee high school basketball poll. With a 19-1 record, Bolton earned six first-place nominations and 92 votes for the top spot in Class A. Alamo, 19-0, was second with 88 ballots and 16-0 Elkton was third. Nashville Bellevue, 12-0, was top dog in Class AA with six first-place nominations and 96 ballots.

With two first-place bids and 25 ballots back was 171 Memphis Messick, which climbed from No. 4 to No. 2. Third went to 17-1 Knoxville Hol-ston, which collected four first-place nominations. No.

4 was taken by 15-1 Giles County, which lost one game last week to drop from second to fourth. Memphis Melrose, 21-0, earned 11 first-place nominations and 99 votes to pace Class AAA. Tennessee sportswriters and sportscasters gave 16-1 Brownsville one first-place bid and 79 ballots for second. See Scoreboard for compfete poll. UNA Whips UTM MARTIN Freshman guard Perry Oden converted on 8 of 8 free throws in the final three minutes of play to enable the University of North Alabama Lions to hold on a a 57-55 victory over the University of Tennessee at Martin Monday night.

Lambuth Loses NASHVILLE Lambuth's Eagles fell to David Lipscomb here Monday night 81-70 in a college basketball action. Terry Martin tallied 28 points for Lambuth, now 6-10 overall. The Eagles trailed by only two points until three minutes remaining in the contest, when Lambuth slipped into foul trouble. Jr. High Tourney Parkway Jr.

High will host the 1978 District 31 Junior High Basketball Tournament beginning Wednesday night. The tournament will conclude with boys and girls championship games. Jackson Jr. High is favored to take both titles, but will have to beat out teams from Parkway, Tigrett, South Side West Jr. and Beech Bluff.

Three games will be played Wednesday and Thursday nights. Two semifinal games will be played Friday and the title games will be Saturday. Action will begin at 6 the first two nights, and at 7 Friday and Saturday. Admission will be $1 for each session. For additional information, contact tournament director, John Worthing, at 427-3384.

Commodores Take One-Point Win Vo ranges, Vandy Pelt Tennessee university to stop the practice have been unsuccessful. Darden, a senior at Tennessee, said the crowd's actions were regrettable. "I try not to pay any attention to that sort of thing, but you can't help it when objects are flying through the air and you don't know where the next one is coming from," the "veteran guard said. "In the long run, it's going to hurt Vanderbilt more than anybody else, and I told some of the Vanderbilt players that. They have to go on the road, and they're going to get some of it thrown back at them.

It just shouldn't be a part of college basketball." Springer. Reggie Johnson paced the Volunteers with 13 while Darden and Bert Bertelkamp notched 12 apiece. The result lifted Vanderbilt out of the conference cellar and dropped Tennessee into last among the 10 SEC teams. Vandy is now 3-6 in conference and 7-11 overall, while the Vols slipped" to 2-6 and 8-9. Vanderbilt Coach Wayne Dobbs hustled to a microphone when the crowd began throwing oranges at the Tennessee bench, imploring spectators to stop.

"I don't think a technical could have been called because you never know who is throwing things, but I would hope that we can eliminate this," Dobbs told reporters after the game. "Vanderbilt is a class school with class students and we don't need this sort of thing. NASHVILLE (AP) Guard Tommy Springer sank two free throws with five seconds remaining to give Vanderbilt a spine-tingling 56-55 victory over cross-state rival Tennessee in Southeastern Conference basketball Monday night. A partisan hometown crowd pelted the Tennessee bench with oranges late in the game, and game officials ordered a delay of about 10 minutes to allow workers to clean up the mess before Springer hit his" decisive foul shots. The sophomore guard finished with 14 points, second only to teammate Mike Rhodes 16.

Vanderbilt blew an eight-point lead early in the second half and trailed by 53-52 with less than one minute to play. The teams traded baskets in the closing minute before Tennessee guard Johnny Darden intentionally fouled "As I told the crowd over the PA, we had worked for two years to get in the position to beat Tennessee. My players had paid the price to win and deserved not to have it spoiled by the actions of unthinking people in the crowd." Tennessee's interim coach, Cliff Wettig, was outraged. "The oranges are part of the Vanderbilt game that is, they're part of the crowd." he said. "I have to give a lot of credit to Springer and Elliott for standing with our team when the deluge of oranges started.

That showed a lot of class." Springer and Mark Elliott, a Vanderbilt guard, came over to the Vol bench after the hail of oranges began. Vanderbilt fans have in the past pelted Tennessee teams also known as the Big Orange with oranges. Attempts by the Complete results in Scoreboard. Blue Weigh-lns Are Tonight Back In Oakland Via Kuhn Ruling X' 'A I 1 fry Weigh-ins for the Jackson Boxing Club Invitational will be held tonight from six to eight at the club headquarters on Deaderick Street. AH boys ages five or older are eligible but must be present at tonight's weigh-in to participate.

There will be beginners and novice divisions in each weight classification. Weight classes will begin at 50 pounds with 10-pound intervals up to heavyweight in the beginners division and also 10-pound intervals in the novice class up to 112 pounds. The weight classifications in the novice class will be those used in Golden Gloves and AAU competition. Finley from selling Blue, pitcher Rollie Fingers and outfielder Joe Rudi on the June 1976 trading deadline. However, Neil Papiano, Finley's attorney called the commissioner's latest decision a "personal vendetta" against Finley and added: "There are a number of courses of action for us to take, which I've discussed with Mr.

Finley and the Cincinnati Reds. We're certainly not going to roll over and play dead." Papiano said that from a legal standpoint, "We have a far better case than the last time. There was not one word in this case involving competitive balance. In this instance, the competitive balance wouldn't be upset." When Finley tried to sell Blue to the New York Yankees for $1.5 million and Fingers and Rudi to the Boston Red Sox for $1 million apiece two years ago, Kuhn vetoed the deals, saying they weren't "in the best interests of baseball." He used the same words again in Monday's 15-page decision, which followed two days of hearings earlier this month. He said the proposed, trade "is not in the best interests of baseball," but added: "I am not saying that I will disapprove an assignment of Blue under all circumstances.

Quite the contrary, I urge the Oakland and Cincinnati clubs to review the situation carefully to see if they cannot find some way to structure a deal which will not present the concerns which I see in the presently proposed assignment." Kuhn has placed an informal $400,000 ceiling on player-for-cash deals. He suggested even before Monday's decision that he would have looked more favorably on the deal if the Reds included other players instead of cash. Noting that Cincinnati has won the National League NEW YORK AP Vida Blue is back in Oakland and, as a result. Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn may be back in court. Kuhn's annulment of last month's doal in which the Oakland A's shipped Blue, a left-handed pitcher and three times a 20-game winner, to the Cincinnati Reds for minor league first baseman Dave Revering and $1.75 million in cash drew angry criticism from both clubs, even though the commissioner did not close the door on a future deal involving Blue.

President Bob Howsam of the Reds predicted Monday night that "public confidence in the game will be destroyed when the public realizes that the commissioner, if he can do what he proposes to do in this case, in effect would have the ability to dictate where a team can end up in the standings. "I don't think that baseball intended for the commissioner to decide which teams would be allowed to win pennants and how often," Howsam said. However, Kuhn argued that "a player-for-cash deal can substantially weaken the competitive position of a club. Moreover, such deals inevitably cause the public to question the integrity of the game, its methods and operations and may adversely affect public confidence in the game." Oakland owner Charles O. Finley, rebuffed by Kuhn for the second time in an attempt to sell Blue for a large amount of money, said that "my future actions will speak for me.

At this time, I do not wish to discuss what these actions will be, other than to say I will enjoy meeting him (Kuhn) in the courts once again in Round 2." It was not clear whether Finley intended to go to court to overturn Monday's decision or if he was referring to a scheduled Feb. 21 appeal of a 1977 U.S. District Court ruling upholding the commissioner's right to prevent the air on AS tuesday 6.30 SQUARE GARDEN SPORTS 7:00 CD CHALLENGE OF THE SEXES 8:00 COLLEGE BASKETBALL Clemson vs. North Carolina State. 10:30 CD QD BASKETBALL Memphis State University vs.

St Louis. Kenneth Sims Please Turn To Page 4A.