University Daily Kansan / Monday. February 23, 1987
Sports
9
Hoyas hold back Syracuse in furious second-half rally
From Kansan wires
Top Twenty
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Georgetown junior forward Perry McDonald scored a career-high 26 points as the Hoyas held off a furious second-half rally yesterday and beat Syracuse 72-71.
Georgetown erupted for 18 straight points early in the second half and turned a 48-37 Syracuse lead into a 7-point Hoya lead at 55-48. The Hoya spurt was capped by a slam dunk from McDonald.
The Orangemen clawed back to within a point at 72-71 when sophomore guard Sherman Douglas hit a running three-point shot from the top of the key with 10 seconds remaining in the game. Syracuse had a chance to tie up the lead with three-point shot by senior guard Greg Monroe fell short as time expired.
Syracuse was able to turn its 39-35 halftime lead into the early second half 48-37 advantage on a drive that ended with a slank dunk by freshman Derrick Coleman with 17:12 left in the game. But after that score, Syracuse did not make another shot from did until 8:01 remained in the game.
McDonald led the Hoyas, and junior center Rony Seikaly led Syra
cuse with 23 points.
A new NCAA on-campus attendance record was set at the game, as 32,602 fans crammed into the Carrier Dome. The old id record of 32,520 was also achieved at the Dome, at a 1985 match against Villanova.
The victory lifts the Hoyas record to 21-4, 10-4 in the Big East Conference. Syracuse falls to 22-5, 10-4 in the league.
DePaul 84 Georgia Tech 67
ROSEMONT, Ill. — Dallas Comegs scored a career-high 33 points and Rod Strickland added a career-high 28 while leading DePaul to an 84-67 victory yesterday over Georgia Tech in a nationally televised game.
The victory was DePaul's ninth in row and improved its mark to 25-1. The second half, however, did not yield a victory.
Comegys scored 19 points in the first half, helping the Blue Demons take a 31-26 lead. Strickland took over in the second half when Comegys got into foul trouble, score 22 and coming up with several steals.
Duane Ferrell led the Yellow Jackets with a career-high 31 points while Tom Hammonds added 15. Kevin Edwards scored 10 for DePaul
Strickland hit two baskets early in the second half and gave DePaul, winner of 16 straight games at home.
a 35-26 lead. But Hammonds and Ferrell brought Tech back to 37-35 two minutes later. DePaul rebuilt its lead to 45-39, but Comegys was whistled with his fourth foul with 12-32 remaining.
Georgia Tech, which upset Duke 79-72 Tailgate, took advantage of cold shooting by the Blue Demons with a 15-7 lead with 9:20 left in the ball.
The Blue Demons went to a full-court press and came up with two straight baskets off steals and opened a 52-41 lead with 11:24 remaining. DePaul put the game away by scoring six straight points later in the half for a 66-51 lead with 5:01 left.
DePaul missed 13 of its first 15 shots from the field, but then hit six straight shots and outscored the Yellow Jackets 16-6 and took a 23-21 lead on Strickland's layup with 3:44 left in the half.
Saturday's Results
UNLV 80, New Mexico St. 69
Indiana 84, Iowa 75
North Carolina 91, Clemson 80
Temple 88, George Washington 77
Pittsburgh 76, Connecticut 66
Alabama 77, Auburn 75
TCU 52, Tech 44
Georgia Tech 79, Duke 72
Florida 94, Miami, Fla. 60
Golf team takes 18th in Florida
By a Kansan reporter
The Kansas men's golf team finished 18th this weekend in the 24team Seminole Classic in Tallahassee, Fla.
Kansas finished the meet with a two-day total of 606 strokes.
The third round of competition was cancelled because of the weather and rain.
South Florida won the tournament with a 575 two-round total followed by Clemson with 579 strokes and Oklahoma State, who finished third with 683.
Kansas' Rudy Zupetz finished 34th in the individual standings with a score of 75 in the first and second rounds.
Florida State's Nolen Henke, who shot a 69 in the first and second rounds, was the individual winner. Other Kansas participants included John Brunning, who shot 78-74; Marissa 152 total; Steve Madsen, who shot 74-79 for a 183 total; Brian McGreevy, who shot 76-90 for a 156 total;
Chen wins at L.A., gets first PGA title
United Press International
LOS ANGELES — T.C. Chen birdied the final hole of regulation to force sudden death and won the $600,000 Los Angeles Open yesterday when Ben Crenshaw missed a three foot putt on the first playoff hole.
The veteran from Taiwan captured his first tournament in five years on the PGA Tour. Chen, who had not earned more than $86,590 in a single year, won $108,000. Crenshaw has not won a tournament in six playoffs.
The two entered the playoff after the 18th hole, which both birdied and co-leader and playing partner Danny Edwards parred.
Sudden-death began at the 449-horse, par-4 15th hole and Chen hit into slight rough. A pitch over a 70-foot fence in feet. He putted to the right for par.
Crenshaw hit into the gallery and was in the right bunker after his second shot. The 15 year veteran got out of the way and was wide right on the par attempt.
Crenshaw, who began the day at 7-under, birdied the first hole of the day and was tied for the lead when Edwards boyedey the 15th and 17th
The three reached 18 knotted at 8-under and each had made birdie putts. Crenshaw sank a 15-footer and threw his hat in the air and patted his heart. Edwards missed a 12-footer before Chen made another 12-footer.
holes. Chen held a one-stroke lead at 9-under entering the round, but bogeys on the third and 10th holes and negated the edge he would have had with birdies on the fifth and ninth holes.
Edwards began the day a stroke behind chen at 8-under. He fell two strokes back when he three-putted for bogey on the second hole but pulled even with birdies on the fifth and ninth holes.
The older brother of tour member David Edwards birdied the 10th hole to reach 10 under. But he hit a tree on the par-4, 449-yard 15th hole en route to a bogey. Edwards fell into a tie with Chen and Crenshaw because of a bogey on the 17th hole resulting from a poor chip. Chen blew a chance for the lead on that hole when he missed a 10-foot iridie putt.
Chen, who took an eight on the fifth hole of the final round at the 1985 U.S. Open before finishing second, drew to the lead. Saturday..
Fred Sardowski/KANSAN
Ron Kellogg, Topeka Sizzlers basketball team member, autographs two posters for Steve Shaffer, Hoxie sophomore. Kellogg and Calvin Thompson, former Kansas players and teammates on the Sizzlers, signed autographs on their Sizzler posts Friday at the KU Bookstore.
Sign off
Paper reports Blue's retirement prompted by a positive drug test
United Press International
OAKLAND, Calif. — The surprise retirement of veteran Oakland A's left-hander Vida Blue was prompted by a positive drug test, the San Francisco Examiner reported Saturday.
or "unspecified drugs" in a test conducted last week, the newspaper
Blue, 37, who last month signed an estimated $300,000 contract and was being counted on as a starter for the coming season, registered positive
The paper cited "three independent sources" in the report, but did not mention them.
Blue announced his retirement Thursday, the day before A's spring training began in Scottsdale. Ariz.
Blue, the onetime American League Cy Young Award winner, was 10-10 with a 3.27 ERA last season
with the San Francisco Giants.
He spent 81 days in a Texas federal prison in 1984 after pleading guilty to possession of cocaine in December 1983.
He also had spent time in rehabilitation at the drug and alcohol unit at Orange County hospital, the paper said.
Team officials continued to decline to discuss the reasons for Blue's unexpected retirement.
KU captures 14-team recreational tourney
Bv DIANE FILIPOWSKI
Staff writer
If athletes and coaches involved in non-revenue sports think they are not recognized enough at the University of Kansas, they should talk to the people who are involved in recreational sports.
KU students that competed in Region 11 Recreational tournament sponsored by the Association of College Unions-International yesterday and Saturday at Kansas were satisfied with their team win, but said they thought their accomplishments would go unnoticed.
Michael Fine, the host director of the tournament and Kansas 'bowling coach, said it had been six years since Kansas had won the tournai-
Kansas, which scored 138 points, won the 14-taem tournament, which included competitors from Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma. The University of Nebraska, Lincoln, finished second with 99 points, and Wichita State University placed third with 86 points.
The team members competed in backgammon, chess, Frisbee disc golf, table soccer, table tennis, bowling, billiards and racketball.
Udom Suksuprasert, Bangkok,
Thailand, graduate student, won the men's singles competition and teamed with Bedi Kosasih, a KU sophomore from Medan, Indonesia,
to win the doubles title.
The winners of the bowling, table tennis and billiards competitions will compete in national tournaments in April and May.
Kansas won the men's and women's singles and doubles table in the U.S. Open.
Suksudprasert played on Thailand's national table tennis team and Kosasih competed on the national level in Indonesia when he was in high school.
In the women's competition, Anne Wong, Penang, Malaysia, freshman, won the women's singles title and Li Yun Lin, Hsin Yua, Taiwan graduate student, placed second. Wong teamed with Lin and won the doubles competition.
Afshin Aminian, Teheran, Iran, senior and coordinator of the table tennis tournament, said Kansas management without the table tennis players.
"People don't even know there is a table tennis club at Kansas," Amiann said. "I think the sport should get more recognition because it involves a lot of skill and control and it is more delicate than tennis."
Fine also said people were unaware of the complexity of bowling and that there was a big difference between a big bowling and competitive bowling.
"Anybody can enjoy bowling," Fine said. "But like any sport, it takes an athlete to compete at this level of competition. It takes strength, agility, and coordination."
Aminian said the four competitors were members of the KU Table Tennis Club that competed on the national level each year.
Fine said some of the best bowlers in the nation competed in the tournament. Wichita State University, whose men's and women's teams were tied for first place, was the University of Nebraska, which was rated in the top 20, competed.
Ex-pool hustler calls shots as law student
Kansas finished third in the bowling competition. John Percival, Overland Park sophomore, turned in the top team average of 124 pins.
The Shockers won the women's division and outscored Central Missouri State 9,003 pins to 7,850. Kansas finished seventh.
Donna DiTruan of Wichita State
University wore the woman's division
shirt.
By DIANE FILIPOWSKI
Staff writer
Believe it or not, Jim Gorman, who calls himself "Illinois Jim," was actually nervous during the first round of the billiards competition Saturday at the Association of Collegiate National League 11 Recreation Tournament.
It seemed odd that Gorman, a St
Louis University junior, would be nervous. Last year, he traveled across the country like Tom Cruise in the movie, "The Color of Money."
In the movie, pool hustler Cruise and his mentor, Paul Newman, traveled the midwest, hustling pool and honing their skills for the national billiards tournament in Atlantic
Amy Rhoads/KANSAN
Khosro Darroudi, Teheran, Iran, graduate student, returns a serve during table tennis competition. Pingpong was just one of many events that was part of the Region 11 recreational tournament held this weekend at KU.
Citv. N.J.
"That was a good movie," Gorman said, "but nobody hast as easy as he can."
Maybe. But Gorman might be the exception.
Gorman, who lost only one game in his five matches, won the competition and qualified for the national team to 10 to 12 at Arizona State University.
Gorman said he had to go into the bathroom and wash his hands with hot water after the first match because they were freezing cold and shaking.
"I don't get nervous when I play for $20 or $30 because you can afford to lose." Gorman said. "But in a tour situation, it's easy to get knocked out."
Gorman learned his skills from a professional poker and billiards player while attending the University of Texas in his freshman and sophomore year.
"I saw him playing at a pool hall in Boulder," Gorman said, "and I knew I could learn a lot from him."
Gorman said his friend, who spent four months of every year gambling in Las Vegas for his year's income, took him under his wing for a year and taught him all he knew about pool. Then they traveled together to California, Utah, Montana and the Dakotas.
"He would play cards, and I would play pool. Gorman said, "Not many have played with that."
But sometimes their prowess got them in trouble.
"There was a lot of money," Gorman said. "With all the money I saved up, I was able to buy a car."
Gorman said he and his 37-year-old friend lived off the money they hustled, and never had to worry about expenses.
But Gorman knew pool could not support him for the rest of his life.
"Like in Bozeman, Montana," Gorman said. "We made $8,000 in three months."
"You think it's fun, and you think it's the only thing in the world." Gorman said, "but then you realize that it's going to wear you out and destroy your chances of doing anything else."
Gorman said he decided to return to school, earn a degree, go to law school and join his father's law firm, like his brothers.
"It was hard to go back to school because I was used to playing pool all night," Gorman said. "You don't start playting 'till midnight and usually play til six in the morning. For a year I did not see the sunlight."
Gorman said he would call his friend and tell him that he had won the tournament. He hoped that his team meet him in Arizona at the nationals.
"I'll play for another year, but that will be it," Gorman said. "I'm not so serious about pool anymore. I'm not the machine that I was."
German used to practice four hours a day. Now he only practices five to seven hours a week.
"I find a great thrill in the competition in billiards because it involves a lot of human nature." German said. "We like to know and see people to people, and see how they react."
Gorman said that he thought many people did not consider billiards a sport because they associated it with drugs, alcohol and gambling.
"People have their prejudices like in any sport," Gorman said. "But there is a pool circuit like there is in tennis, and there is a pool crowd like there is in golf. Who could ever decide who is right or wrong?"
Gorman said he would concentrate on school next year after he had used up his collegiate eligibility, but would not discount billiards entirely.
"Maybe when I'm 45, I'll find a young billiards player like I was," Gorman said. "and I will teach him everything I know and then travel with him across the nation, just like my friend did with me."