European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 26, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday March 26, 1986 stars and stripes Page 21 Ohio state Wyoming in final by the associated press new York seven foot Brad Sellers had 23 Points 13 rebounds and nine blocked shots and Dennis Hopson also scored 23 Points As Ohio state under lame Duck coach Eldon Miller Defeated Louisiana tech 79-66 Mon Day night to reach the finals of the National invitation basketball tournament. Miller fired feb. 3 effective at the end of the season and already hired by Northern Iowa will Lead the buckeyes into wednes Day s championship game against Wyom ing which beat Florida 67-58 in monday s other semifinal of the 49th nit. I try not to take the game personally Miller said. On wednesday we have a Chance to play and love it. It s a magic moment in your life. You Don t have Many of  Sellers who starts at Forward had a perfect second half hitting All seven of his shots and each of his four free throws and scored 18 Points after intermission. I struggled Early but i got it together in the second half said Sellers who was 1 for-6 in the first 20 minutes. My team mates got me the Ball Down  Hopson had 12 of his 14 first half Points in the first 8 /2 minutes As Ohio state jumped ahead 18-8. The buckeyes extended the margin to 27-13 at the 5 36 Mark on a three Point play by Kip Lomax. Louisiana tech which made less than a third of its shots in the first half rallied for eight consecutive Points to get within six of the buckeyes. But the bulldogs managed Only one Basket in the last three minutes of the half and trailed 32-23 at halftime. Louisiana tech 19-14, was led by Rob Ert Godbolt with 18. The bulldogs got no closer than nine Points in the second half. Wyoming 67, Florida 58 Fennis Dembo continued his hot postseason scoring Pace with 23 Points leading Wyoming from an Early 12-Point deficit to Victory Over Florida. Dembo averaging 22 Points in Wyoming s four nit triumphs after a 16.5 average Dur ing the regular season led a Wyoming surge during the Middle 20 minutes of the game. Our strength and size paid off for us said Dembo who made 10 of 15 shots from the Field nearly All from the  in the second half i thought our Man to Man defense won it for us Wyoming coach Jim Brandenburg said. Eric Leckner added 19 Points and Turk Boyd 10 for the cowboys who used their Superior height to overcome the gators who finished the season 19-13. Kenny Mcclary Florida s tallest player at 6-foot-7, led the gators with 13 Points and 10 rebounds before fouling out with 2 47 remaining. Nine of his rebounds came in the first half. Junior Forward Joe Lawrence got Florida off to a great Start hitting his first six shots All on jumpers from at least 12 feet. Lawrence joined guard Andrew Moten and Mcclary to account for All of Florida s Points As the gators took a 25-13 Lead with 8 51 left in the first half. Wyoming however started asserting its height during the remainder of the first half by taking the Ball inside. Leckner the cow boys 6-11 Center scored nine Points and 6 4 Forward Dembo had 12, As Wyoming ral lied to close the deficit to 37-32 at halftime. The cowboys scored the first six Points of the second Hall to take their first Lead 38-37 on an inside jumper by Dembo who went on to score 11 Points in a nine minute Span. Dembo gave Wyoming the Lead for Good 49-48 on a breakaway Layup with 8 40 remaining in the game. Up photo Brad Sellers. Paced buckeyes with 23 up picks Berry player of year by Fred Lief up sports writer new York Walter Berry the Lifeblood of a St. John s team that exceeded All expectations this season monday was named College basketball s 1986 player of the year by United press International. Berry a 6-foot-8 Junior from the Bronx averaged 23 Points and 11 rebounds a game despite frequent double and triple coverage in leading St. John s to a 31-5 record. In a nationwide voting of 125 sports writers and broadcasters Berry won by More than a 2-to-l mar Gin Over his closest competitor receiving 43 votes. Johnny Dawkins of Duke was second with 17 votes and Len Bias of Mary land was third with 11. Berry s selection Marks the first time since up began the vote in. 1955 that different players from the same school won in consecutive seasons. Chris Mullin of St. John s was up s 1985 player of the year. The redmen were initially regarded As a team that would fare no Walter Berry better than the Middle of their conference. But with Berry providing dazzling inside play St. John s finished with a no. 3 National ranking. St. John s tied Syracuse for the big East s regu Lar season title then beat the orangemen 70-69 to win the league tournament the High Point of the redmen s season. Berry blocked a last second shot in the Lane by Dwayne Washington to preserve the Victory. Berry shot 60 percent from the floor this season and 70 percent from the line while averaging More than two blocks a game. Berry must now decide if he wants to remain in school another season. At St. John s last Home game fans chanted one More  Berry an athletic administration major says he intends to stay. But that could change especially if he were the no. 1 pick in the upcoming Aba draft. Lakers Clinch 7th straight title with win Over slumping spurs by the associated press Inglewood Calif. Kareem Abdul Jabbar scored 20 Points As the los Angeles lakers clinched their seventh straight Pacific Divisio title outright with a 124-102 National basketball association Victory monday night Over the slump Ridden san Antonio spurs. The lakers had clinched a tie for the conference title earlier monday when Houston was Defeated by Boston 114-107 in Boston. The lakers led 90-83 after three quarters and outscored Barou Dup the spurs 16-4 in the first four minutes of the final period to break the game open. Earvin magic Johnson contributed 16 Points and 12 assists. Alvin Robertson scored 18 Points for san Antonio which has lost 11 of its last 12 Road games. Elsewhere in the Aba monday night celtics 114, rockets 107 Boston Scott Wedman s two jumpers kicked off an 11-3 Boston run late in the fourth Quarter to give the. Celtics the Victory in a game marred by what appeared to be a serious injury to the rockets Ralph Sampson. See related Story on this Page. The win was the eighth straight for Boston and stretched its club record for consecutive Home victories to 24, three Short of the Aba single season record set by the Minneapolis lakers in 1949-50. Leading 53-51 when Sampson was Hurt near the end of the second Quarter the rockets fell behind 61-57 at halftime. Larry Bird who averaged 34 Points in his eight previous games led the celtics with 36 Points. Mavericks 126, pacers 120 Indianapolis Mark Aguirre scored 21 of his 25 Points in the second half including 13 in the third Quarter in leading a balanced scoring attack As Dallas beat Indiana. The loss dropped the pacers to 25-48, leaving them two games behind Cleveland in the Battle for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern division. Ron Anderson had a career High 28 Points for Indiana. Bullets 100, 76ers 93 Landover my. Jeff Malone who scored 29 Points led an 8-0 run in the fourth period that enabled Washington to draw away from Philadelphia. The bullets have won two straight games and two of three under new coach Kevin Loughery. The loss was Only the second in the last 10 games for the 76ers. Jazz 116, supersonics 108 Salt Lake City Adrian Dantley scored 32 Points and Mark Eaton had 20, including 10 in the final period As Utah downed Seattle. Tom Chambers came off the Bench to Lead the sonics with 21 Points. Sampson s a rays show no fracture Boston a Houston rockets Forward Ralph Sampson was reported to have no fractured Bones dispel Ling initial fears he had broken his Back during a National basketball association game with Boston sunday Accord ing to Houston s Trainer Dick Vandervoort. At Massachusetts general Hospital where Sampson was taken Vandervoort said a rays and a cat scan of Sampson s head legs and neck proved negative. He said Sampson would leave the Hospital. Earlier celtics spokesman Jeff Twiss said the x rays of the neck and head were  Sampson fell while rebounding in the second Quarter and at that time experienced a definite loss of the right neurological process in his right leg according to or. Thomas Silva the celtics team physician. Silva said Sampson could move his right foot in the locker room. After speaking with Hospital personnel he said improvement in the right leg is  All the pain he feels right now is a stiff neck. He has the feeling Back in his legs Vandervoort said. An earlier statement by Silva said there was a possibility of a fracture of the  Sampson fell under his own Basket and hit the Back of his head and the upper part of his Back on the floor. Houston coach Bill Fitch said he was in a lot of see Sampson on Page 23 suns7 Foster has surgery for leg crushed in crash Phoenix up Phoenix suns guard Rod Foster monday underwent surgery for a career threatening Bro Ken leg suffered when his four wheel drive vehicle Over turned in a Remote desert area team officials said. Foster was driving near Lake pleasant West of Phoe Nix with teammates de Pinckney and Mike Sanders sunday night when he failed to negotiate a downhill curve and the vehicle overturned. Foster s left leg was hanging out of the vehicle and it was crushed when the vehicle rolled. Pinckney and Sanders escaped injury and Sanders walked several Miles to summon help. It was five hours after the Accident before Foster a third year pro from Urcla reached a Hospital