Lansing State Journal from Lansing, Michigan • Page 21

Lansing State Journal Sports Editor Steve Klein 377-1071 ClaSSitl6d Index Women upset Iowa Michigan State's women's basketball team continued its hot streak by beating Iowa 62-55. Page 3C Red Wings lose The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Detroit Red Wings 2-1 Friday night. Page 3C mm Sports A Making contact: Vladimir Konstantinov and Darby Hen-drickson fight for position. l. Miami omtskates Spartans, 3-2 MSU tumbles into tie for 3rd place in CCHA By Neil Koepke Lansing State Journal EAST LANSING Miami has a new coach in Mark Mazzoleni and new goalie in Chuck Thuss.

The Redskins' work ethic, however, hasn't changed a bit Michigan State got a good dose of it Friday and came out with a disappointing 3-2 overtime loss in front of 6,453 fans at Munn Arena. "Miami took the game away from us. They outworked us, came up with loose pucks and their superstar won the game for them," Everett tmimbles What's next Miami at MSU 7 p.m. today Continental Ch. 6, TCI Ch.

1 1 Steve Klein's column. Page 3C place in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. The Falcons were grounded at Lake Superior State, 7-2. Instead, MSU (12-5-3, 17-8-3) finds itself tied for third place with the Redskins (11-6-5, 13-11-5). Michigan State and Miami close out the two-game series at 7 p.m.

(TCI Cable Ch. 11, Continental Cable Ch. 6) today at Munn Arena. 1 SPORTS LOCKER NHL Friday's results: Maple Leafs 2, Red Wings 1 Lightning 4, Whalers 3 Oilers 5, Sharks 1 See coverage, Page 3C MSU SPORTS Coaches club has Vegas night The Downtown Coaches Club will hold a Las Vegas Nite from 6 p.m to midnight today at the Hannah Ballroom of the USA Cafe in East Lansing. Admission is $5, which includes $3 worth of gaming chips.

The club also announced its officers for 1995: Gary Thomas, president; Cedric Audas, president-elect; John Barkham, vice president; Marge Hart, secretary and Connie McAuliffe, treasurer. MARTIAL ARTS Seminar will be Sunday Master Tadashi Yamashita brings his seminar experience of more than 40 years to Lansing's Hill Vocational Center Sunday. The kids class seminar ($20) begins at 1:30 p.m. and the adult session ($35) is at 2:30 p.m. 1 The fee for spectators is $5.

Hill Vocational is located at 5815 Wise Road. For information, contact Dave Hayes, 485-0020 or 372-6668. BASKETBALL LCC men beat Lake Michigan BENTON HARBOR The Lansing Community College men's basketball team bounced back from their first loss of the season with a 116-73 win over Lake Michigan (1-10, 5-18). Nate Huffman led the Stars (11-1, 20-1) with 26 points and 13 rebounds as everyone scored for LCC. Ray Mitchell followed with 17 points and 10 assists, Lee Hampton had 15 points and Andy Backus scored six and pulled down 14 rebounds.

The Stars next play at Muskegon on Wednesday before closing out the regular season at Kalamazoo Valley. The women (6-5, 14-8) play Lake Michigan at 7 p.m. today at Gannon Gymnasium. Admission is $3. 55 and over and 12 and under are free.

NBA presents Super Saturday Some of the best young and upcoming players will be on display today as the NBA presents its annual Super Saturday as part of its All-Star weekend in Phoenix. The NBA Rookie Game, Long Distance Shootout and the Slam-Dunk Championship will start out the weekend. It will be televised at 7 p.m. on TNT. JOURNAL JEOPARDY Today's question: Steve Smith was named the Spartans' MVP from 1989-91.

Who was the last Spartan before Smith to win the award three, straight years? Call 485-7316 and press 2 to answer the question. Leave a spelling of your name, your hometown and phone number. The first caller with the correct answer will appear in the following day's paper. Friday's answer: Two drivers have each won four Daytona poles. They are Cale Yarborough and Buddy Baker.

Lanny Howe DeWitt Spartan coach Ron Mason said. "We're not getting any breaks, but we don't deserve them because we're not working hard enough." Kevyn Adams, Miami's leading scorer, won it for his team when he got behind the MSU defense and beat goalie Chad Alban from close with 1:09 left in the five-minute overtime. It was his 16th goal of the season. Adams, a junior from Clarence, N.Y., who was drafted by the Boston Bruins in the first round of the 1993 NHL Draft, set up Miami's other two goals. The Spartans blew a 2-0 first-period lead and also blew a chance to tie Bowling Green for second K(J) I Digest 2C Wrestling 3C NHL roundup 3C Skating 5C Saturday February 11, 1995 The Spartans even started the second period on the power play.

"We just weren't playing our game in the first period. We took too many penalties and there wasn't any flow," said Mazzoleni, the former Spartan goalie who is in his first year as Redskins' coach. "We thought that if we could kill their penalty to start the second period, we get our four lines going and get back into the game. We just wanted to win that period." Miami did more than shut down MSU's power play. It scored a shorthanded goal to change the complexion of the game.

Dan Carter, set up by the ever- Please see SPARTANS, 3C Search won't be rushed McPherson's approach similar to method used to find Perles' successor By Jack Ebling Lansing State Journal EAST LANSING How long will it take? As long as it takes and not a second longer. That has been the way Michigan State President Peter McPherson has handled person nel decisions. And it's the way he can be expected to work in the search for a new athletic director to succeed de parting Merrily Dean Baker, A.D. the past 33 McPherson months. "Vice President Roger Wilkinson and I will put together a small group of advisers and work with discretion," said McPherson, who should be more comfortable selecting a manager than he was in finding a head football coach.

Translation: Look for Wilkinson and others to gather reams of information, for a small circle of advisers to sit in on a few interviews and for McPherson to pick someone he can trust to run all aspects of the department probably before April 1. It will be more like the secretive, results-driven process that eventually gave us Nick Saban in December than the cumbersome, committee-type approach we've seen in other searches. "The person doesn't need to be an MSU grad," McPherson said. "We're looking for the best man or woman we can find. We will look at a very diverse group of candidates, find a very good athletic director and go toward the future." Translation: Spartans won't have a green-blood advantage, unless they can generate another kind of green for a former executive VP with Bank of America.

But they won't necessarily be excluded by McPherson, a 1963 MSU graduate. And if a first-rate minority candidate is found, that could tip the scales in a department with white head coaches in football, men's and women's basketball and hockey. "You're clearly managing a big organization, bumping up close to $20 million with 100-plus people," McPherson said. "It's a major management job. Some solid knowledge of athletics would certainly be helpful.

But I don't think that you need to know everything about everything." Translation: Substance over style. McPherson knows that football, men's basketball and hockey produce nearly all the department's revenue. But be also understands that those sports have less than a third of the school's 700-plus athletes. What he wants is someone to do it all: raise money, hire quality coaches, energize existing staffers, work with a vision and run as clean a program as you'll ever find, to the satisfaction of alumni and students alike. Jackson upsets Vikings, 70-62, sending CAC race into 3-way tie By Bob Gross Lansing State Journal That other Everett High basketball team showed up Friday night Not the one that just three days ago shocked the No.

9-ranked team in the country and No. 1 in the state, Battle Creek Central, 70-62. But the team that makes a habit of getting pumped for one team, then coming up terribly flat against another. The Capital Area Conference leading Vikings lost to Jackson 60-58 and threw the race into a three-team dogfight between Everett, Sexton and Waver-ly, all with 6-3 records. Sexton beat Eastern 86-61 and Waverly edged Grand Ledge 55-53.

Holt's Rams had an opportunity to join the pack, but fell to East Lansing 69-61. "I'm not sure we can win the CAC," Everett coach Johnny Jones said. "We can't come to play one night and not the next I don't think we were mentally ready to play tonight and I'll take the blame for that I sensed something right at the start But there are no excuses. Jackson came in here ready to play and they did a great job getting the ball inside. "They beat us earlier in the season and if our players didn't understand that they got another lesson tonight It's a major disappointment In this league, you can't afford not to be ready and I don't care who you're playing." The roller-coaster Vikings blew a 15-point lead in a loss at Sexton a week ago and came back Tuesday with a stunning win at Battle Creek.

But Friday, they couldn't find enough emotion to beat seventh-place Jackson. In the Jackson locker room, Jackson players chanted "Bring on the Creek, bring on the Creek." Coach Andy Sheridan let his players celebrate, too. "I thought coming up here we might be able to pull it off," Sheridan said. "I told the kids at halftime that we had to stay in the game and if we did, it might make Everett a little nervous. The first three minutes of the third quarter were critical." Jackson led 14-13 after the first eight minutes but with guard Reggie Hester scoring seven points, it led 25-24 at the break.

Everett pulled in front 28-27 and the teams exchanged leads six times before Jackson went on top after the quarter 45-41. Hester had 13 of his 21 points in the first half. But Jackson's supporting cast proved to be Everett's undoing. Forward Damon Price scored 15 of his 19 points and forward Mike Smith 10 of his 15 points in the second half. Price also pulled down 13 rebounds.

It was Smith's 3-point shot at the buzzer that beat Everett in the first game. "Price and Smith really stepped up for us," Sheridan said. "That was the key. This was a great high school game and I thought both teams played hard, especially man-to-man." Everett's Ferguson, who scored 28 points in the Battle Creek win, was not a part of the offense in the early going, getting only two points by halftime. He went to the bench with two minutes to play in the second quarter and did not return until the fourth.

"He just wasn't in the game," Jones said. "I went Please see EVERETT, 4C "Everything we wanted to do, we did in the first period. Then all of a sudden we let down and they came out flying," MSU captain Rem Murray said. "These are the types of games you have to win to get in good position going into the playoffs. We've got to forget this game, now get sour and come ready to outwork them today." The Spartans, 0-2-1 in their last three games, appeared to be headed in the right direction in the first period.

A power-play goal by Murray at 5:48 and defenseman Chris Slater's goal on his own rebound at 18:27 gave MSU a two-goal advantage. ROD SANFORDLansing State Journal And with its pathetic pre-confer-ence schedule, PSU needs a big finish in the Big Ten, probably at least 10-8 and perhaps 11-7, to think of returning to the NCAA Tournament None of the Lions' nine non-league opponents are rated higher than No. 101 Texas Tech in the Ratings Percentage Index used by the NCAA. Maryland-Eastern Shore is listed 291st. But a win today might count more than one in PSU's RPI.

And If Lion center John Amaechi controls the game or forward Glenn Sekunda hits the open shots he missed in East Lansing, we'll have a surprising answer to a trivia question. Where does Heathcote have his lowest winning percentage in the Big Ten? Rec Hall, with .000 success now and forever. dik Ferguson flies: Lansing Everett's Desmond Ferguson jams home a basket in the Vikings' 60-58 loss Friday night to Jackson. MSU will be tacky to split for week Today's game Michigan State (8-2, 16-3) at Penn State (5-5, 13-6) Noon. TV: Ch.

Radio: WJIM (1240-AM) and (97.5 FM) Spartan tipoff. Page 2C Were Hawkeyes being nice? See Big Ten notebook. Page 12C Note the records as visitors in MSU's Big Ten championship seasons: 5-2 in the Final Four year of 1957, 4-2 in 1959, 3-4 in 1967, 7-2 in 1978, 4-5 en route to the NCAA title in 1979 and 7-2 in 1990. "A split this week would almost be good enough," said Heathcote, whose team lost 78-69 to Purdue Tuesday night in Breslin. "Penn State has a pretty good team.

And that's such a tough place to play." "We were rolling," said Spartan center Jamie Feick. "And we really can't afford another loss. We've got to play our best at Penn State and put the Purdue game behind us." The Boilermakers managed to win at Rec Hall last month, as did Indiana. But Michigan and Iowa can attest to the fervor of Nittany Lion fans, who ring the court and It's hard to pull out win at Penn State's Rec Hall By Jack Ebling Lansing State Journal UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. What home-court advantage? Michigan State is 4-1 at home and 4-1 on the road in Big Ten basketball games this season.

And as Jud Heathcote's seventh-ranked club, 16-3 overall, tries to hold its conference lead with a win at Penn State, 5-5 and 13-6, in a Raycom telecast at 12:05 p.m. today, success away from Breslin Center can't hurt This year's road mark already ranks with the best in school history, since no Spartan team has won more than seven times away from home in league play. football coach Joe Paterno, the king of Happy Valley. "And the reason it's all happening is because we are in such a competitive conference." That's probably more important to the Lions in basketball than it could ever be in football. An 82-62 loss at MSU nine days ago and a 74-64 win over Iowa last Saturday, before the usual 6,846 crazies in Rec Hall, were the school's first back-to-back national television appearances.

repeatedly show a love for more than football. On Oct 8-9, roughly 500 students camped overnight In 150 tents outside the PSU Athletic Ticket Office, waiting to submit basketball season ticket orders. Meanwhile, always-dapper coach Bruce Parkhill delivered pizzas to the campers and shook hands with every student. "To see kids standing in line for two days to buy tickets for basketball games here is thrilling," said.