The Michigan Daily- Tuesday, April 21,1992 - Page 11 I Lakers victory clinches final playoff berth The Michigan crew team kept it long and strong as the Wolverines rowed their way into the finals of the Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association tournament. Next weekend crew heads to the Midwest sprints in Madison. 'M' crew's SIRA final sets table for Dad Vail by Greg Richardson Daily Sports Writer Only four crews were able to place all of their boats in the finals at the Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association tournament in Oak Ridge, Tenn., last weekend. Michigan was one of those teams. The weekend may have marked a turning point for the Wolverines, be- cause it was the first time Michigan had ever accomplished that at SIRAs. "We did very well. We're very happy," women's varsity coach Charley Sullivan said. "It's the most competitive tournament outside of Dad Vail's." In order for a boat to enter the finals it has to finish in one of the top two spots out of six. Every Michigan boat qualified for the finals. Once the Wolverines got into the finals, al- most every one of their boats came in fourth or fifth. Virginia, Georgetown, Florida Tech and Miami were the top teams, with Florida Tech taking the title. The varsity women netted fifth out of 15 boats. This eight person boat's finish was com- parable to the varsity men, who finished fourth out of 16. . Other Michigan boats fared well, as the var- sity men's lightweight placed fourth out of 12. The novice women's A team was the most im- pressive of the Wolverine boats finishing fourth. In the varsity men's fourth place finish, they clocked in at 6:12 - six seconds behind Vir- ginia. The Wolverine women also fell to Virginia. Michigan may have further reason for opti- mism, because Sullivan feels that the Wolve- rines are right where the Cavaliers were three years ago. Sullivan stated his team has made a transi- tion to being possibly the second best team in the Midwest. He and varsity captain Daryl Laninga agree that Michigan has left many Mid- western crews behind. However, there is more work to do before Michigan reaches some of its goals. "We've made a jump with competitiveness, but we need to find a little more speed if we're going to compete with those teams who consis- tently make the finals," Sullivan said. Sullivan feels that Michigan's achievement at SIRAs bodes well for the Wolverines' seed- ing at Dad Vail's - the focal point of Michigan's season. The Dad Vail's will be held in Philadelphia on May 6-10. "Our goal is to make the finals at Dad Vail's.," Laniga said. Associated Press After the Lakers' 109-108 over- time victory over the Clippers Sun- day, the last of the 16 NBA playoff teams had been determined. Miami, Houston and Atlanta all lost games that would have guaranteed a spot in the postseason party. Miami could have clinched the final Eastern Conference spot, but lost 109-93 to Boston, which sealed the No. 2 seed in the conference with a 109-93 victory over the Heat. That left the door open for Atlanta, but the Hawks lost 112-108 at Cleveland, giving the berth back to the Heat. Both Miami and Atlanta finished with 38-44 records, with Miami getting the first playoff berth among the four most recent expan- sion teams on the basis of having a better conference record than the Hawks. Houston could have clinched the final Western Conference berth, but fell at home, 100-97 to Phoenix set- ting the scene for the Lakers clinch- ing victory. With those outcomes, the first- round pairings in the Eastern Con- ference have Miami playing Chi- cago, Indiana facing Boston, New Jersey meeting Cleveland and Detroit meeting New York. In the West, it's Utah and the Los Angeles Clippers, Seattle and Gol- den State, San Antonio and Phoenix, and Portland against Los Angeles. Jeff Hornacek scored 18 points for the Suns, already assured of the No. 4 playoff spot in the Western Conference. "Nobody can say we didn't try to win this game," Phoenix coach Cotton Fitzsimmons said. "I told the team that if Houston gets in, they'll have to earn it by beating us." "It was a day when the lid was on the casket," Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. "Balls would be on the rim and come out. It wasn't a day to have a game like that." Boston completed a comeback from five games behind New York with eight games tlef to tie the New York with a 51-31 record. The Cel- tics get the No. 2 seed because they beat the Knicks 3-2 in the season series. Atlanta, trying to make the play- offs for the seventh consecutive year, led 108-107 in the final min- utes before Mark Price scored five points in the final 9.6 seconds for Cleveland. ft Rangers down Devils in opener, 2-1 Associated Press The New York Rangers - looking to win the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1940 - led a parade of winners Sunday night in four games that lived up to the NHL's reputation for low-scoring in the postseason. The Rangers, the league's best team this season, beat the New Jer- sey Devils 2-1 as first-round action began in the Wales Conference. The four games produced only 14 goals. Elsewhere, it was Washington 3, Pittsburgh 1; Montreal 2, Hartford 0, and Buffalo 3, Boston 2 Rangers 2, Devils 1 At New York, the Rangers got another strong performance from goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck and their defense. Darren Turcotte and Mike Gart- ner each scored for the Rangers. Vanbiesbrouck, the NHL's hottest goaltender at the end of the regular season with a nine-game unbeaten streak (8-0-1), made 26 saves and was at his best in the second period with the Rangers clinging to a 1-0 lead. Vanbiesbrouck made two great saves on shots in front of the net by Tom Chorske and Laurie Boschman. Capitals 3, Penguins 1 At Landover, Md., Don Beaupre stopped 32 shots and Peter Bondra scored twice as Washington beat the defending Stanley Cup champions. The Penguins played without Mario Lemieux, scratched with a bruised right shoulder. Bondra's first goal gave Wash- ington a 1-0 lead, and John Druce made it 2-1 at 13:42 of the second period. Bondra iced the victory against goaltender Tom Barrasso by converting a pass from Al Iafrate with 2:08 left. Canadiens 2, Whalers 0 At Montreal, rookie Gilbert Dionne scored both goals, and Patrick Roy made 32 saves for his fifth career playoff shutout. The opening goal came on the power play after Mike Keane poked free the puck from a scramble in the corner. Dionne, Montreal's top scorer in the second half of the season with 21 goals, picked up the puck behind the net and swept around to tuck it under goaltender Frank Pietrangelo at 16:18 of the opening period. Sabres 3, Bruins 2 At Boston, Buffalo's league- leading power play produced two goals and the Sabres survived a furious third-period comeback by the Bruins. Petr Svoboda got a shorthanded goal in the first period, and Pat LaFontaine and Doug Bodger scored in the second, giving Buffalo a 3-0 lead. The Bruins, who had two apparent goals waved off in the second period, scored twice early in the third, but Buffalo held on to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. f , " 0," y 1 0 0 0« .. 0; S 0 0 " .. , " ;a- 4 ^ r 31 1 CJ ' 1 a c®r YAH 0 0 Is if T 11 hr Wednesday, April 22 2 7 p.m. North Campus Diag 0f " " 0 " " " " " " M " M M " f 0 " 0 - 9 L , " LIVE ENTERTAINMENT FREE REFRESHMENTS ENGINBOWL V ToURNAMENT TBH DUNKTANK QIXTP DTU U ATTATc ('YnTTUCT M mil ii