ScoBpr board ~sa~ ' *I ;N'S NCAA NATIONAL BASKETBALL HOCKEY LEAGUE (8) ARIZONA 89, Washington 2, Oregon State 72 CAROLINA 2 (OT) (12) Utah 71, OTTAWA 2, -!A1 JOSE STATE 49 Boston 0 M) Stanford 89, Montreal 3, WASHINGTON 57 PHILADELPHIA 1 Florida 0, ST. LOUIS 0 (OT) A~ f MLchi gan r - ~ aad its de 7ut fans .. NGA BASKETBALL INDIANA 99, Philadelphia 95 Washington 95, TORONTO 88 Houston 93, NEW JERSEY 92 CLEVELAND 98, New York 74 TORTS.t~m 5a~ The Michigan soccer team landed two new recruits this week. Abby Crumpton and Amy Sullivant, both from Michigan, are the beginning of a potentially strong fresh- man class next season. Friday February 19, 1999 11 1-- 1-1 1- ha ps a d chumps has bts, Spartans Big Ten, with vict win title :ory * s called paying your'dues and Michigan's been doing it all season, even though they paid at least half a season's worth last night. Not only did the tth-place Wolverines have to watch as the Spartans bounced on to the court to celebrate their second Big Ten title in a row, but they had to do it in an arena packed with hostile fans. That hurts. Especially at home. And that's the kind of thing that can be a big motivator - or just a big fat pain in the butt. All game, the Michigan players listened to the chants and taunting rain down on them from the Michigan State fans packed along the top rows of Crisler Arena. What's worse is that the Michigan ns- who, by the way, were there st night - couldn't top them. They sounded more like the Maize Dazed than the Maize Rage. The Michigan State fans, who apparently know a dud crowd when they see one, began taunting the Maize Ragers, who simply and RICK silently took it. FREEMAN To cap it off, Morris Peterson put Freeman of the exclamation point on Michigan's the Press *$#@! of a night when he threw down an alley-oop feed from Jason Klein - and the crowd erupted. "I feel for Michigan," Spartans coach Tom Izzo said. And he does. He's had this happen before to him. Three years ago, when the reins of the Michigan State program were still fresh in his hands, Indiana fans came and invaded the Breslin Center, much to Izzo's frustra- tidn. Now, with his second Big Ten title firmly in his back pocket, such incidents don't hurt as much as they did en - or do for Brian Ellerbe now. "I'm disappointed in our team to no end," Ellerbe said. "We played like we didn't know what to do." k He's wrong of course. He's probably right when he said "nobody played well today." But he's wrong, his disappointment will end - some- day. Whether or not he wins a Big Ten regular-season title, the hurt and the embarrassment created on the Crisler Arena floor will be long gone, banished in a spontaneous celebration and a wash of Gatorade like the one that stained the shoulders of Izzo's jacket last night. * Ellerbe might sound like he's given up on his team, Tut he hasn't - it's not in the man to do something like that. But as last night showed convincingly, it's definitely in the fans to give up. - Rick Freeman can be reached via e-mail at rick- free@umich.edu. By Josh KI.inbaum Daily Sports Editor As the lower bowl of Crisler Arena slowly began to thin out, waves of maize-and-blue fans streaming towards the exits, a ring of green- and-white clad rooters in the upper rows of the arena weren't going anywhere. As No. 4 Michigan State sealed its 73-58 victory over arch- rival Michigan to clinch a share of the Big Ten title, the Spartan faithful broke out a cheer that was more than due: "We own Crisler." And for one night, they sure did. Playing in front of a home crowd that was far from partisan - if anything, it was Spartisan - the Wolverines were embar- rassed in their own building, by both their play and their crowd. MICHIGAN ST. 73 In a game that was closer than the score indicated - the MICHIGAN 58 Wolverines pulled to within seven with 4:20 to play - Michigan State took advantage of strong offensive rebounding and Michigan's inability to exe- cute. "I'm disappointed in our team," Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe said. "We didn't think. We played the game like we didn't know what we were doing." Michigan (4-9 Big Ten, 10-16 overall) didn't box out, didn't set screens and, in the second half, couldn't get its shots to fall. "It was the entire team," Ellerbe said. "Nobody played well today. You can point to excuses, but there is not excuse." Spartan forward Antonio Smith had a field day on the boards, grabbing 14 of them. Michigan State (13-1, 24-4) out- rebounded Michigan, 36-24. In the second half, Michigan was unable to get any open looks at the basket, largely because they didn't create opportu- nities - screens and picks that should have been set weren't. The result? The Wolverines shot just .304 from the field in the second stanza. But the Wolverines hung tight, in large part to 35 minutes of solid defense, and the Spartans didn't put the game away until there was just over three minutes to play. Michigan guard Louis Bullock had just missed a 3-pointer in- which he appeared to be blatantly fouled, but when he appealed to the referee, he was promptly given a technical. "I thought I got fouled," Bullock said. "I said something to him that he didn't like, but I didn't curse at him or say anything too bad." It was the first technical in the senior's Michigan career. Michigan State's Morris Peterson drained both of the ensuing free throws and, when the Spartans got the ball back, all- America candidate Mateen Cleaves hit a layup, giving them a 13 point lead. But the referees were calling the game tightly both ways. The Wolverines benefitted from a questionable technical as well, bringing them to within six points, their closest in the See SPARTANS, Page 13 LOUIS BROWN/Daily Josh Asselin, try all he might, couldn't reject Michigan State's bid for a Big Ten title, which it achieved with a 73-58 victory last night. Weekend vital for , M' hockey's future 'M' in third so far r By Chris Duprey Daily Sports Editor Josh Langfeld isn't counting his Michigan hockey team out of the ,onference race, even though they rail Michigan State by six points in he CCHA standings with just six games to play. "Were still trying to win the league," Langfeld asserts. "If we take four points this weekend and Notre Dame beats Michigan State (tonight), you're looking at 38 and 36 (points) again." Those are two big ifs. The Wolverines haven't won a game in their last six tries, including last Saturday's fortunate .2-2 tie on the ad against Western Michigan - the same squad they face tonight in Kalamazoo. Michigan coach Red Berenson isn't quite as publicly ambitious about Michigan's conference finish as is his sophomore winger. "Our first priority is to get home ice (for the CCHA playoffs)," Berenson said. "Right now we're on the bubble, where we could finish fifth or sixth." With victories in dire necessity, the* schedule certainly picked a tough time for Michigan to meet archrival Michigan State. The Spartans have not lost in 18 games, going 14-0-4 over the stretch, and will roar into Joe Louis Arena tomorrow night trying to continue their success. As usual with heated rivalries, records and momentum mean little when these two teams step on the ice. But Michigan State won't wait patiently for the Wolverines while they sort out their problems. To win either of the weekend's games, the Wolverines will need to avoid the first-period plague that has hindered them throughout their See BRONCOS, Page 12 By Michaet Kern and Ryn C. Moloney Daily Sports Wiliters MINNEAPOLIS - It has been only one day, but already the Michigan women's swimming team is performing up to Michigan coach Jim Richardson's expectations. The Wolverines swam to third- place in the Big Ten Championships last night with a score of 134 after one day of events, despite not having any swimmers in the 500 freestyle finals. Minnesota finished the evening in first place with a score of 181, fol- lowed by Northwestern at 166. The meet exploded out of the gates with an exciting 200 free relay, in which Michigan finished second to the Wildcats by only .02 second. "Those are the two fastest times in the country" Richardson said. As she has done all year, junior Shannon Shakespeare won the 200 individual medley to capture her third straight Big Ten title. In a rare display of emotion after the race, Shakespeare pumped her fist to the crowd and flexed her biceps. In what may be the comeback story{ of the year, senior Jen Eberwein fin- ished second in the 50-free, losing to defending Big Ten champion Jennifer Christy of Indiana by only .04 sec- onds. Suffering from Epstein-Barr Syndrome, Eberwein missed half of December and the entire month of January - it was questionable whether she would be able to return for the Big Ten Championships. "It is a testament to how tough she is and what kind of racer she is," Richardson said. Do you have a BACHELOR'S DEGREE? We need youl Measurement Incorporated is an educational testing company that hires hundreds of people each year to hand-score tests. Bachelor's degree in any field required. Paid training provided. Scorers are hired per project. Projects usually last 3-6 weeks. 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