East Coast Conference

La Salle was there at the start of the East Coast Conference, as were Temple, St. Joseph's and American. Later migrations took Bucknell, Lafayette and Lehigh, and then Delaware and Drexel. The most recent movement in the never-ending realignment of Division I athletics has the ECC's days dwindling down to a precious few.The ECC opened for business in 1974 as a basketball coaches' conference, with Gary Williams, Paul Westhead, Tom Davis, Jim Valvano, Don Casey and Joe Harrington roaming the sidelines.

Roy Kramer has had a lot of difficult jobs in his life. As athletic director at Vanderbilt, he tried to revive the sagging fortunes of the Commodores' football and basketball teams. And, in his current position as commissioner of the Southeastern Conference, he has overseen the league's expansion into the largest and most complex in the nation.But those jobs are a lot less stressful than being chairman of the selection committee for the NCAA Division I basketball tournament. Dave Gavitt, who held the position for several years while he was commissioner of the Big East Conference, once said, "It's the kind of job where you can make enemies a lot faster than you can make friends."

BROOKLYN, N.Y. -- Towson State rode a 19-2 run to a 40-26 halftime lead and went on to defeat Brooklyn College, 89-66, in an East Coast Conference game last night. The victory extended the Tigers' streak to 10 games, the third-longest in school history and longest as a Division I team.The victory pushed first-place Towson (14-11) to 9-1 in the ECCBrooklyn (5-18, 3-6) never got closer than its halftime deficit.Terrance Jacobs finished with 26 points, backed by Chuck Lightening and Andrew Mason with 13 apiece for Towson State.

LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. -- The University of Maryland Baltimore County shot a season-high 58.3 percent from the field yesterday to shock Rider, 94-79, and climb into a tie with the Broncs for first place in the East Coast Conference.All five starters -- four juniors and a sophomore -- scored in double figures for the Retrievers, 6-1 in the conference this season and nine for 10 in ECC games dating to last season."This is the best game we've played in the four years I've been here," UMBC coach Earl Hawkins said.

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Skip Saunders and Derell Thompson had respective career-highs of 30 points and 12 rebounds to lead UMBC past the University at Buffalo, 103-80, in an East Coast Conference game at Alumni Hall last night. It was a season-high point total for the Retrievers, who halted a four-game losing streak and extended the Royals' to six.Dion Andrews had six points to highlight a 22-5 run, as the visitors finally broke away for an 83-60 lead with 7:28 left.

Officials from Towson State and UMBC have called a joint news conference for 2 p.m. tomorrow, at which time they are expected to announce their admission to the Big South Conference for the 1992-93 year.Spokesmen from both schools would not comment today, other than to say that the purpose of the news conference was to "address our conference situation."Buddy Sasser, commissioner of the Big South Conference, also would not comment other than to say he would attend the press conference.Both Towson State and UMBC are currently members of the East Coast Conference, which under current NCAA rules will be without a bid to the Division I basketball tournament until 1996.

The commissioner of the Big South Conference said today that the league could soon make an announcement regarding the addition of Towson State and UMBC."

UMBC grabbed the home-field advantage for this weekend's East Coast Conference soccer tournament by defeating SUNY-Buffalo, 3-1, yesterday in Catonsville.The Retrievers, who are undefeated in the conference, took the ECC regular-season championship by getting goals from Darius Taylor and Rob Hoch 47 seconds apart midway through the second half.The Bulls took the lead in the first half on a goal from Brian Hancher, but Rob Karas of UMBC tied it early in the second half on a penalty kick, his second of the year.

UMBC's perfect soccer record in the East Coast Conference will be on the line tomorrow (3:30 p.m.), when the Retrievers play host to Towson State, which is in position to claim conference honors for a third straight year. The Tigers are 1-0-1 in ECC games, while UMBC leads the conference with a 3-0-1 mark.The regular-season champion will gain the home-field advantage for the postseason tournament, to be held Nov. 9-10.

There has been a visible reversal of fortune among the state's Division I basketball teams since last March. Two programs that were on solid footing a year ago find themselves scrambling to solidify their futures, and six are encouraged by fewer roadblocks in their path.Practice officially begins tomorrow, and as has often been the case for local colleges in recent years, notable offseason developments haven't been restricted to recruiting.On the plus side:* Maryland still can't go to the NCAA tournament, but at least the Terps' games can be televised live and they will be allowed to play in the ACC tournament this season.