Lasalle

Whew! The seemingly interminable NBA regular season finally has ended and now we can get on with the meaningful part of the year -- the playoffs. The pick here to win it all is Chicago.The Michael Jordan-led Bulls had the second-best record in the league (61-21) to Portland's 63-19. Also, the Bulls finished with four wins, giving them momentum for their series with the Knicks beginning Thursday in Chicago. The Bulls are 35-6 at home. The Knicks are 21-20 in the Garden.* How many more years are the Washington Bullets going to floor these lousy teams and then talk about settling scores next season?

State champion Vaymond Dennis (135) set a school record for career victories with two technical falls, and teammates Ryan Mackin (125), Nick LaSalle (130) and Pat Jameson (160) all won twice as fifth-ranked Hammond swept tri-meet wins over Calvert Hall and St. Paul's yesterday.The defending 1A-2A state duals and state tournament champion Bears improved to 5-1 and have won 23 of their past 24 matches. The 35-33 win over Calvert Hall was the first loss of the year for the 14th-ranked Cardinals (8-1)

0 Losses in eight games played over a two-week span for the St. Paul's boys lacrosse team, ending with a 6-5 overtime victory over Landon of Bethesda last Wednesday. The Crusaders posted two other one-goal victories, including an 8-7 overtime decision over LaSalle (Pa.). 2 Ground balls shy of 100 last year for returning Dundalk junior midfielder Zach Yancura, who is hoping to help the Owls boys lacrosse team improve on last season's 9-6 record. Yancura led last year's Owls with 22 goals and eight assists.

EMMITSBURG -- When a man has coached in more than 1,000 basketball games, it's understandable if some of them run together. A victory here, a loss there. Who can keep track?For Mount St. Mary's Jim Phelan, No. 1,107 last night won't be forgotten. This one was a keeper, one game carved out of a 41-year career that will forever stand out.For the first time, Phelan directed a team against his alma mater, La Salle, where he starred as a player from 1948 to 1951.What won't be remembered fondly is the outcome, a 68-65 loss to the Explorers at Knott Arena that became official when Riley Inge's three-point attempt at the buzzer hit the front of the rim.The memories came rushing back to Phelan in the days leading up to the game, but not as he sat on the Mountaineers' bench in his trademark bow tie. Then, he was all business, trying to find a way to snap a three-game losing streak.

It wasn't a work of art, but, to a head coach, every victory looks like a masterpiece. Coaches would much rather win ugly than look good and lose.That's how it was for Loyola College's Tom Schneider yesterday after the Greyhounds defeated Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference rival Fairfield, 74-58, at Reitz Arena for their fourth straight victory and seventh in the past nine games.Not since the 1978-79 season have the Greyhounds had a more productive stretch."I think they're starting to believe in themselves," Schneider said of his team.

If the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference members believed Loyola College's recent surge was an aberration, they certainly are receiving a different message now.The Greyhounds turned everybody into believers last night, when they out-dueled the league's classiest team, La Salle, 62-60, at Reitz Arena and stamped themselves as a contender in next weekend's conference tournament.In a battle of defenses, Loyola (13-13, 9-6) won its fifth straight game and beat La Salle for the second time in 32 meetings and the first time since January, 1944.

Fire Winfield: Firefighters from Winfield, Sykesville and Lisbon in Howard County responded at 3: 12 p.m. Friday to a house fire in the 5600 block of Lasalle Lane. Units were out 43 minutes.

Calvert Hall senior Brad Francis won the 100-meter butterfly in 49.81 seconds at the Eastern Interscholastics meet at LaSalle University last night.Francis' time is a new Calvert Hall record and also qualifies him for the Junior National Championships.Today Francis and teammate Adam Blake will swim in the 100 backstroke.

Baltimore County police were searching for two men who held up a credit union in Towson yesterday afternoon, a robbery that disrupted traffic near Towson Market Place and prompted lockdowns at nearby schools. Shortly after 1 p.m., two armed men wearing dark clothing and masks entered Central Credit Union in the 8500 block of LaSalle Road. They left with an undisclosed amount of money, police said. There were no reports of injuries or of shots fired. Police said they searched buildings in the 8500 and 8600 blocks of LaSalle Road but did not find the men. They also searched cars in the area.

Aug. 12, 1990Air Force -- Staff Sgt. John Campisi, 30, of Covina, Calif., struck by truck on dark runway in Saudi Arabia.Aug. 21, 1990Navy -- Electrician's Mate 3rd Class Daniel M. Jones, 19, of Wakefield, Mass., electric shock while performing routine maintenance aboard USS Antietam in Persian Gulf.Aug. 28, 1990Air Force -- 13 fatalities, C-5A Transport plane crashed on takeoff from Ramstein, Germany, en route to Saudi Arabia. Killed were:Maj. John M. Gordon, Spring, TexasMaj. Richard W. Chase, San Antonio, TexasMaj.