1a: talk» 1 reveals“! all” When the Bard wrote "Hope springs eternal in ' the human breast" we suspect that he may have had Panther hockey fans in mind. 'IWo weeks ago, after we had lost a heart- breaking hone game to Dalhousie and barely salvaged a tie against St. F.X. in the Forum, the future looked pretty drab. However, after two away ganes with U.N.B. and the consequent four points and our recent home win over Mount A. seem to have bolstered‘our . flagging spirits and have resulted our studying the schedule with renewed optimism. But first to the Momt A. game which was scheduled to be one of the high. points of Winter Carnival and proved to he just what was needed to restore the spirit on campus. David Cameron and Iouis Iortie gave a clear demonstration why they are one—mo in the league ‘ scoring race, each gamer- ing six points to run 1 their totals to 38 & 36... 1 an exceptional record for 1 the 14 games inwhidu they ‘ have participated. Iouis had a hat trick with his ‘ three markers and was ‘ credited with three assists while David scored once and had five assists. other scorers were Wilfred MacDonald with a pair, Val Mitchell, Shane Turner and Danny We out- Clc'_issed the lvbunties, in this game, in every . re§§ect with the regrett-q able exception of Wayne I Squarebri'ggs . ' Acadia and St. F.X. We must . counsel Wayne that, in fut— v ure, when engaging in fisticuffs he should exercise discretion when picking opponents and select- ones smaller and with less pugilistic talent than his ‘latest opponent. Wayne made the Nbunt A. slugger look like Ivbhamred Ali at his peak. indefinite period. The injury was sustained when he was checked in a U.N.B. game by one of the smallest ‘ players inrthe league! We asked Ralph for comment on'this and he said, "When you're on your knees, any player looks BIG! " Ralph. joins Terry Devine, out with a broken wrist, as a spectator beside the These recent ganes put us back into contention for a playoff spot. ‘ second place and the. consequent best—of—three home game series not at all out of reach. Conced- ing a first place finish ' to Saint Mary's, the other teams in contention for the second, third and fourth spots, their records and gates ahead are: St. F.X. 8—4-3 for 19. points has but 5 to play; only Acadia- at hone and away Dal for two, U.N.B. and mncton. ancton 9-5-0 for 18 points with 'six to play, U.P.E.I. and Momt A. away and U.P.E. U.P.E.I.', Dal, St. F.X. and U.N.B. at hone. Dalhousie, 7—4—2 for 16 points have seven to play. They'll be at hone to Saint Mary's, (twice) while they are on the road against U.N.B. , Motor: and Acadia. Our record is 7—5—2 for 16, tied with Dal for 4th. 'Jhis weekend we travel to Mmmt A.’ and Monoton fOr ganes ,(and 'what' 4 points would do for us); then the following weekend the team visits Acadia and Saint Mary's and we close out the regular season on the 18th & 19th at the Forum against Nbunt Allison and mncton. As can be seen, we have a chance for any position except the lead, but we cannot afford to drop any "Shooda won" games. We regret to report that husky Ralph‘ Josey is out-with a separated shoulder for an bend'i or in the press box. It is hard to look GOOD when losing but we thought. the Basketball Panthers did just that on Friday and Saturday, as they dropped a pair to league— leading and talent—laden Acadia (110-1) , who are ranked #2 in Canada. George Birger's charges managed to keep close for most of both games but the Acadia bench strength be- cane evident in the closing stages of each contest. In the first game, things looked bright in the opening minute as we quickly assumed a 4—0 lead but the optimism among the spectators who r crowded the gym proved premature as the visitors quickly assumed command and enjoyed a 50—39 lead at the half. Playing with dogged persistence, we e managed to close the gap to 68-64 with ten minutes to ,go but Acadia rallied and closed out the game with a 101—88 victory. Dennis ' High, back in a Panther miform, played an out- standing game for us as he led our scorers with 25. In Saturday's gane we again got off to a fast start and led for most of the I firSt stanza, going off the floor on the short end of a close 37-36 score. In the second half we again started strong as Dave Arsenault's first shot gave us a lead which was only mcuentary and although we did succeed in keeping it close, it was all I hoopsters . “PEWR’NNIN. PANI/IE‘RS Acadia from then on as they went on to an 83—68 win. Our high scorers were Dave Arsenault who had 24, while Vince Murray, who replaced Dennis High for this one, had 22. Aswegotopresswehear- the good news that we beat U.N.B. in Fredericton last night 84-65 with Vince Murray‘s 18 leading our ‘lhis gives us a full game advantage over Dalhousie who will be here Friday night and Saturday afternoon for a pair of games that are "Musts" for both teams. It might also be of interest to local hoop fans to know that CBC—T.V. will be showingthe Acadia—Saint Mary's game at 3:00. The team had a hard time returning from Fredericton as the roads were bad, driving conditions were poor and the Strait was full of ice, so that it was 2:30 before they arrived back home. We saw Colin MacAdam this morning who was, benoaning the fact that he had had to write a math exam while exhausted and leepy The Pantherettes also voyaged to Fredericton and had the same rought trip and did not have the satisfaction of a. win as the boys had as they lost by » a lopsided score to the- U.N.B. girls. ’We thought the girls had been playing much better recently and we wish them well as they take on Dalhousie at 6:00 on Friday. Perhaps a few fans to cheer them on would help a lot! We'll close out the week ~withanewthemesong which we dedicate to all interested fans: "When constabulatory duty's to be done, to be done, A polioeman's lot is not a happy one!"