BOYS' BASKETBALL: SYLMAR VICTORY ENDS IN DISPUTE SYLMAR 76, RESEDA 71.

Byline: Lee Barnathan Staff Writer

Take away the controversy, and the fact that Reseda can't win at Sylmar doesn't change.

A disputed technical foul with seven seconds remaining gave Sylmar free throws, possession, control of the game and ultimately the Valley Mission League title with a 76-71 victory, Reseda's eighth consecutive loss at Sylmar.

The Spartans (19-5, 9-0) won as much because they woke up in the fourth quarter as the disputed call.

Specifically, guard Alfredo Tovar scored 10 of his 14 points and forward Frank Robinson scored nine of his 13 in the final period, when Sylmar overcame an eight-point Reseda (14-5, 7-2) lead.

Louis Darby kept the Spartans within reach with 23 of his 28 points in the first three quarters. He also had 10 rebounds, six of which came in the third quarter.

``I don't know how we do it,'' Sylmar coach Bort Escoto said. ``The good thing is we got a lot of guys. I would hate to coach against us. These guys go to another level and do everything right.''

Reseda fell behind 69-66 with 1 minute, 42 seconds to play and tied it 15 seconds later on a 3-pointer by Steve Lone. Regents coach Mike Wagner then called timeout.

This proved critical when, with eight seconds to play and Sylmar up 73-71, Sylmar took possession on a jump ball and Escoto called timeout. Sylmar inbounded the ball and Reseda fouled. Wagner then called another timeout, only to be told he didn't have any remaining and was assessed a technical foul. Sylmar guard Sam Harris made one free throw, and Tovar made two free throws.

The two scoring books differed, Sylmar's saying Wagner had no timeouts and Reseda's saying he did. (The Daily News had Wagner with one more timeout). The referees had no choice but to go with the home book.