Attempting to stay in contention for the Interim league title, Maine West's varsity cagers must surmount a tough obstacle tonight in the person of East Leyden. The rugged Eagles, who just last week topped Prospect 63‑60, are currently holding down fourth place in Interim standing with a 6‑3 mark.

Maine West, after its close call with Niles West last week, sports an 8‑2 conference record. For the season, the Warriors are 9‑3. At Leyden tonight and against Deerfield tomorrow, Coach Freeman's quintet will be trying to shake a brief slump which has deprived them of a share of the Interim lead.

The cagers had been tied for first since Morton West squeaked past Wheaton on January 5. In what was probably their most satisfying game of the season, the Warriors waged an excellent defensive battle to slip past the Morton West Falcons 57‑55. Barney Franzen '63, swished one from the corner with four seconds left to give Maine the hard‑earned win.

They put on their greatest display of offense of the season the next evening against Proviso West, when they smashed the Panthers 79‑44. Shooting at a 50 per cent clip, the team sank 31 goals as compared to 18 for Proviso. Al Waters '63, led the squad with 22.

While their 74‑point total was not their greatest offensive effort of the year, the bucketmen did manage to amass a new high in shooting percentage ‑ a whopping 59 per cent.

Fouls opened wide the gates of opportunity for arch‑rival Prospect on January 12, and the Knights took advantage of this, tallying an amazing 16 out of 17 free throw attempts to win 56‑54. Maine played a tolerable game statistics wise they hit the same number of field goals as Prospect‑but the Warrior attack was stymied by the Knights' brand of ball control. In the final and decisive quarter, the Westmen were able to take only four shots.

Inability to get the ball from its foes almost proved to be Maine's downfall again last week in its latest outing against Niles West. The Warriors had to surpass an 11‑point deficit before they finally rallied to win. Only when the Maine defense became more aggressive did the cagers surge hack in the final quarter for 22 points to triumph 58‑49. Three players scored in double figures for Maine West, but it was probably their 46 rebounds as much as this that saved the Warriors from being upset.