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In a blow to the newly evolving peace process in South Africa, the African National Congress said yesterday that it was postponing indefinitely what would have been a historic meeting with the government on April 11. The black nationalist group said it was calling off the talks to protest police killings of demonstrators last week. "If the government talks about negotiations on the one hand and murders our people on the other - that we cannot accept," Nelson Mandela, the ANC deputy president, said to rousing cheers at an ANC rally yesterday in the Xhosa tribal homeland of Ciskei.

After a nine-month trial that made headlines around the world, the leaders of the African National Congress were sentenced to life in prison by a white judge in an ornate Pretoria courtroom in June 1964. Today, only one of the convicted ANC guerrilla leaders - Nelson Mandela - remains in prison. As in 1964, what keeps Mandela behind bars is the very issue that sent him and his colleagues to jail a quarter-century ago: the use of violence to overthrow the South African government.

There was swift and predictable reaction to the breakthrough yesterday that ended the African National Congress' 29-year armed struggle against white rule in South Africa. White extremists attacked the accord, which included a timetable to free political prisoners and return political exiles. Moderate organizations voiced support. And black political opponents of the ANC attacked the agreement, reached with the government early yesterday. Zeph Mothopeng, president of the Pan-Africanist Congress, said that because his group "was not party to yesterday's talks," it would not join in suspending armed struggle.

Coach Andy Davis has taken his Academy of the New Church teams to the Princeton Day School enough times to know what last week's rain would do to his host's field. After seeing the result, it is no wonder he was excited. "I've been coming up here off and on for 20 years," Davis said. "When I saw the weather, I was hoping the field would get all muddy and I'd just give it to Darren. " Davis did just that, as ANC running back Darren Bau-Madsen rushed for 171 yards on 23 carries and the Lions pounded PDS, 21-0, Saturday afternoon on a muddy Princeton field.

Friday didn't start off too well for Academy of the New Church and ended without much improvement. To start the day, coach Scott Daum called in sick and was unable to travel to Pennington Prep for a nonleague game. Assistant coach Joel Brown took the reins, but it didn't matter. The Lions fell behind the host Red Raiders early and never recovered, losing 70-54. ANC (4-8) trailed 44-23 at halftime, then could only manage to score 3 points in the third quarter against Pennington's (16-3)

Dominate and humiliate. That is what the Academy of the New Church has done to Friends Schools League opponents this season. Whether it was crisp three-pointers by Clay Penecale, Shannon Givens creating open looks, or the pesky play of Sammy Givens, the Lions left no doubt about their league supremacy. Academy of the New Church defeated Abington Friends School, 65-39, yesterday in a first-place league game at the Penn State-Abington campus. The Lions, ranked No. 1 in Southeastern Pennsylvania by the Inquirer and 23d nationally by USA Today, improved to 16-1 overall and 5-0 in league play.

African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela said yesterday that black- white negotiations cannot succeed until the government abandons its insistence on special privileges and protections for whites. Mandela, addressing a mostly black crowd of 50,000 at a soccer stadium, said last week's groundbreaking talks between his African National Congress and the white-led government were successful. But he said the government's demand of special "group rights" for whites and other minorities is unacceptable to the ANC, the country's most powerful opposition group.

It may not have been the prettiest football game ever played, but it was certainly one of the most entertaining. In a battle between two teams whose ground games could not be contained, Academy of the New Church prevailed, 39-36, over host Jenkintown on Saturday. The teams traded touchdowns so quickly in the second half that there were no touchdown drives, just touchdown plays. Each team had two sources producing the big plays. For the Lions, Darren Bau-Madsen rushed 21 times for 216 yards and three touchdowns, including the winner with 3 minutes, 23 seconds remaining in the game.

President Nelson Mandela's African National Congress admitted it committed "excesses" in its struggle against apartheid, but said the abuses hardly compared to those of the repugnant government it sought to overthrow. Deputy President Thabo Mbeki, the heir to South Africa's presidency, yesterday defended the ANC's three-decade war against the white minority regime as a "just cause. " And he offered new disclosures about the tactics the government employed in its failed "total onslaught" to defeat antiapartheid forces.

The African National Congress yesterday backed off from its ultimatum to the South African government, apparently ending a five-day standoff that had threatened the country's peace process. The ANC demanded Friday that President F.W. de Klerk fire two top cabinet ministers and take other steps to end township violence by May 9, or the anti- apartheid group would pull out of negotiations with the white government. But yesterday, ANC Deputy President Nelson Mandela said that all the ANC wanted from the government was some sort of "serious gesture" toward curbing the violence.

Malcolm Gilbert , a 6-foot-11 sophomore center planning to redshirt this season, has left the Pitt basketball team for what the university called "family-related reasons" and will transfer to another school. A native of Smyrna, Del., Gilbert played high school basketball at the Academy of the New Church in Bryn Athyn. ICE HOCKEY: Andrei Makarov made 41 saves to help Russia beat the United States, 2-1, at the world junior championships in Ufa, Russia. Jacob Trouba scored a tying, power-play goal on a slapshot from the blue line midway through the second period, but Vladimir Tkachyov scored from close range four minutes into the third.

It was about halfway through the season when Westtown coach Seth Berger had a heart-to-heart chat with Daniel Ochefu. "He told me that I needed to play with more intensity," the 6-foot-10, 240-pound center said. "As soon as the new year started, I began doing that. " In Friday night's Friends Schools League championship game vs. Academy of the New Church, Ochefu, playing with that renewed passion, sparked the Moose to a 55-46 victory at Haverford College. In helping Westtown secure its first FSL title since the 1985-86 season, Ochefu, a Villanova recruit, delivered 15 points, 16 rebounds (six on offense)

It was about halfway through the season when Westtown coach Seth Berger had a heart-to-heart chat with Daniel Ochefu. "He told me that I needed to play with more intensity," the 6-foot-10, 240-pound center said. "As soon as the new year started, I began doing that. " In Friday night's Friends Schools League championship game vs. Academy of the New Church, Ochefu, playing with that renewed passion, sparked the Moose to a 55-46 victory at Haverford College. In helping Westtown secure its first FSL title since the 1985-86 season, the Villanova recruit delivered 15 points, 16 rebounds (six on offense)

After experiencing some homesickness in his first year at Academy of the New Church, Ontario native Dinjiyl Walker is flourishing. "It was a little bit hard at first, coming over here and not knowing anyone," Walker said. "But the team really embraced me, made me feel like part of the family. I'm thankful for that. " Walker, who arrived in Bryn Athyn in 2010, is equally comfortable on the hardwood, as he showed in Friday night's Friends Schools League showdown against Westtown.

After experiencing some homesickness in his first year at Academy of the New Church, Ontario native Dinjiyl Walker is flourishing. "It was a little bit hard at first, coming over here and not knowing anyone," Walker said. "But the team really embraced me, made me feel like part of the family. I'm thankful for that. " Walker, who arrived in Bryn Athyn in 2010, is equally comfortable on the hardwood, as he showed in Friday night's Friends Schools League showdown vs. Westtown.

BLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa - Tens of thousands of chanting and dancing revelers waved the green and gold colors of the African National Congress as Africa's oldest liberation movement celebrated its 100th anniversary Sunday, though many South Africans say the party has not delivered on its promises since taking power in 1994. A dozen African leaders and more former heads of state along with African kings and chieftains attended a midnight ceremony where President Jacob Zuma lit a flame, expected to stay alight the entire year, at the redbrick, tin-roofed Wesleyan church where black intellectuals and activists founded the party in 1912.

Rakeem Christmas and Malcolm Gilbert departed for Syracuse and Pittsburgh, respectively. And blue-chip recruit Savon Goodman took his talents to Constitution High, in downtown Philadelphia. That left Marcus Gilbert, Malcolm's younger brother, as the go-to player for Academy of the New Church. "I'm fine with that role," the 6-foot-6, 185-pound senior said. "I saw this as a great opportunity for me to step up and show what I could do. " On Tuesday, in a Friends Schools League opener at Abington Friends, Gilbert, a high-leaping swingman, posted 16 points, 12 rebounds, 5 blocked shots, and 3 assists to help the Lions leave Jenkintown with a 53-51 triumph.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - Retired Archbishop Desmond Tutu, an antiapartheid hero often described as South Africa's conscience, slammed the ANC-led government Tuesday as "disgraceful" and said it was worse than the country's former oppressive white regime for not issuing a visa to the Dalai Lama. Tutu, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his nonviolent campaign against white racist rule, turns 80 Friday and had invited his friend and fellow Nobel laureate to South Africa to celebrate his birthday.