NCAA, NIT Reach a Tentative Settlement

The NCAA and the National Invitation Tournament settled their differences in federal court Tuesday, probably ending a civil trial in which the NIT had claimed that the NCAA was trying to put it out of business.

A New York jury that had been listening to NIT witnesses and evidence was sent home for the day by U.S. District Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum after attorneys said a deal had been struck to end the dispute.

NIT attorney Jeffrey Kessler, in his opening statement two weeks ago, argued that a long-standing NCAA rule requiring schools to accept invitations to its tournament over invitations to all others had severely damaged the NIT, which began its postseason tournament in 1938, one year before the NCAA tournament started.

Tennis

Third-seeded Lleyton Hewitt, who quit a first-round match in Montreal last week because of illness, beat Igor Andreev, 6-3, 6-4, in the first round of the Cincinnati Masters in Mason, Ohio.

No. 4 Marat Safin, who hadn’t played since Wimbledon because of a knee injury, beat Jan Hernych, 7-6 (3), 6-4, and No. 6 Nikolay Davydenko beat Sebastien Grosjean, 7-6, 7-5.

Robby Ginepri upset No. 10 Mariana Puerta, 7-6 (2), 6-1; Dominik Hrbaty beat No. 13 Thomas Johansson, 6-1, 7-5, and Paul-Henri Mathieu surprised Tommy Haas, 6-3, 2-6, 6-1.

Defending champion Amelie Mauresmo defeated Dally Randriantefy, 6-2, 6-3, to advance to the third round of the Rogers Cup in Toronto.

Serena Williams, in her first match since Wimbledon, beat Stephanie Cohen-Aloro of France, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.

Hockey

The Kings signed forward Dany Roussin, the team’s second-round draft pick, to a multi-year contract. He scored 54 goals for Rimouski Oceanic of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League while playing alongside Sidney Crosby, the No. 1 pick in the June draft.

Tampa Bay signed center Vincent Lecavalier to a four-year deal, keeping a key piece of the Stanley Cup championship team.

Alexander Mogilny, 36, the right winger who earned a Stanley Cup ring with New Jersey, signed a two-year contract to return to the Devils.

Mogilny spent the last three seasons with Toronto. He has 461 goals and 1,007 points.

Nashville re-signed forward Steve Sullivan to a four-your contract, and agreed to terms with defenseman Dan Hamhuis on a one-year deal. ... Detroit signed defenseman Andy Delmore and re-signed forwards Jason Williams and Darryl Bootland to one-year contracts.

Basketball

Michael Finley’s arrival on the free-agent market had an effect on Latrell Sprewell, who might not decide until the end of next week whether to sign with Detroit, Houston or elsewhere, Sprewell’s agent said.

Detroit, interested in Sprewell, is expected to first pursue Finley, who was released by the Dallas Mavericks late Monday as part of the NBA’s one-time amnesty program.

Philadelphia 76er restricted free-agent guard Willie Green will sit out six to nine months after having surgery on his left knee. He had been scheduled to sign a $20-million, six-year contract.

Eric Hicks scored 24 points to lead the U.S. men past China, 117-61, in the University Games at Izmir, Turkey.

The U.S. women advanced to the semifinals against Russia by beating Taiwan, 109-57.

Connecticut point guard Marcus Williams was arrested, the second member of the team charged in the theft of four laptop computers from student dorm rooms. Redshirt freshman guard A.J. Price was charged Friday.

Williams, who played at Crenshaw High before transferring out of state his senior year, faces four counts of third-degree larceny, which carry a penalty of up to five years in prison and $5,000 in fines.

Miscellany

Irvine swimmer Hayley Peirsol won the women’s 1,500 freestyle in 16:08.06 as Americans earned three gold medals and one silver at the University Games.

Eric Shanteau won the men’s 400 individual medley in 4:18.64 and the women’s 400-medley relay team won in 4:07.0. Dana Vollmer picked up silver in 26.91 behind Russia’s Vasilissa Vladykina (26.88) in the women’s 50 butterfly.

An assault charge was dismissed against Michigan State running back Jason Teague, who had been charged with misdemeanor assault and battery stemming from an October incident involving a woman.

Top-seeded Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen of China beat Diana Dimiova and Linda Zechiri of Bulgaria, 15-0, 15-2, in women’s doubles in the world badminton championships at Anaheim. In men’s singles, Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia beat Jan Frohlich of the Czech Republic, 15-10, 15-0.