Sports briefs for March 15, 2005

Tuesday, March 15, 2005 | 9:41 a.m.

Davenport, Roddick, Agassi victorious

Overcoming gusty winds that sent sand swirling around the court Monday, Lindsay Davenport beat Meghann Shaughnessy in the Pacific Life Open at Indian Wells, Calif.

No. 1 Davenport bounced back after losing the second set and came away a 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 victory to move into the quarterfinals.

When the wind died down a bit later in the afternoon, it was Andy Roddick who breezed. He needed only 45 minutes for a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Jiri Novak.

Andre Agassi also rolled into the fourth round, beating Andrei Pavel 6-3, 6-4. Agassi, who turns 35 next month, was the 2001 Indian Wells champion and a finalist in 1990 and 1995.

New scoring system fails on first night

Just what the International Skating Union needed -- a scoring mistake on the first day of the World Figure Skating Championships in Moscow.

Monday was the first time the worlds had used the scoring system that the ISU developed after the 2002 Olympics scoring scandal, and the men's qualifying competition showed it's already vulnerable to error.

In the afternoon qualifying group, American Johnny Weir initially was placed third, giving him a slot in the last six-man group to skate in to night's short program, a potential advantage over an earlier slot. But that was before an anomaly was noticed in the numbers for China's Li Chengjiang.

Li's final spin was given zero points, which a statement from referee Gale Tanger said was "due to a human input error." When the score was recalculated, Li got a 1.3. which nudged his score for the round to 128.90, nosing ahead of Weir's 128.78.

Horses quarantined after disease found

Several dozen thoroughbreds have been tested for a bacterial infection that has led to quarantine of two barns at Churchill Downs' Trackside training center in Louisville, Ky., where one horse contracted the sometimes fatal disease strangles.

Results of the tests by the state veterinarian's office are expected this week.

Forty-three thoroughbreds under trainers Dale Romans and William "Blackie" Huffman were tested for the contagious bacterial infection that often causes lymph nodes to swell and rupture, track spokesman John Asher said Monday. Several ponies also were tested.

Brawl breaks out at Chicago game

A large brawl broke out during a boys high school state tournament basketball game, sending two people -- including a police sergeant -- to the hospital.

The police sergeant was in good condition after suffering a heart attack, and a teenager was listed in good condition with head trauma, Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said.

Six ambulances were sent to the scene of the fight, which broke out around 8:30 p.m. at the United Center -- home of the Chicago Bulls -- during a Class AA supersectional game between Harvey Thornton and Homewood-Flossmoor, authorities said. Thornton won the game 46-40.

Rebels rise to sixth nationally

After winning the team title at the Southern Highlands Collegiate Championship on Sunday in Las Vegas, the UNLV men's golf team moved up 12 spots in the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index Men's College Ratings to sixth in the nation on Monday.

UNLV, which was previously rated 18th, is just barely out of the top five schools in the country, which went unchanged this week. Oklahoma State remains the nation's top-rated team, followed by Georgia Tech, Georgia, New Mexico and Wake Forest. All five teams finished behind the Rebels this past weekend in Las Vegas.