LOCAL

LOCAL
College roundup
*LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Bethany College's basketball season came to an abrupt end as it was eliminated by Transylvania 75-56 in a NCAA Division III first-round tournament game.
The Pioneers improved to 25-4, while the Bisons bowed out with a 23-5 record.
Marc Palermo, a Ursuline High graduate, scored 12 points and had four assists and two steals for the Bisons, while teammate Mike Drahos paced the team with 16.
Robert Pendleton led the Pioneers with 18 points.
*BEREA -- Sophomore guard Alyson Cotter, a Salem High graduate, scored 14 points to lead Baldwin-Wallace past Oswego State (N.Y.) 73-69 on Friday in the second round of the NCAA Division II national tournament.
The Yellow Jackets (25-4) grabbed the lead for good with two minutes left on a jumper by Cotter, then led by seven with 10 seconds left.
*GROVE CITY, Pa. -- Five members of the Grove City College men's swimming and diving team qualified for the NCAA Division III Championships March 16-18 in Minneapolis.
Senior Ben Haring (Kenai, Alaska/Kenai Central), sophomore Caleb Courage (Shippensburg, Pa./Shippensburg), freshman Drew Snyder (Harmony, Pa./Seneca Valley), freshman Tim Whitbeck (Saegertown, Pa./Saegertown) and freshman Mitch Young (Greeley, Col./Greeley West) will represent Grove City in this year's national championships.
Courage has qualified automatically in the 50 (20.62 seconds), 100 (44.74) and 200 freestyle (1:40.33) while Haring automatically qualified in the 50 free (20.57). Courage is the top seed in the 100. He is seeded fourth in the 50 and fifth in the 200 free. Haring is the No. 3 seed in the 50 free.
Courage, Haring, Whitbeck and Young are seeded second in the 200 free relay with a College-record time of 1:22.39. Meanwhile, Courage, Haring, Snyder and Whitbeck are the 10th seed in the 400 free relay (3:04.98).
Grove City also provisionally qualified in the 800 free relay and both the 200 and 400 medley relays during the season. Grove City will enter a quartet into each of those events, also.
Whitbeck also provisionally qualified for the 50 free with a time of 21.08 while Haring provisionally qualified for the 100. Both will compete in those respective events.
Courage and Haring both earned NCAA All-America honors at the 2005 Championships. Haring earned All-America status in the 50 while Courage achieved that honor in the 100 and 200 free. They became the 45th and 46th men's swimming and diving All-Americans at Grove City.
Horizon roundup
*MILWAUKEE -- Freshman Ryan Tillema scored 22 points and Ryan Evanochko had a career-high 14 assists as Wisconsin-Green Bay defeated Illinois-Chicago 76-66 in quarterfinals of the Horizon League tournament Friday.
The Phoenix (15-15) advance to play Butler in the semifinals Saturday.
The Flames (16-15) were led by Jovan Stefanov with 19 points.
*MILWAUKEE -- Brandon Woods scored 16 points and J.R. Blount 15, and they both fueled a decisive second half run as Loyola defeated Detroit 64-55 in a Horizon League Tournament quarterfinal game Friday night.
Fourth-seeded Loyola (19-10) won its fifth game in a row to gain some revenge on No. 5 seed Detroit (16-16), which had defeated the Ramblers in the quarterfinals the last two seasons. Blake Schilb added 12 points for Loyola.
Detroit was led by Brandon Cotton with 20 points and Ben Green with 16.
Loyola advances to a semifinal Saturday night against top-seeded Wisconsin-Milwaukee (19-8), which won the conference regular season title for the third straight season.
NATION
Woods, Mickelson have date on first tee
MIAMI -- Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson have been leaving their footprints on the Blue Monster for two days, their paths only running parallel on the few holes at Doral where the front nine meets the back.
That won't be the case today.
Mickelson birdied two of his last three holes Friday for a 6-under 66, while Woods settled for pars on his final four holes for a 5-under 67. It left them in a four-way tie for the lead with Scott Verplank and Camilo Villegas in the Ford Championship at Doral, and in the final pairing for the third round.
Baseball delaysreleasing rosters
NEW YORK -- Major League Baseball delayed releasing rosters Friday for the inaugural World Baseball Classic.
Teams in the three groups based in the United States and Puerto Rico had to submit their 30-man rosters Thursday or Friday, five days before their opening games. Major League Baseball had said earlier this week that the rosters would be released Friday afternoon.
WORLD
Busch Series
MEXICO CITY -- Jon Wood mastered the tricky track in Mexico in a hurry Friday, finishing first during a surprisingly crash-free practice for Sunday's Telcel-Motorola 200.
The 24-year-old Virginian reached 102.903 mph in steering his No. 47 Ford around the 2.518-mile Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez road course in an average time of 88.091 seconds.
Vindicator staff/wire reports