In Brief

BASKETBALL

Kabongo, Findlay Prep advance to final of Florida tournament

Myck Kabongo scored 29 points as Findlay Prep held off Orlando (Fla.) Christian Prep 69-60 on Friday to move into the championship game of the Montverde (Fla.) Academy Invitational Tournament.

The Pilots (23-2) will meet Huntington (W.Va.) Prep at 4:30 p.m. today. Huntington defeated Montverde 41-40 in overtime.

Kabongo was 6-for-6 from the free-throw line in the second half, and Findlay was 17-for-17 in the game. Anthony Bennett added 12 points for the Pilots, ranked No. 8 in the nation by USA Today.

Also: The UNLV men's basketball team will play at Wichita State next season in the MWC/MVC Challenge Series. The game, the third between the schools, will be Dec. 4.

The Mountain West Conference and Missouri Valley just completed the second year of a four-year deal. The MWC won this season's series 8-1 and leads 12-6.

Leading scorer Ralston Turner is expected to return to Louisiana State's lineup today for its Southeastern Conference game at Alabama. Turner, a freshman guard averaging 13.7 points, sustained a stress reaction in his right foot Jan. 2 at Virginia and has not played in LSU's five SEC games.

The Portland Trail Blazers assigned rookie guard Armon Johnson from UNR to the NBA Development League's Idaho Stampede. He is averaging 3.1 points and 1.1 rebounds in eight minutes a game.

BASEBALL

Facing suit in Madoff scheme, Mets might sell part of team

Under pressure because of a lawsuit from the trustee trying to reclaim money for the victims of the Bernard Madoff swindle, New York Mets owners said they are exploring a partial sale of the team that would raise several hundred million dollars.

Team owner Fred Wilpon said the Mets were looking to sell a noncontrolling interest of 20 to 25 percent and that he did not envision giving up control of the franchise, which his family first bought into in 1980.

Court-appointed trustee Irving Picard has said the Mets made almost $48 million in Madoff's scheme. Picard said the Mets Limited Partnership originally invested about $523 million but eventually withdrew about $571 million from the accounts.

In December, Picard sued dozens of entities affiliated with the Wilpons, the family real estate company Sterling Equities and Saul Katz, Wilpon's brother-in-law and partner in the Mets and Sterling. The lawsuit in federal bankruptcy court in Manhattan is under seal, and it's unclear what the Wilpons' potential liability is.

Also: The Toronto Blue Jays signed reliever Jason Frasor to a $3.5 million, one-year contract, avoiding arbitration with the right-hander. Frasor, 33, went 3-4 with four saves and a 3.68 ERA in 69 games last season.

The Tampa Bay Rays signed free-agent first baseman Casey Kotchman to a minor league contract. Kotchman, 27, played for the Seattle Mariners last season, hitting .217 with nine home runs and 51 RBIs.

Left-hander Joe Beimel and the Pittsburgh Pirates agreed to a minor league contract. Beimel, 1-2 with a 3.40 ERA in 71 games with the Colorado Rockies last season, would get a $1.75 million, one-year deal if he is added to the 40-man roster.

MISCELLANEOUS

Cycling star Contador declares innocence, vows fight to end

Alberto Contador intends to fight a proposed doping suspension, saying he is a victim of a flawed system and insists it's a "question of honor" to prove he did not cheat to win the Tour de France.

An emotional Contador promised to defend his innocence "until the end" as he spoke publicly for the first time since learning of the proposed one-year ban from the Spanish cycling federation for a positive clenbuterol test that could cost him his Tour title.

Contador, 28, blames his positive result on eating contaminated meat, and he characterized the Spanish federation's decision Wednesday to accept his defense yet still sanction him as "shameful." The reduced ban, instead of the standard two-year penalty, would still leave Contador stripped of the 2010 Tour title and off the starting line of this year's race.

Also: Ryan Bradley won the short program and Meryl Davis and Charlie White claimed the short dance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Greensboro, N.C.

Bradley scored 80.39 points, two ahead of two-time national champion Jeremy Abbott. Davis and White scored 76.04 points, almost six ahead of Maia and Alex Shibutani.

Edoardo Molinari, Raphael Jacquelin, Peter Hanson and Miguel Angel Jimenez are tied for the second-round lead of the PGA European's Volvo Champions in Riffa, Bahrain. They are at 11-under-par 133, one stroke ahead of four players.

Liverpool rejected Fernando Torres' transfer request as English Premier League rival Chelsea pursued the Spanish striker. The 26-year-old, under contract until 2013, stunned Liverpool by demanding to leave a day after a $56 million bid from Chelsea was turned down.