Sports briefs

Track & field

POWELL WINS 100: Asafa Powell extended his unbeaten streak to 18 races, winning the 100 meters in 9.91 seconds Friday at the London Grand Prix meet at Crystal Palace.

Another Jamaican, Sherone Simpson, beat Marion Jones in the women's 100 for the second time this month. And, in the night's upset, Xavier "X-Man" Carter was beaten in the men's 200 by Tyson Gay. Gay powered into the lead around the curve and held on to win in 19.84 — the fastest time ever in Britain.

Auto racing

EARLIER START: ESPN will open its NASCAR coverage next season with the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. The race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway was moved up one week to accommodate the network, which will take over NBC's share of the NASCAR schedule in 2007. The 36 Nextel Cup events will be split next year by Fox, TNT and ABC/ESPN, which last broadcast NASCAR in 2000.

Football

'PAT-DOWNS' OUT: Security "pat-downs" of fans at Tampa Bay Buccaneers games are unconstitutional and unreasonable, a federal judge ruled Friday, throwing into question the practice at NFL games nationwide.

U.S. District Judge James D. Whittemore issued an order siding with a season-ticket holder who had sued to stop the fan searches that began last season after the NFL implemented enhanced security measures.

High school civics teacher Gordon Johnson sued the Tampa Sports Authority, which operates the stadium, to stop officials from conducting the "suspicionless" searches. A state judge agreed with Johnston that the searches are likely unconstitutional and halted them.

Basketball

PACERS SIGN BASTON: The Indiana Pacers have signed free agent Maceo Baston, who spent the last three seasons playing in Israel. The 6-foot-9, 215-pound forward averaged 13.3 points and 6.5 rebounds per game for Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv, teaming with current Pacer Sarunas Jasikevicius to win two Euroleague titles. Baston played 16 games for the Toronto Raptors in 2003, averaging 2.5 points and 1.4 rebounds.

ROCKETS RE-SIGN LUCAS: The Houston Rockets signed free agent guard John Lucas III to a multiyear contract on Friday after waiving him in January. The 5-foot-11 Lucas originally signed with Houston on Dec. 29. He was waived on Jan. 4, then signed two 10-day contracts before he was released on Jan. 28.

Golf

CRANE DQ'D: Defending champion Ben Crane was disqualified from the U.S. Bank Championship on Friday for signing an incorrect scorecard. Crane signed for a 3 on the par-5 sixth hole when he made a 5 on the Brown Deer Park Golf Course.

Correction

An item in Thursday's paper listed the wrong sponsor for the Utah Goalball team. The Utah Foundation for the Blind and Visually Impaired conducts the goalball program in Utah and sponsors the teams.