HOCKEY

TALKS END WITH NO DEAL IN SIGHT The NHL and the players association broke off talks yesterday as the clock ticked down to a weekend deadline for saving what little is left of the season.

“It was a pointless meeting,” NHL chief legal officer Bill Daly said after the four-hour session.

“We’re not going to pick up the phone this weekend,” union senior director Ted Saskin said. “We’re done.”

It was the second straight day of meetings in Toronto aimed at ending the lockout, but the first full session since Commissioner Gary Bettman told the union Wednesday that a deal would have to be ready by the weekend to save the season. If the deadline was intended to pressure the union to give in to the league’s salary-cap demand, it hasn’t worked so far.

“Quite frankly, I don’t know why they asked us to stay overnight,” Daly said. “I don’t know what their agenda was. I just know there was no progress.”

BASKETBALL

SCALABRINE UNDERGOES KNEE SURGERY Nets forward Brian Scalabrine underwent surgery on his left knee yesterday, and no timetable has been given for his return. The 6-foot-9 forward, who has missed 19 games, has averaged 5.8 points and 4.5 rebounds in 30 games this season.

Also yesterday, the Nets signed guard Billy Thomas for the remainder of the season. Thomas signed the first of two 10-day contracts with the Nets on January 20. He has averaged 6.9 points and 2.4 rebounds in 11 games.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

NO. 6 WAKE FOREST OUTLASTS N.C. STATE Justin Gray scored 18 points, Eric Williams added 15, and no. 6Wake Forest held off North Carolina State 86-75 last night to move into a three-way tie atop the Atlantic Coast Conference standings with Duke and North Carolina

In other Top 25 action last night, no. 21 Cincinnati beat Xavier 65-54 and no. 24 Pacific routed Idaho, 78-56.

BASEBALL

SCHILLING’S BLOODY SOCK ENSHRINED IN HALL Curt Schilling donated the bloody sock he wore during Game 2 of the World Series to the Hall of Fame yesterday. The sock is part of a Red Sox exhibition celebrating the team’s four game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Schilling’s sock joins other Red Sox memorabilia including Derek Lowe’s jersey from Game 4, the bat used by Series MVP Manny Ramirez when he tied a postseason record with a 17-game hitting streak, and the spikes Keith Foulke wore when he recorded the final out of the Series.

OSWALT ACCEPTS TWO-YEAR DEAL WITH ASTROS Houston pitcher Roy Oswalt settled his arbitration case with the Astros yesterday, accepting a $16.9 million, two-year contract.

Also yesterday, Kyle Lohse and the Minnesota Twins went before arbitrators in baseball’s first salary hearing of the year. Nine players remain scheduled for hearings, including AL Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana of the Twins, and Milwaukee pitcher Ben Sheets.

TENNIS

DENT UPSETS NALBANDIAN AT OPEN 13 Unseeded American Taylor Dent beat second-seeded David Nalbandian 7-6(3), 6-2 yesterday in the second round of the Open 13 in Marseille, France. Dent will face sixth-seeded Felciano Lopez, a 7-6(6), 6-4 winner over Ivo Karlovic, in the quarterfinals.

In other matches, third-seeded Joachim Johansson eliminated France’s Gilles Simon and eighth-seeded Ivan Ljubicic defeated Igor Andreev. Hard-serving Mario Ancic also advanced, beating Tomas Berdych.

MAURESMO ADVANCES AT OPEN GAZ DE FRANCE Second seeded Amelie Mauresmo beat Mary Pierce 6-4,6-3 in an all-French second-round match yesterday at the Open Gaz de France. Marion Bartoli upset fifth-seeded Nathalie Dechy 6-4, 6-2 in another all-French match.

In the quarterfinals, Mauresmo meets no. 8 Magdalena Maleeva, who routed Jelena Jankovic 6-4, 6-0. Bartoli will face Nadia Petrova of Russia.

French teenager Tatiana Golovin also advanced to the final eight after beating Sanda Mamic 6-3, 6-4. Golovin will play no. 7 Silvia Farina Elia. In a meeting between two Russians, Dinara Safina beat Vera Douchevina 6-2, 6-4 and earned a quarterfinal match against top-seeded Serena Williams.

SOCCER

GERMAN FEDERATION BARS CORRUPT REFEREE The referee who took bribes to fix games was barred by the German Soccer Federation yesterday in the country’s worst corruption scandal in the sport in more than 30 years.

Referee Robert Hoyzer has admitted rigging four games in return for $85,000 from a gambling syndicate led by three Croatian brothers, who have been arrested. He tried to manipulate two other games without success. Hoyzer has implicated others, and Berlin prosecutors are investigating 25 people, including three other referees and 14 players, on suspicion of fixing at least 10 games, mostly in the lower divisions.

– Associated Press