SportsLine wire reports

PHILADELPHIA -- The NCAA won a stay in court Tuesday and can use minimum test scores to determine eligibility of freshman athletes.

The three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit granted the governing body a stay of a lower court ruling that struck down Proposition 16, the NCAA bylaw that dictated freshman eligibility requirements.

U.S. District Judge Ronald Buckwalter had ruled March 8 that the minimum test score requirement had an "unjustified disparate impact on African-Americans."

THE RULING TUESDAY PUT THE requirements back in place, at least temporarily. The NCAA said it needed more time to write new eligibility rules and file appeals.

The NCAA said chaos could result if each of its Division I schools scrambled to create its own rules.

Lawyers for the four black athletes who filed the original suit said the governing body should adopt a nondiscriminatory eligibility policy rather than fight to delay or overturn the court's decision.

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