Fitzsimmons, Former Sun Coach, Dies

Lowell “Cotton” Fitzsimmons, who won 832 games in 21 seasons as an NBA coach, died Saturday due to complications from lung cancer. He was 72.

Fitzsimmons was executive vice president of the Phoenix Suns, a team he coached on three occasions.

A malignant tumor was found on Fitzsimmons’ lung, near his heart, in April and he had been in a Phoenix-area care center since suffering a stroke earlier this month.

The colorful coach, born in Hannibal, Mo., was a television and radio commentator for the Suns in recent years.

“Cotton Fitzsimmons embodied all things that are great about life and the game of basketball,” Sun chairman and chief executive officer Jerry Colangelo said.

“His energy, passion and upbeat approach to everything impacted those that he touched in a positive and meaningful way. The Suns, the city of Phoenix and the entire NBA family will miss the game’s ultimate coach, teacher and communicator.”

Fitzsimmons had coaching stints with five teams -- Phoenix, Atlanta, Buffalo, Kansas City and San Antonio. He had an 832-775 record in the NBA, ranking him 10th in career victories.

Boxing

In a convincing first title defense, World Boxing Council junior-welterweight champion Arturo Gatti scored a second-round knockout of unbeaten Leonard Dorin at Atlantic City, N.J.

In the second round, Gatti (38-6) unleashed a left-right-left combination to Dorin’s head, then wound up and delivered a crushing left hook to the body, dropping Dorin to his right knee. Referee Randy Neumann stepped in and counted him out at 2:55 of the round

Dorin, 34, of Montreal, dropped to 21-1-1.

Golf

Wendy Doolan shot a seven-under-par 65 in the final round of the Evian Masters to beat top-ranked Annika Sorenstam by a stroke at Evian, France. Doolan finished at 18-under 270.

She surged to the lead with a stretch of three birdies and two eagles on Nos. 6-10. Doolan went from six strokes behind Sorenstam with 12 holes to play, to three strokes ahead with three to play.

Brett Quigley carded a six-under 64 and moved into a tie for the lead with Carlos Franco and Patrick Sheehan after three rounds of the U.S. Bank Championship at Milwaukee. Quigley had the day’s best round at the par-70 Brown Deer Park and moved to 10-under 200.... Peter Oakley shot a one-over 73 and took a one-stroke lead after the third round of the Senior British Open at Portrush, Northern Ireland. Oakley, a club pro from Delaware who had to qualify for the championship, is at two-under 214 at the wind-swept Royal Portrush course.... Sihwan Kim, a Korean-born 15-year-old from Fullerton, defeated 14-year-old David Chung, 1-up, to become the second-youngest winner of the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship at San Francisco.... Julieta Granada of Paraguay made a short par putt on the second playoff hole to defeat Jane Park of Rancho Cucamonga and win the 2004 U.S. Girls Junior Championship at Fort Worth.

Motor Racing

Matt Kenseth held off Tim Fedewa over the last 13 laps to win the Siemens 200 NASCAR Busch Series race at New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon.

Kenseth, in a Ford, eventually pulled away from Fedewa’s Chevrolet to win by 1.51 seconds -- about six car-lengths.

Paul Tracy’s day-old lap was good enough to retain pole position after final qualifying for today’s Molson Indy Vancouver in Canada. Tracy’s top time from Friday -- one minute 0.87 seconds in a Ford-Cosworth/Lola -- went unchallenged in Saturday’s qualifying session.... Vitor Meira won the pole for the inaugural Menards A.J. Foyt Indy 225 at the Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wis. Meira took his first pole of the season, averaging 169.338 mph in a G Force-Honda at the one-mile, oval course.... Michael Schumacher took his first pole in two months by leading qualifying in the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim. Schumacher had a time of 1 minute 13.306 seconds in his Ferrari on the 2.843-mile course.

Greg Pursley of Canyon Country earned his ninth win of the Lucas Oil Super Late Model series season by winning the 75-lap feature at Irwindale Speedway in front of about 3,750.

Early in the race, a multi-car crash forced a red flag on the second lap, which wiped out seven cars from the 28-car field. On the restart, Pursley took the lead from rookie driver Charlie Wahl and never looked back. Tony Bruncati finished second and Russell White was third.

In the 50-lap Auto Club of Southern California Late Model Series feature, Doug McComb easily won his third race of the season.

Tennis

Top-seeded Andy Roddick fell into a big deficit and faced three match points before coming back to beat Ivan Ljubicic, 1-6, 7-6 (10), 7-6 (3), in the RCA Championships semifinals at Indianapolis. Roddick will face Nicolas Kiefer in today’s final. Kiefer breezed past Gregory Carraz, 6-2, 6-2, in the other semifinal.... Top-seeded Carlos Moya was stopped in his bid for a fourth straight title at the Croatia Open, losing, 6-3, 6-2, to fourth-seeded Filippo Volandri in a semifinal match at Umag. Volandri will next face sixth-seeded Guillermo Canas, a 6-2, 6-2 winner over Guillermo Garcia Lopez, 6-2, 6-2.

Miscellany

Oregon State defensive back Justin Williams, 19, was killed Friday night when the pickup truck he was riding in flipped over after it was struck by another vehicle 20 miles south of Portland.

La Salle men’s basketball coach Billy Hahn and women’s coach John Miller have resigned amid two separate rape investigations involving players on the men’s team.

An elite junior competition has been added to the seventh Pacific Coast Triathlon today at Crystal Cove State Park between Corona del Mar and Laguna Beach. The Junior Regional Sprint Championships will begin at 6:45 a.m., followed by the first wave of the USA Triathlon Age Group Regional Sprint Championships at 7:05.