ALBANY (AP) - The score is settled in a legal battle between the national governing body for amateur bowling and the New York state association it decertified last year.

The New York State USBC Bowling Association announced Tuesday it had agreed to end the lawsuit it filed after its charter was pulled - clearing the way for the State Championship Tournament to begin in April. Tournament plans had been on hold because the lawsuit against the U.S. Bowling Congress froze the state group's assets.

The agreement calls for creation of a new state association open to men and women and for payments to New York members owed money from the 2008 tournament.

The national group revoked the association's charter in October after a former manager was accused of embezzling more than $271,000 from the state organization. Stephen Donahue, of Weedsport, pleaded guilty to a count of second-degree grand larceny.

The New York group claimed that the decertification was unjustified, and sued in state court in the Bronx. But with the state tournament threatened, both sides said it was better to end the legal fight for the good of New York bowlers.

"My hope is, we all look forward instead of backward," said USBC chief operating officer Kevin Dornberger.

State-group president Dennis Light said the theft by Donahue was "too large an obstacle for the NYSBA to overcome." Light will direct the state tournament in Utica, which will be operated by USBC.

Dornberger said officers of the old state group can run for office in the new group.

The state group had more than 80,000 members.