ESPORTS
The University of Southern Maine received a $750,000 gift from Town & Country Federal Credit Union to build an Esports arena at the Brooks Student Center on its Gorham campus and help fund the school’s program.
School officials expect the arena will be ready by next fall.
Esports is a form of organized, multiplayer video game competition. Like traditional sports, Esports involves teams competing in conference tournaments.
HIGH SCHOOLS
BOYS’ BASKETBALL: Nate Hebert and John Patenaude each hit a pair of 3-pointers and scored a team-high 16 points to lead Gray-New Gloucester (13-1) over Greely (7-8) at Cumberland.
Aidan Hebert added 14 points, Noah Hebert had 12 and Carter Libby eight for the Patriots.
Jackson Leding hit five 3-pointers and scored a game-high 24 pointsfor Greely. Ethan Michaud added 12 points.
BASKETBALL
G LEAGUE: The Maine Celtics (7-7) opened a 43-19 lead in the first quarter and routed Raptors 905 (5-9) 136-95 at Mississauga, Ontario.
DJ Stewart scored 23 points and JD Davison added 22 for Maine. Jordan Walsh and Jordan Bowden added 17 each.
NBA: The draft is moving to a two-day format for the first time. Round 1 this year will be on June 26 and Round 2 the next night.
Last year’s draft lasted nearly five hours and ended around 12:45 a.m., which is a primary reason for stretching it over two days.
• Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards received a $40,000 fine from the NBA for repeatedly publicly criticizing the officiating.
BASEBALL
ROBINSON STATUE: Donations poured in Wednesday to replace a destroyed statue of Jackie Robinson on what would have been the 105th birthday of the first player to break the major league’s color barrier.
Major League Baseball pledged support. And the total raised just through one online fundraiser surpassed $145,000, which is far in excess of the estimated $75,000 value of the bronze statue that was cut from its base last week at a park in Wichita, Kansas. Police are searching for those responsible.
MAJORS: Left-hander James Paxton and the Los Angeles Dodgers reworked their one-year contract, lowering the guarantee to $7 million from $11 million while still allowing him to earn up to $13 million if he is healthy during the early part of the season and starts at least 20 games.
• Infielder Christian Arroyo agreed to a minor league contract with Milwaukee that includes an invitation to major league spring training.
• Cal Ripken Jr. and Grant Hill are part of the investor group that agreed to buy the Baltimore Orioles, and so are former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke.
HOCKEY
NHL: Columbus Blue Jackets rookie center Adam Fantilli is expected to miss eight weeks after being cut on the left calf with a skate blade in Sunday’s game at Seattle.
The injury to the 19-year-old Fantilli is the latest blow for the last-place Blue Jackets. On Sunday, they announced that forward Patrik Laine is entering the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program. Laine will be away from the team indefinitely while he receives care.
AUTO RACING
FORMULA ONE: The group rejected Andretti Global’s application to join the global racing series in 2025 or 2026, but said it is willing to revisit the issue in 2028 when General Motors has an engine ready for competition.
General Motors under its Cadillac brand had signed on to partner with Michael Andretti’s push to join to the racing series — a bid that received extreme pushback from most of the existing 10 teams and F1 leadership.
SOCCER
U.S. MEN: Midfielder Gio Reyna, a member of the U.S. national team, is heading to the Premier League in a bid to revive his career, but his time at Borussia Dortmund in Germany isn’t over.
Reyna, 21, joined Nottingham Forest on loan Wednesday for the rest of the season. Dortmund is letting Reyna leave temporarily — the deal does not contain an option for Forest to buy him — and said he also signed a one-year contract extension through the 2025-26 season.
ASIAN CUP: Japan maintained its pursuit of a record-extending fifth title by advancing to the quarterfinals with a 3-1 win against Bahrain, and Iran booked its place by beating Syria on penalties after the game ended 1-1 through extra time. It will play Japan on Saturday in Qatar.
— Staff and news service reports
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