Pearl City alum Jordan Ta’amu picked second in USFL draft

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Pearl City’s Jordan Ta’amu was selected by the Tampa Bay Bandits with the second overall pick in the USFL Draft on Tuesday.

The first round for the spring league’s inaugural draft was reserved for quarterbacks, and Ta’amu, a 2015 Pearl City graduate and former Mississippi standout, was picked behind former Michigan quarterback Shea Patterson, who was the starter at Ole Miss before Ta’amu. Patterson suffered a knee injury in 2017 and Ta’amu took over. Patterson transferred after the season.

Ta’amu passed for 5,600 yards and 30 touchdowns in his two seasons as Mississippi’s starter and signed with the Houston Texans as a free agent coming out of college. He later played with the St. Louis Battlehawks of the XFL and also had NFL looks with Kansas City, Detroit, Washington and Carolina.

The USFL regular season opens April 16 and all games will be played in Birmingham, Ala. The playoff semifinals are set for June 25, with the championship on July 3 in Canton, Ohio.

Sharks go cold in loss to Fresno Pacific

An ice-cold third quarter for the Hawaii Pacific women’s basketball team gave Fresno Pacific the opening to claim a 76-72 comeback win on Tuesday at the FPU Special Events Center.

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The Sharks (8-18, 5-14 PacWest) converted just 9% of their shots (1-for-11) in the third quarter, allowing the Sunbirds (8-13, 5-11) to outscore the Sharks 21-7 in the quarter and overcome a 13-point second-quarter deficit.

Tavia Rowell led HPU with a game-high 24 points. Julia Razo was right behind with 20 points, while Avery Cargill added 11 points.

Hawaii Pacific will return for its final homestand of the regular season against Chaminade at 1 p.m. Sunday. The game could determine a PacWest tournament berth.

Fresno Pacific drops Hawaii Pacific

The Hawaii Pacific men’s basketball team fell victim to a runaway Fresno Pacific offense to drop its final road game of the season 86-45.

The Sharks (5-21, 2-17) watched as the Sunbirds (17-8, 11-7) broke a 25-25 tie late in the first half, finishing with a 10-1 run in the final three minutes. Fresno Pacific put the game away with a 15-3 run to start the second half.

Elijah Martinez and Jakob Kimura led HPU with nine points each, while Trey Miller added seven points and 11 boards.

Hawaii Pacific will wrap up the season at home against Chaminade at 3 p.m. Sunday at The Shark Tank.