ATLANTA–The 15th-ranked Charlottesville Cardinals wheelchair basketball team squared off for the second time this past weekend against the 8th-ranked Shepherd Stealers and once again lost narrowly–this time 57-51.
The Cardinals offense sputtered in the first half and Charlottesville dug itself a 10 point deficit and trailed 34-24 at the half.
But the halftime break gave the Cardinals a chance to regroup and the team went on a 14-4 run to start the second half and tied the game at 38-all with just under ten minutes to play, and the score was knotted again at 42-all with eight minutes remaining.
The Cardinals’ shooters misfired and Shepherd found the basket and with three minutes left the Stealers built a six-point advantage, 52-46. Charlottesville was unable to cut into the lead and fell to the Shepherd squad, 57-51.
Andrea Woodson-Smith and Brandon Rush had 11 points each to lead Cardinals’ scorers. Tom Vandever added 10 points, and Chris Robinson had 9. Eddie Wimbish chipped in 6 for the Cardinals and Derry Hill and Jeremy Smith had 2 apiece. Shepherd’s Gavin Cloy led all scorers with 25 points.
The Cardinals return to action next weekend, traveling to the University of Pennsylvania-Edinboro for the the “Boro Shootout” tournament.