PHILADELPHIA, PA–The 11th-ranked Charlottesville Cardinals split games today, falling to the 3rd-ranked New York Rollin’ Knicks 67-49 but knocking off the Philadelphia Magee Sixers 44-34 to claim the tournament’s 2nd seed going into Sunday’s semi-final rounds.
In their morning match today the Cardinals squared off against the defending National Wheelchair Basketball Association champion New York Rollin’ Knicks. The undersized Cardinals struggled early against the hot-shooting Knicks and trailed by 12 points, 39-27, at the half. Despite some minor runs in the second period the Cardinals never could significantly close the gap as the Knicks notched a solid 67-49 win.
Brandon Rush led Cardinals’ scorers with 15 points, followed by Joey Leavitt with 14, Tom Vandever with 12, Jacob Tyree with 6, and Allen Champagne with 2. New York’s Patrick Anderson led all scorers with 28 points.
After the lunch break, the Cardinals tangled with the Philadelphia Magee Sixers and Charlottesville again struggled against the taller Sixer lineup throughout the first half before claiming a 22-19 edge at the break. The Sixers rallied in the opening minutes of the second half and tied the game at 28-all with twelve minutes left. But the speedier Cardinals forced multiple turnovers and cashed in on repeated lay-up opportunities to stretch their lead to 12 points with four minutes to go before claiming a 44-34 victory.
Joey Leavitt led Cardinals’ scorers with 16 points, followed by Brandon Rush with 12, Allen Champagne with 10, Tom Vandever with 4, and Jacob Tyree with 2.
The win over the Magee Sixers marked the Cardinals 20th win of the season. The Cardinals will face the New Jersey Keystone Royals in Sunday’s semi-final match at 10:30 a.m.