ALBUQUERQUE, NM–The #13-ranked Charlottesville Cardinals wheelchair basketball team went 2-1 today at the Duke City Classic Tournament at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, NM.
The Cardinals opened play against the the host #15 Albuquerque Kings and struggled throughout the first half as they fell behind 27-20 at the break.
Shaking off their jet-lag in the opening moments of the second half, the Cardinals went on a 17-6 run to claim the lead at 37-33 with 12 minutes to play. The Cardinals stretched their edge to 10 points with 4 1/2 minutes left in the contest but the Kings mounted a rally of their own to cut the margin to three points with under a minute left. The Cardinals missed the first ends of four 1 and 1 chances to allow Albuquerque to threaten as the final buzzer sounded–but held on to claim a 50-47 victory.
Chris Robinson led Charlottesville scorers with 14 points, followed by Andrea Woodson-Smith with 12, Brandon Rush with 6, Eddie Wimbish with 5, Arthur Tracy, David Wilkes, and Tom Vandever with 4 apiece, and Jeremy Smith with 2.
In their second match of the day the Cardinals tangled with the Oklahoma City MAPVA Chargers and quickly jumped out to 13 point lead midway through the first half. The Chargers rallied and cut the Cardinals’ lead at the half to 31-22 before the Charlottesville speed and height took control in the second half as Charlottesville cruised to a 65-44 win.
Arthur Tracy led Cardinals’ scorers with 20 points, followed by Andrea Woodson-Smith with 13, Chris Robinson with 12, David Wilkes with 10, Tom Vandever with 6, and Eddie Wimbish and Brandon Rush with 2 each.
In the final game of the day the Cardinals ran into a buzz saw in the form of the #8 University of Arizona Wildcats. After eight minutes of play Charlottesville trailed the Wildcats by three, 13-10, before Arizona exploded for a 22-10 run to claim control of the contest. Charlottesville mounted several weak runs in the second half but could not significantly cut the margin as they fell to Arizona, 64-45.
David Wilkes led Charlottesville scorers with 18 points, followed by Chris Robinson and Andrea Woodson-Smith with 8 each, Brandon Rush with 4, Arthur Tracy with 3, and Tom Vandever with 2.
The Cardinals are now 13-6 on the season and 6-5 in the National Wheelchair Basketball Association’s Championship Division. The Cardinals will face the Denver Rolling Nuggets in Sunday’s game.