GOOCHLAND, VA–The Charlottesville Cardinals wheelchair basketball team notched two wins today against a very scrappy Richmond Rimriders squad.
In the opening game of the day’s doubleheader, the Cardinals, playing without big men Arthur Tracy and David Wilkes, quickly seized the lead and stretched their early advantage to 27-15 with only four minutes left in the first half, but the Rimriders refused to fold and staged a determined rally to cut the deficit to 31-23 at the half.
The Charlottesville shooters struggled to find the basket throughout the second half and the Rimriders relentlessly sliced into the Cardinals’ advantage, finally tying the score at 42-all with seven minutes to play. Behind the shooting of Mark Hartley, Tim Moubray, and Derry Hill the Rimriders claimed a five-point lead, 50-45, with less than four minutes left. The Charlottesville shooters finally zeroed in and the Cardinals trailed 52-51 with just under a minute to play and after forcing a Richmond turnover the Cardinals scored again with 25 seconds left to take the lead, 53-52. Andrea Woodson-Smith dropped two free throws to stretch the Charlottesville advantage to 55-52 with six seconds to play and the Rimriders Tim Moubray scored a layup as time expired to leave the Cardinals with a hard won 55-54 victory.
Andrea Woodson-Smith led Charlottesville scorers with 14, followed by Chris Robinson, Allen Champagne, and Tom Vandever with 10 apiece, Eddie Wimbish with 6, Brandon Rush with 3, and Jeremy Smith with 2. Derry Hill, Mark Hartley, and Tim Moubray had 12 points each for Richmond.
In the second game of the twin bill the Cardinals again jumped to an early lead and went into the half leading 38-28. In the second half the Cardinals never released the pressure on the Rimriders, coasting to 77-46 win.
Andrea Woodson-Smith again led Cardinals’ scorers with 16, followed by Brandon Rush with 14, Chris Robinson with 12, Eddie Wimbish and Tom Vandever with 10 each, Allen Champagne with 8, and Jeremy Smith with 7. Richmond scorers were lead by Mickey Morin with 12 and Tim Moubray with 11.
The Cardinals are now 16-6 on the season and the team travels to Tuscaloosa, Alabama for a tournament the weekend of February 7th and 8th.