CHARLOTTESVILLE–The Charlottesville Cardinals wheelchair basketball team will travel to Louisville, Kentucky next week to compete in National Wheelchair Basketball Association’s national championships.
The Cardinals made the Championship Division’s “Sweet Sixteen” by virtue of their 16th-ranking in the final NWBA poll.
“The good news is that we’re in the Sweet Sixteen,” said player-coach Tom Vandever. “The bad news is that we face the #1-seeded, defending national champion Dallas Movin’ Mavericks”.
The last time Charlottesville faced Dallas in a national championship tournament was in 2007’s Final Four semi-finals, when the Cardinals fell to the Mavericks 69-67 in overtime. Dallas went on to win the national championship that year.
The Cardinals have only tangled with Dallas once this current season when the Mavericks cruised past Charlottesville 86-60 in January.
“If we can minimize our transition turnovers against their frontcourt pressure we can stay competitive and make things very interesting,” said Vandever. “If we dig an early hole, though, it will be a long afternoon.”
The Cardinals take the floor against Dallas at 11:45 a.m. on Thursday, April 3rd. All teams will play four games over the course of the event, but any loss eliminates a team from contention for the championship.
The Cardinals are 19-16 on the season.