National Wheelchair Basketball Association Champions
2007, 2006, 2005, 2003, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997
It\'s ability, not disability that counts
British Columbia knocks off Dallas to win
Division I championship.
LEXINGTON, Ky.—For the first time in three years, the National
Wheelchair Basketball Association (NWBA) has a new Division I champion.
The British Columbia Cable Cars squeaked out a 74-66 nail-biting win
over the back-to-back-to-back champion Dallas Mavericks to win the 2008
title.
“I’ve been in a lot of finals with a lot of really good teams,” said
B.C. star Pat Anderson. “It was nice to win this one with such a great
team effort.”
It did take a total team effort to knock off a championship-tested team
that always puts itself in a position to win. B.C. cruised out to a
16-point lead midway through the second quarter behind a sensational
effort from Ross McDonald, who put down 13 of his 21 points in the first
half. But, the Cable Cars got a little lax with large advantage and
Dallas stepped in to take advantage. The Mavericks put a 14-7 run on the
scoreboard to close out the half and headed into the break only trailing
by nine, 43-34.
“We were getting all the shots we normally want to get, they just were
not falling,” said Dallas’ Paul Schulte. “Continuing to play hard
defense is going to give us the chance to put on a run late in the game.
Right now they’re executing the kind of game plan they want to and we
have to get them out of that.”
Dallas kept up its momentum coming out of halftime and though B.C.
continue to stave off the charge, the Mavericks narrowed the gap to a
mere three points at the close of the quarter, 56-53. A series of missed
shots by B.C. and an incredible effort in the low-post by Ryan Hundemer,
who drained 12 points on 6-of-13 shooting, pushed Dallas over the hump
and the Mavericks claimed their first lead, 57-56, just three minutes
into the fourth quarter.
“I was real pleased with the mental toughness the guys showed out
there,” said B.C. head coach Peter Taylor. “We were facing a strong
comeback by Dallas and we were getting good shots that just weren’t
falling, so it was great to see them stay tough through that.”
The teams played to a 60-60 tie with six minutes to go in the game.
Then, back-to-back buckets by Anderson, the second of which came off a
nice steal by Jaimie Borisoff, put the Cable Cars back up by four.
Dallas wasn’t able to turn the tide back its way in the final stretch
and B.C. put forth a strong performance from the free-throw line to seal
the victory, 74-66. Anderson led all players with a near triple-double
showing. He racked up 26 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists in the
win. All five Mavericks starters scored in double digits. Jeff
Glasbrenner led the team with 11 points and 16 rebounds.
“We’ve played these guys tough before,” said Schulte. “We had a chance
to win it toward the end and we just weren’t able to capitalize.”
This is the first NWBA title for the Cable Cars, but not the first
championship for the team. “We also won the Canadian league title, so I
guess this means we’re the undisputed North American champs,” said
Taylor.
Dallas Wheelchair Mavericks
and B.C. Cable Cars will face off for 2008 national championship.
LEXINGTON, Ky.—For the second year in a row, the (1) British Columbia Cable
Cars and (3) Dallas Wheelchair Mavericks will square off for the National
Wheelchair Basketball Association (NWBA) Division I national championship.
British Columbia cruised past a development team from the (4) Canadian
Wheelchair Basketball Association (CWBA), 92-63, and Dallas defeated the (2)
Milwaukee Bucks, 92-64, to advance to the final.
The CWBA team put forth a strong effort to hang with B.C. for the first 10
minutes of the game. But, toward the end of the first quarter, the Cable
Cars employed a successful full-court press that knocked the CWBA team out
of its shooting rhythm and the four-seed never recovered. The speed of B.C.,
coupled with a strong offensive showing, helped the Cable Cars to the 92-63
win. Pat Anderson led B.C. with 22 points and Richard Peter added 15 points
in the win. David Eng and Adam Lancia were the top scorers for CWBA with 16
and 14 points, respectively.
“We had a very good game today and had the chance to get everybody in the
ball game,” said B.C. head coach Peter Taylor. “During the season it had
taken us a little longer to shake CWBA and we were able to do that earlier
today. Hopefully, we’ll be ready for tomorrow.”
The second semifinal saw a physical, fast-paced match-up between Dallas and
Milwaukee. The Mavericks got off to a hot start offensively and while the
Bucks were making some nice plays on defense and creating turnovers, those
plays weren’t translating to buckets on the other end. Dallas’ Jeff
Glasbrenner put up 20 points and 10 rebounds in the first half, alone,
helping the Mavericks to a 45-29 halftime lead. The onslaught of offense was
too much for Milwaukee to overcome. Glasbrenner finished with 38 points and
18 rebounds in the 92-64 victory. Paul Schulte also recorded a double-double
for the Mavericks, pouring in 22 points and handing out 16 assists. Jeremy
Lade led the Bucks with 17 points.
“In the four years I’ve been playing with this team, this is the most vocal
we’ve ever been on defense. Everyone was communicating really well out
there,” said Glasbrenner. “I like our chances in the championship game. We
haven’t beat B.C. yet this year, so the final would be a good place to get
that first win.”
Dallas is the 3-time defending national champion of Division I. The
Mavericks defeated B.C., 91-88, in an overtime thriller to win the 2007
title. The championship game will be played at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday, April
5, at Memorial Coliseum on the campus of the University of Kentucky. The
game is free and open to the public.
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