Junior Lionel Tamoki attempts to shoot the ball during a game against the Dallas Wheelchair Mavericks on Feb. 14 at the Physical Education Building. Tamoki scored 14 points.
UTA men’s wheelchair basketball beat the Dallas Wheelchair Mavericks 68-60 Saturday at the Physical Education Building.
UTA took the lead quickly, going up 20-9 in the first quarter. From there, the team did not relinquish the lead, never letting the deficit go below eight.
Movin’ Mavs head coach Aaron Gouge said he believed his team performed well on both sides of the ball and stuck to the game plan.
Sophomore Nadav Menachem, left, freshman Shawn Simmions, center, and sophomore Jensen Blaine cheer after the Movin’ Mavs score during a game against the Dallas Wheelchair Mavericks on Feb. 14 at the Physical Education Building. The team won 68-60.
“We really worked hard. They’ve got some really great players, a couple gold medalists on their team,” Gouge said. “We worked really hard to take the ball away from them as much as possible and force some other players to beat us.”
Freshman Mitchell Bond led the Movin’ Mavs with 20 points in the game, with eight coming in the fourth quarter. He praised the performance of the whole team and said this win will help build momentum and chemistry as the season continues.
Aaron Gouge, Movin’ Mavs head coach, talks to the team during a game against the Dallas Wheelchair Mavericks on Feb. 14 at the Physical Education Building. The women’s and men’s wheelchair basketball teams will move to the College Park Center as part of their shift to UTA’s Athletics department.
“We really set a standard for ourselves to show us what we’re capable of,” Bond said. “There’s probably small mistakes here and there that we had, but we didn’t let them bog us down and turn into another one and snowball.”
Junior Lionel Tamoki had a double-double in the game, posting 14 points and 10 rebounds. He said the performance was affected by how much UTA and Dallas have played each other.
Freshman Shawn Simmions looks for an opening during a game against the Dallas Wheelchair Mavericks on Feb. 14 at the Physical Education Building. The team will play again in the Auburn March College Tournament.
“We played Dallas a lot, so we know what to do, and we know how great they are. They’re a very good team, they give us a great fight,” Tamoki said. “We just stuck to what we wanted to do, gave the ball to whoever wanted to shoot, and offensively, we just stuck together and had confidence in ourselves and our teammates.”
Later during the day, UTA also beat Bayou City, 70-61, and the Wounded Warriors Abilities Ranch (WWAR) Generals, 62-61.
Freshman Shawn Simmions cheers for the team during a game against the Dallas Wheelchair Mavericks on Feb. 14 at the Physical Education Building. The team won against Bayou City and the Wounded Warriors Abilities Ranch Generals later in the day.
The Movin’ Mavs’ next tournament will be on the road, as they play in the Auburn March College Tournament starting March 6 at the Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum in Auburn, Alabama.
“A lot of these teams have guys that have a bunch of international experience,” Gouge said. “Playing against that level of talent only helps us as a team and puts us in tough situations that can be a learning situation towards the end of the year.”
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