Wheelchair Mavericks Win Second NWBA Adult Division I Title In Three Years
A third-quarter B and B show blew up open the National Wheelchair Basketball Association (NWBA) Adult Division I championship game.
Luka Buksa and Brian Bell took over the game for the No. 1 seed Dallas Wheelchair Mavericks. And they brought home their second championship in three years.
U.S. men’s Paralympic gold medalist Fabian Romo scored a game-high 25 points and had eight rebounds, while three-time U.S. men’s Paralympic gold medalist Bell recorded a double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds and Buksa had 18 points and seven rebounds in a 74-55 NWBA Adult Division I championship game win over No. 6 seeded Wisconsin Adaptive Sports Association (WASA) Marquette Eagles. The Wheelchair Mavericks avenged last year’s title-game loss to WASA in the process.
Romo earned NWBA Adult Division I tournament MVP and championship game MVP honors and he, Bell and Buksa were named to the all-tournament first team. But it was Buksa and Bell who delivered the knockout punch, as they combined for 16 of Dallas’ 24 third-quarter points and helped the Wheelchair Mavericks go from being tied at halftime to building a 52-41 advantage at the end of the period.
After picking up three fouls by early in the second quarter and sitting on the bench for most of the period, Buksa couldn’t be slowed down in the second half. He went 8-of-10 from the field over the final two quarters.
“It means a lot. It means a lot to the team. It means a lot to me personally, to the team, that we we are a dynasty. We are. We keep winning. We are the team that we think we are,” Buksa says. “Unfortunately, we came up short last year, but this year we proved that we’re not. We are much more than we think we are. We can do it when we believe in ourselves, when we don’t let the emotions take over. We just calm ourselves down and win the game.”
Bell, who’s previously played for the Golden State Road Warriors, moved to Dallas for work last May and joined the Wheelchair Mavericks this season. Bell dominated both halves, scoring 13 points in the first half and eight points in the second. He helped give them not only another scoring threat and interior presence, but most importantly, he added leadership. Buksa says he and Bell have a connection, and Bell says he helped Buksa calm down after the first-half foul trouble.
“Yeah, it was just talking to him. I know he got in foul trouble early on, and just, you know, constantly talking to him in his ear, like, ‘Don’t worry about it. If you miss a shot, leave it. Go back on defense. I’ll take up the slack if you’re, you know, out and I can go inside or I can take up more of the scoring mantle,’” Bell says.
U.S. Paralympic men’s gold medalist Jeromie Meyer led WASA with a 22 points and added five rebounds and was named to the all-tournament first team, while three-time U.S. Paralympic gold medalist Nate Hinze had 13 points and five rebounds. Two-time U.S. women’s Paralympic gold medalist Becca Murray and U.S. men’s Paralympic gold medalist Talen Jourdan added six points and two rebounds apiece, while U.S. women’s Paralympic silver medalist Emily Oberst (four points and one rebound), U.S. men’s Paralympic bronze medalist Jeremy Lade (two points and four rebounds) and Drew Selz (two points and two rebounds) also scored.
Josie DeHart had four points for Dallas, while Ian Pierson (two points and two rebounds) and Blake McMinn (two points and one rebound) also scored.
No. 2 Arkansas, No. 4 Memorial Square Off In Adult D2 Title Game
When No. 2 seed Arkansas came out of its timeout huddle with 14.9 seconds to go and trailing by two points, the Rollin’ Razorbacks had planned for one play inside. But on the way out of it and as players wheeled downcourt, team captain, NWBA Hall-of-Famer and three-time U.S. Paralympian Jeff Glasbrenner changed the play and told teammate Michael Thompkins he had the green light to shoot a 3-pointer.
Thompkins delivered.
He buried a 3-pointer from the top right of the key off the inbounds play with 11.3 seconds remaining to put them up one point, and the Rollin’ Razorbacks held on defensively for a 57-56 NWBA Adult Division II semifinal game win over the No. 10 seed Ability360 Phoenix Wheelchair Suns on Saturday afternoon.
“We actually ran a different play in there. And then, as soon as we hit the court, he has the green light to switch things based on what he feels. And, you know, with that Hall-of-Famer experience, I was like, ‘Hey, we’re riding the wave with him,’” Thompkins says. “We had a similar incident during the season where we had to come back, and he talked me into shooting those same that same 3. Once he tells me to let it fly, you know, like my percentage naturally goes up, you know, getting his approval on it.”
Arkansas will take on the No. 4 seeded Memorial Rehabilitation Sharks in Sunday’s title game. The Sharks held off a furious rally against the No. 1-seeded Kansas City Kings for a 51-45 victory in Saturday’s other Adult Division II semifinal.
The Wheelchair Suns has one final chance, but Robert Reed got trapped too far underneath the basket and missed a shot with 2 seconds left. Arkansas grabbed the rebound with less than a second left, then after a timeout, inbounded the ball to seal the win.
Meanwhile, the Memorial Sharks survived a comeback attempt in their victory. The Sharks led 47-39 with 7:16 left in the fourth quarter before the Kings came roaring back. Kansas City’s Riley Blee cut the deficit to just 47-45 after a steal and a layup with 5:02 remaining. But the Kings had a handful of missed opportunities late, and the Sharks’ Ben Reis hit four free throws in the final 15 seconds to seal the semifinal win.
No. 4 Magee, No. 10 Tacoma To Meet In Adult D3 Final
Magee’s Tyheim Bowen did the down-low heavy lifting, and the No. 4-seeded Spokesmen Red hung around and capitalized inside the post late to rally for a 51-47 NWBA Adult Division III tournament semifinal win over the top-seeded Charlottesville Cardinals.
No. 4 Magee will take on the No. 10-seeded Tacoma Titans in Sunday’s Division III championship game. No. 10 Tacoma used a strong defensive effort to pull away for a 55-38 win over the No. 11-seeded San Antonio ParaSport Spurs in Saturday’s other Adult Division III tourney semifinal.
Magee hung around all game. Trailing 45-42 with 3:35 left, Magee rallied and seized control late. The Spokesmen Red went on a 6-0 run to take a 48-45 lead with 1:08 left. After Charlottesville’s Josiah Knight cut the lead to 48-47 with 55.1 seconds remaining, Magee’s Theodore Luster made 1-of-2 free throws for a 49-47 lead with 51.8 seconds to go. Knight missed a shot with 42 seconds left, and with the Cardinals trying to steal the ball and foul, Bowen got open down low and scored on a layup to give them the 51-47 lead with 23.1 seconds remaining. Charlottesville missed two 3-pointers in the final 15 seconds — and the Spokesmen Red advanced.
“Shoutout to my team. It’s because of them we got this win. It ain’t because of me. I just stayed engaged with my team, and they had my back and I have theirs,” says the 30-year-old Bowen.
Charlottesville had beaten Magee earlier this season in one of Magee’s home tournaments, Bowen says.
“The second half, we knew we had to come back and we knew we had to come back hard, and we knew we had to come back with fire. And that’s just what we do,” Bowen says.
Meanwhile, after a back-and-forth, run-filled first half, Tacoma put together a third-quarter run that took care of the ParaSport Spurs. Leading 30-22 with 7:20 left in the period, Tacoma finished it on an 11-4 run to go up 41-26 after three quarters.
Tacoma’s Jerry Mitchell says he didn’t shoot well. But the team’s defense was good.
“The good thing is I think our defense was able to talk more, you know, and that resulted in the W, you know,” says the 39-year-old Federal Way, Wash., resident.
Mitchell was happy with one thing about advancing — since they’re the lower-ranked team, they won’t have to wear their yellow uniforms and can wear their black ones.
“Yeah, I mean, and I’ll be honest with you, I love being the lower-ranked team because I love wearing our black uniforms. I hate yellow.”
NWBA National Wheelchair Basketball Championships At West Monroe Sports & Events complex West Monroe, La. March 28
Adults
Division I
Consolation
11th-Place Game
No. 8 Utah Wheelin’ Jazz 65, No. 11 Golden State Road Warriors 55
Ninth-Place Game
No. 10 Bayou City 54, No. 5 MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital Punishers 52
Seventh-Place Game
No. 3 Rancho Halos 66, No. 12 Lincolnway Special Recreation Center Association Hawks 56
Fifth-Place Game
No. 9 Wounded Warriors Abilities Ranch Generals 67, No. 7 Los Angeles Clippers Chairmen 47
Third-Place Game
No. 4 New York Rollin’ Knicks 52, No. 2 Mary Free Bed Pacers 46
Championship
No. 1 Dallas Wheelchair Mavericks 74,
No. 6 Wisconsin Adaptive Sports Association Marquette Eagles 55
Division II
Consolation
No. 11 ParaSport Spokane 50, No. 14 CAST Iron Skillets 42
No. 10 Shepherd Stealers 55, No. 15 Charlotte Rollin’ Hornets 53
No. 9 Bridge City Rolling Blazers 45, No. 12 Texas Ball Hogs 43
No. 16 Tampa Bay Strong Dogs 58, No. 13 Detroit Wheelchair Pistons 50
No. 4 Tucson Lobos 58, No. 8 Lakeshore Storm 57
No. 7 NMSCD Wolfpack 51, No. 3 Seattle Sonics 43
No. 11 ParaSportSpokane 46, No. 10 Shepherd Stealers 42
No. 14 CAST Iron Skillets 58, No. 15 Charlotte Rollin’ Hornets 34
Semifinals
No. 5 Memorial Rehabilitation Sharks 51, No. 1 Kansas City Kings 45
No. 2 Arkansas Rollin’ Razorbacks 57, No. 6 Ability360 Phoenix Wheelchair Suns 56
Division III
Consolation
No. 6 Brooks Ballers 50, No. 14 Wisconsin Adaptive Sports Association Marquette Eagles 43
No. 15 San Diego Silverbacks 62, No. 7 Lincolnway Special Raceway Center Association Hawks 48
No. 5 Houston Rolling Rockets 54, No. 8 Cleveland Wheelchair Cavaliers 42
No. 6 Brooks Ballers 75, No. 15 San Diego Silverbacks 72
No. 16 Charlotte Rollin’ Hornets 55, No. 13 Sacramento Royals 36
No. 7 Lincolnway Special Raceway Center Association Hawks 45,
No. 14 Wisconsin Adaptive Sports Association Eagles 40
No. 9 Los Angeles Hotwheels 48, No. 12 Rochester Wheels 35
No. 2 Austin Rec’ers 34, No. 3 Bennett Blazers 24
Semifinals
No. 10 Tacoma Titans 55, No. 11 San Antonio ParaSport Spurs 38
No. 4 Magee Spokesmen Red 51, No. 1 Charlottesville Cardinals 47