Major Upsets Kick Off NWBT’s Opening Night
By SNS Staff
Some major upsets and surprises opened up Thursday’s opening night of the National Wheelchair Basketball Association’s National Wheelchair Basketball Tournament (NWBT).
Two top NWBT Division II seeds fell in their first-round games, as the 16-seed London Forest City Flyers defeated the No. 1-seeded Nassau Kings, 60-42, and the No. 15 seed Los Angeles Clippers Chairmen defeated the No. 2 seed WASA Bucks, 56-45, at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville.
Robert Hughes led London Forest City with 19 points, while Jeff Dennis added 17. Edwin Lopez and Rodger Shelton led the Kings with 12 points each. On the other side of the bracket, Robert Lew led the Clippers with 22 points, while Hector Rivera added 10.
In the other four divisions, each of the top four seeds advanced to today’s (March 31) quarterfinal round.
The 2017 NWBT, which runs until April 2, features 95 teams in six divisions, along with 1,077 athletes on 12 basketball courts. The Prep, Varsity, and three Adult Divisions (Division I, Division II and Division III) teams will compete for a national championship.
The Junior Tournament has 47 teams competing for a national championship in Varsity and Prep classes. The Varsity league has 15 teams pushing for Junior National Invitational Tournament, which is for teams ranked 17-32. The Junior Prep age group is for athletes 13 years old and younger, while the Varsity athletes are high school age children. The Junior NIT Division Championship is slated for 4 p.m. April 1, while the Junior Prep Division national championship game opens Championship Sunday at 8 a.m. April 2, with the Varsity following at 10:30 a.m.
Each of the three adult divisions will compete over four days with six teams advancing to Championship Sunday (April 2), with Division I tipping off at 1 p.m., and Division II and Division III immediately following each other.
Saturday (April 1) will start at 8 a.m., with teams playing for third to 16th place in all divisions, and the Junior NIT Championship closing the day at 4 p.m. ET. The Prep, Varsity, and the three Adult divisions will hold semifinals.
Individual tickets are available for the 2017 NWBT presented by ABC Medical. Event tickets sold at the Kentucky Exposition Center are $32 for adults for all sessions or $19 per day. Children 11-18 are $12 for all sessions and $10 per day. Children 10 and under are free.
For more information, visit nwba.org.