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SPORTS
| UPDATED JAN. 24
Wheelchair basketball
Team dominates opener
The Movin’ Mavs plan to ‘take
off’ after a 50-36 home victory against Edinboro University
on Thursday.
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| The Shorthorn: Casey Horn |
| Movin’ Mav Michael Paye, right,
takes a shot outside the three-point line as Joey Leavitt
of Edinboro University attempts to block him. UTA won
56-30. |
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By Dustin
Eberhart
The Shorthorn staff
If one were to ask any of the Movin’ Mavs or the team’s
coach how they would describe their tournament-opening victory Thursday
night over Edinboro University, they would all give you the same
response — “an easy warmup and a good start.”
It was a good start for the team as they mounted an early first-half
run that aided in their 56-30 victory.
For Coach Jim Hayes, the team’s defense drove the offense and
the game.
“Early on, we were rushing our shots and missing them,”
he said. “We were playing such good defense; we didn’t
relax and take the shot — but that is what first games are
all about.”
Three minutes into the game, the tension and hype proved to be gone
when the team went on an 11-2 run, fueled by Canadian transfer student
David Eng, who scored six points during that stretch and 12 on the
night.
“It took us a while to get our momentum up,” Eng said.
“It usually does though — we usually start pretty slow
at the start of each half then pick it up.”
Junior point guard Jason Nelms led all scorers in the game with
22 points, followed by Eng.
“We played really good team ball tonight,” Nelms said.
“It was good for us to be able to put different guys in the
game and try different things.”
To open the second half, UTA put together another 11-2 run, pulling
ahead 36-15 and putting Edinboro out of reach for good.
“We had trouble the first half getting used to a slower tempo
game that they forced us into,” small forward Ryan Hundemer
said. “But we managed to pick it up around halftime and thereafter.”
The team will face Oklahoma State University at 9:40 a.m. Saturday,
followed by the University of Arizona at 2:40 p.m. and ending with
the University of Illinois, which is currently one place behind
the Movin’ Mavs, at 7:40 p.m.
“This was a good first game for us tonight — now we take
off,” Hayes said.
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