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SPORTS
| UPDATED JAN. 28
Wheelchair Basketball
UTA loses on last shot, 57-54
Warhawks beat the Movin’
Mavs with only 5.3 seconds left, leaving UTA with a 9-2 season.
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| The Shorthorn: Ryan Lavoie |
| Freshman Movin Mav David Eng tries to
reposition himself for a shot against the University of
Wisconsin-Whitewater on Sunday in the Activities Building.
The Movin’ Mavs lost the game, 57-54. |
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By R.C.
Wendler
The Shorthorn staff
It only took 5.3 seconds for The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
to erase a gigantic second-half comeback by the Movin’ Mavs
on Saturday as the Warhawks won 57-54 on a three pointer at the
buzzer.
The loss drops UTA to 9-2 on the season.
The Movin’ Mavs began their final possession down 54-52 with
27.8 seconds remaining before small forward Ryan Hundemer tied it
up with a shot from the left baseline. After the Warhawks advanced
the ball to halfcourt and called their last timeout before the final
play, just over six seconds were left.
Forward Joe Burmania said the loss was tough to take, especially
after erasing an 18-point deficit at halftime.
“We were down 18, you know?” he said. “We showed
we are still the national champions in the second half. It’s
hard to lose at home in front of all these fans, though.”
Coach Jim Hayes said the Movin’ Mavs’ defense was to blame
for the lopsided first half. Wisconsin-Whitewater closed out the
first 20 minutes with a 15-5 run in the last six and a half minutes.
“They made some pushes and got us back on our heels a little
bit,” he said. “Defensively, that affected us, and it
forced us into a bit of a rush offensively.”
Burmania said the team came out flat but did not blame the team’s
lack of energy on playing seven games in two days. Hundemer said
he thought the team was too pumped up in the first half.
“I think we had too much adrenaline,” he said. “We
were so excited we couldn’t execute properly.”
Freshman power forward David Eng, who led the team with 21 points,
said he still thinks the Movin’ Mavs are superior to Wisconsin-Whitewater.
Burmania said the same thing.
“We can run with them; this was just a three-point game,”
he said. “Next time, we have to come out more fired up and
hungry.”
Hayes said he took several positives from the tournament, including
the team’s 48-36 win over Illinois University on Friday. The
Movin’ Mavs also defeated Edinboro University, 56-30, and Southwest
Minnesota State, 65-39.
“We needed that,” he said of the win over Illinois. “We
needed the confidence to know we could play with the big boys.”
Hayes said the key to the weekend’s action was the Wisconsin
game, though. He said the national championship will most likely
feature the Warhawks again, and he looks forward to playing them
in the Movin’ Mavs next tournament Feb. 14 and 15.
“I learned something. They can’t put us away,” Hayes
said. “There’s no killer instinct in Wisconsin. When we
finally broke their momentum, they folded.”
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