CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The City University of New York (CUNY) men's and women's wheelchair basketball teams returned to the court over the weekend to compete in their first-ever road NWBA tournament hosted by the University of Illinois.
"The NWBA Collegiate division is an extremely competitive league with international talent infused on all the rosters," said Director of CUNY Inclusive and Adaptive Sports and head coach,
Ryan Martin. "The Men's and Women's teams from CUNY competed against iconic wheelchair basketball programs such as the host team the University of Illinois. Both teams learned the effort that's needed to put together a 40 min game at that level. While it was not the outcomes we would have hoped for, it was a tremendous learning opportunity for our student-athletes."
Joining the ranks of the NWBA is yet another notch on the journey towards national and global prominence as the program continues to make strides since its inception. The wheelchair team is a result of a 2017 initiative, CUNY's Inclusive and Adaptive Sports platform, providing an opportunity for 11,000 CUNY students with disabilities to participate in four sports — track and field, swimming, tennis and basketball, the first sport the University has adopted as part of this collegiate model. To date, the CUNY Inclusive and Adaptive Sports platform has over 35 students across 14 CUNY campuses.
Team CUNY returns to the court next weekend, as the men hit the road for a pair of games at Edinboro University.
GAME 1 (Women) – Wisconsin-Whitewater 56, Team CUNY 22
Competing in their first-ever collegiate contest,
Seira Larrauri Garcia scored a team-high 12 points in the contest.
Destini Murray,
Crystal Jones and
Gesy Duran each recorded a field goal in the loss.
GAME 2 (Men) – Missouri 64, Team CUNY 46
Chris St. Remy dropped a team-high 17 points in the contest.
Yeraldy Rodriguez finished with 12, while
Erroll Samuels connected on three field goals in the game.
Rodger Shelton,
Shane Knox,
Abdoul Aziz Sow and
Malkeet Singh-Gill each found the bottom of the net in the meeting between the two squads.
GAME 3 (Men) – Southwest Missouri State 72, Team CUNY 41
St. Remy finished 18 points in the loss, while Samuels posted nine points, highlighted by three second-half baskets.
Aziz Sow, Shelton, Rodriguez each recorded a field goal in the loss.
GAME 4 (Women) – Illinois 53, Team CUNY 11
Jones knocked down three baskets in the contest. Murray recorded a field goal, while Garcia notched one field and one made free throw.
GAME 5 – (Men) – Illinois 83, Team CUNY 46
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