CHAMPAIGN, ILL. - The Southwest Minnesota State wheelchair basketball team split four games over the past weekend against the University of Illinois men and women.  On Saturday, SMSU was defeated by the No. 1-ranked men's team 66-37.  SMSU followed that with a victory over the women 48-35. Saturday night was concluded with another loss to the men, 70-31. The Mustangs finished the weekend Sunday morning with a second win over the women, 43-20.

Game 1 Recap:
The weekend started with a show down with No. 1-ranked University of Illinois Men. SMSU got off to a great start shooting 45 percent in the first half. With less than ten minutes to go in the first half the Mustangs led the Illini 22-19. However the Illini defensive pressure forced the Mustangs into 10 first half turnovers which led to 14-2 run and 33-24 Illini lead at the half. In the second half SMSU could not keep pace with the 57 percent shooting of the Illini as Southwest lost 66-37. The Mustangs were led by Evan Thorn with 15 points in the loss.

Game 2 Recap:
SMSU captured its first victory of the weekend later Saturday over the University of Illinois Women 48-35. Tough defense allowed the Mustangs to get out to a 26-10 half time lead. The Illini made it a much closer game as the Mustangs were able to give their bench players some game experience. In the end SMSU won 48-35.

SMSU was led by Tony Hilmoe with 14 points, while Nathan Carruth had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, and Kyle Timmerman added 12 points of his own.
 
Game 3 Recap:
The third game of the day was another matchup with the Illinois men. Poor shooting and foul-trouble plagued the Mustangs in this game. SMSU was held to just 29 percent shooting for the game. The Illini jumped out to a 34-15 half time lead and never looked back defeating the Mustangs by a final score of 70-31.
The Mustangs were led by Evan Thorn in the loss with 15 points.

Game 4 Recap:
The weekend ended on a high note with SMSU defeating the Illini women 43-20. Team defense and a balanced attack were the keys to victory in this game. The Mustangs were led to victory by Evan Thorn with 12 points and 13 rebounds, while Kyle Timmerman added eight points and 16 rebounds and Nathan Carruth added eight points of his own.

Coach's Notes:
“The two victories we had this weekend were great team victories that we can build on for the future but we learned more about ourselves from the two losses,” said co-head coach Paul Weiland.  “The scores in the two losses did not indicate how we played, we played great team ball the shots just didn't fall… we lost to a great team but we proved that we can play with anyone in the country.”

The Mustangs' next games will be in Whitewater Wisconsin on Saturday, Jan. 31.