Rolling Mustangs Go 2-2 Again

CHAMPAIGN, ILL.: Another road trip and yet another two and two finish for the SMSU Wheelchair Basketball team. The weekend started with a very important 45-43 victory over the University of Edinboro. Later that day SMSU lost to the University of Illinois Men's team 80-30. The last game on Friday was also a loss for the Mustangs, this time to the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater by the score of 68-43. The weekend ended Saturday morning with a SMSU victory over the University of Illinois Women 39-35.

Game 1 Recap:
The weekend started with a battle against the University of Edinboro. At halftime the Mustangs led 23-19. Solid defense and timely shooting allowed the Mustangs to be victorious. Edinboro shot just 30.8 percent for the game, while the Mustangs were able to connect on 44.7 percent of their shots. Down the stretch Edinboro was able to close the gap in the second half, but the Mustangs won by a final score of 45-43. The Mustangs were lead in the victory by Nathan Peitz with 12 points and Evan Thorn with 11 points and 12 rebounds. Nathan Carruth added 10 points of his own.
Game 2 Recap:
Next SMSU faced the University of Illinois Men. The Illini showed why they are currently ranked number one in the country and defeated the Mustangs by the score of 80-30, The Mustangs were outrebounded in this game 36-22 and were only able to muster a dismal 34.1 percent from the floor while the Illini shot a red hot 56.1 percent the Mustangs were lead in the loss by Peitz with 12 points and Thorn with six points.
Game 3 Recap:
Friday ended with another loss to the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. UWW had too much speed and interior strength for the Mustangs as they were able to beat the Southwest by the score of 68-43. With his first bucket of the first half (a three-pointer from the top of the key) Evan Thorn became the 15th player in SMSU Wheelchair Basketball history to reach 1,000pts in his career. He ended the game with 11 points and five rebounds. SMSU also received 10 points from both Nathan Peitz and Jared Riggle in this game.
Game 4 Recap:
On Saturday morning the Mustangs were able to finish the weekend with a very close victory over the University of Illinois Women 39-35. At halftime SMSU lead by only one point 20-19 The Mustangs again experienced shooting problems shooting only 29.7 percent for the game. Early in the second half the Mustangs trailed by as much as five points and when Jared Riggle fouled out with just less than six minutes to go in the game things looked rough. The Mustangs were able to battle back to a four-point victory. This was due largely to the ten second half turnovers caused by the SMSU pressure defense. The Mustangs were led in this game by Nathan Carruth with 10 points and 12 rebounds. Peitz added nine points while Evan Thorn and Thomas Abrahamson each had eight points.

“This was a tough weekend for us losing Christian Ekunwe to injury just prior to this weekend caused us to play with a loss of height and speed. I thought our reserve players played well in his absence and we put ourselves in great position for the National Tournament. A great deal of congratulations goes out to Evan Thorn for reaching his 1000th point. His dedication and work ethic has been complimented by this feat,“ SMSU Wheelchair Basketball Co-Head Coach Paul Weiland said.

The Mustangs next action will be March 1st in the PE Gym on the campus of SMSU at 1:30pm against the Junior Rolling Timberwolves for Parents Night.

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