USA’s wheelchair basketballers show form ahead of Parapans

In a warm-up for Toronto 2015, the USA’s men’s wheelchair basketball team won all five of their games in the four team tournament 30 Mar 2015

Joseph Chambers of United States reaches for the ball during the bronze medal Wheelchair Basketball match between United States and Great Britain at the London 2012 Paralympic Games

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By Wheelchair Basketball Canada

The USA men’s wheelchair basketball team showed they will be a force to be reckoned with at August’s Parapan American Games by going undefeated at the Americas Wheelchair Basketball Challenge which was held in Toronto, Canada, last week (22-26 March).

Held at the Mattamy Athletic Centre, the tournament featured four teams including Paralympic champions Canada, Rio 2016 hosts Brazil, USA and Argentina. It gave a glimpse of what can be expected once competition begins at the Parapans where the top two finishers will qualify for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

USA opened their account with a convincing 80-42 win over Argentina, whilst hosts Canada defeated Brazil 76-64 helped by 20 points from David Eng and 19 from Bo Hedges.

Brazil got their revenge on the third day of competition however with a convincing 61-33 over Canada. Superb defence from Brazil laid the platform for their shock win, whilst Luciano Silva impressed notching a game-high 24 points.

Buoyed by their victory, the following day Brazil also pushed USA close in their second match-up of the competition. It took the USA nearly the full 40 minutes to outscore the Brazilians 82-76. It was back-to-back clutch free-throws by Jared Arambula in the final seconds that iced the game for the USA. He finished with a game-high 20 points, one better than Luciano Da Silva who led Brazil with 19 points.

On the final day of competition, the USA maintained their 100 per cent record with a 67-54 win over Canada.

Team Canada dug itself into an early hole after a slow start and trailed the USA’s 18-8 after the first quarter. Canada stemmed the tide after the opening frame, backed by the veteran leadership of Adam Lancia, who dropped a game-high 19 points for the Canadian side. Teammate Nik Goncin tallied 17 points. Ultimately the USA’s depth proved to be too much to overcome on this night. Carter Arey led the Team USA with 14 points, while 10 of the USA’s 11 players hit the score sheet.

Team Canada finished with a record of three wins and two losses, whilst Brazil managed two wins after also beating Argentina 71-53 on the final day of competition. Argentina finished the competition winless.

Tickets for August’s Parapan American Games which take place between 7-15 August are now on-sale and can be purchased here. The Games will feature 1,600 athletes from 28 countries competing in 15 sports.