The Illinois men’s wheelchair basketball team played three games in a tournament this weekend against a single opponent, the Edinboro Fighting Scots. Played in Edinboro, Pa., all three games were close, but the Illini came out on top in both the first and last games.

“We’re 4-2 this season against them, 2-0 in conference,” coach Mike Frogley said. “We’ve got the edge psychologically.”

Six minutes into Friday morning’s opening game, the Illini found themselves down 12-6 to the Scots. Three minutes later, they tied the game 12-12.

The last few minutes of the game were close, but Illinois pulled away in the end game situation, winning 50-46. They had held Fighting Scots to 20 percent shooting in the second half.

“These next two games are really important because we’re going to see them in the semifinal in Nationals, right here, same spot, in six weeks,” said team co-captain Steve Serio, who was a leading scorer in the game with 16 points. “We want to come in here at Nationals knowing that we’re going to win.”

The next game, later that same day, looked hopeful for the Illini. Ahead 33-22 at the half, they had held Edinboro’s top three scorers to nine points combined.

As if a switch had gone off at the start of the second half, however, Illinois faltered, not making any baskets in the first 12 minutes.

“We had scoring opportunities in the first 12 minutes, we just didn’t hit them,” Frogley said.

Although Illinois had shot 64 percent in the first half, they managed only 25 percent in the second half, allowing Edinboro to leap past them and take the win, 54-48.

After the game, Frogley talked to the team, angrily saying, “Guys, we’ve talked about it – you’ve got to put two halves together … we’re not a great team yet.”

The third and final game was the last chance for Illinois to show up the Fighting Scots before Nationals in March. Just as in the first match-up, Illinois was down 10 minutes into the game, 20-8.

In typical fashion, though, the Illini fought back. The game was close in the final minutes, with Illinois defeating Edinboro, 63-60.

Team co-captain Denny Muha went 3-for-3 from the three-point line and scored a total of 23 points for the game.

“Everyone played with a lot of energy on defense and it showed in our stops,” Muha said, “If we bring the energy, then we’ll be in any game.”

Frogley was also pleased with this end to the weekend.

“Earlier in the weekend we played halves of basketball,” Frogley said, “Today I felt like we played three-quarters of a basketball game.”

Overall, the weekend was not decisive for either team: the games were close and the results were mixed for both the No. 2 Illini and the No. 3 Scots.

Despite Illinois winning two of the three games, neither team can claim a decisive advantage over the other.

“We know we can beat them, but they know they can beat us too,” Serio said.