The Illinois men’s wheelchair basketball team takes pride in defending its home court and they did quite well once again over the weekend.

Hosting the Illinois International Invitational at the ARC, the men’s wheelchair basketball team kept up its stellar play, winning three of its four games on Saturday and another on Sunday.

The Illinois men’s wheelchair basketball team takes pride in defending its home court and they did quite well once again over the weekend.

Hosting the Illinois International Invitational at the ARC, the men’s wheelchair basketball team kept up its stellar play, winning three of its four games on Saturday and another on Sunday.

Illinois opened Saturday with a win over the Canadian Seniors. After a back and forth first half, the Illini pulled away in the second half. Steve Serio was the star of the game, almost finishing with a triple-double as he had 25 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Brian Bell added 20 points and seven boards.

The Illini found the going a little tougher against the Dallas Mavericks, however, as they suffered their only loss of the day. The Orange and Blue were undone by their 33 percent second half shooting. Illinois responded in its third game of the day, though, as it beat the Canadian Juniors 65-20. Defense was a key in this contest, with Illinois holding the Canadians scoreless until the ten-minute mark of the first half and forcing their neighbors to the north into 28 percent shooting.

The best game of Saturday was saved for last. Illinois fell behind by as many as 15 in a rematch against the Canadian Seniors. But the Illini stormed back behind a solid defense to send the game into overtime, where they controlled play and came away with a 66-63 win. Tommy Smurr led the team with 17 points and Serio added 15 points and 10 assists.

“Our whole game runs through our defense, once the defense clicks our offense becomes more successful,” Smurr said in a press release.

Illinois again defeated the Canadian Seniors on Sunday morning 65-51.