Third time's a charm for the UA men’s wheelchair basketball team, which is coming home with some hardware after winning the 2025 NWBA Intercollegiate Division Men's title Saturday.
The No.1 Wildcats (28-4) defeated No. 2 UT Arlington 75-65 at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. It was the team's third year in a row making it to the national championship game, but the first time they've won the title, said Peter Hughes, athletic director for the UA's adaptive athletic program.
Senior Justyn Newman, who scored 30 points to make it to the final and 26 points on Saturday, was named the MVP. He also had seven rebounds and as many assists.
"It was a back-and-forth affair," Hughes said. "They were losing at the end of the third period but came back to win in the fourth.
It was the UA men’s wheelchair basketball team’s third year in a row making it to the national championship game but only the first time they’ve won the title.
The season was a "roller coaster," Arizona head coach Michael Beardsley said, making the championship win that much sweeter.
"There were ups and downs where we went 4-0 on some weekends, 2-2 on others," he said. "February was a big turning point for us. We went to the University of Alabama and we lost a couple games that we felt we should've won, but that really checked everybody in and made us dig deeper."
Beardsley's message to get the team back on track: "We're beatable and we need to put in more work, more effort, more focus."
That also meant doing less, Beardsley said — less time in the weight room to watch more film and hone in on what each player does well to accomplish their goal.
When it came to the run for the championship, Beardsley said the team didn't falter, earning two 30-point victories before winning by 10 against the Movin' Mavs.
"It feels great, it's a great moment for our team, for our program, for the Tucson community," he said. "It's an overwhelming feeling. I'm overwhelmed with joy to see the guys happy, all of our supporters there, family, it's just an amazing feeling."
In addition to top-scorer Newman, Beardsley shouted out a few players for their championship performance: sophomore walk-on Dylan Zander who turned in to the team's point guard over the season for his offense, defense and leadership; senior Blaise Mutware, who is also a Canadian paralympian, for his rebounding and defense; and junior Kerwin Haake, who is also deaf, for how he showed up in the second quarter.
"It was a whole team effort, the bench was so loud, really got the parents and fans involved, which really helped keep the momentum," he said.
For Hughes, it's a fitting close to a challenging beginning.
"This is the team that got here during COVID," he said. "A lot of the freshmen, their first year here was COVID, so they had to survive their season being canceled. They had to be resilient."
