In what coach Mike Frogley called a “great test” for his young team, the University of Illinois men’s wheelchair basketball team passed with flying colors last weekend, capping off a successful tournament for both the women’s and men’s programs.

It was a run that started midway through the first half that sparked the Illini victory.

After just tying the game up at 18, junior Hirokai Kozai nailed a 3-point shot to give the team a lead they would never give back. With the Illini up 27-22, a 3-pointer by Quebec star Max Poulin pulled the Canadian Province’s junior national all-star team to within two, before a 13-2 run by the Illini closed out the half.

Illinois’ defense dominated the rest of the way.

“They were a pretty quick, big team, and we’re kind of a smaller, younger team, so just getting up on chairs and stopping chairs was probably the biggest thing we did today,” Illinois senior Joey Gugliotta said.

Gugliotta has taken the reins as facilitator and team leader in his senior season. Frogley was looking for a star output from him in today’s game.

“Just like Demetri (McCamey) has to grow and mature as a team leader, Joey’s got to do that for us,” Frogley said.

Frogley, who has been involved with the school’s wheelchair athletics program for 22 years, was happy with his captain’s efforts on Sunday.

“We’ve been working on his screen game, and that really showed up. He had a lot of pick and roll opportunities, and he really dished the ball well.”

Gugliotta poured in 29 points, a team high, and added 15 rebounds and seven assists, his best game of the tournament and second consecutive double-double. Tommy Smurr added 19 points. Kozai had 15 points, all in the first half.

“At the half, we looked at (Kozai)’s chair, and we saw a crack in the camber tube, a lot of time what ends up happening is your chair ends up breaking and can’t be used. We had to completely change our game plan at the half, and he couldn’t be nearly as aggressive,” Frogley said.

Kozai’s cracked chair derailed his momentum, but not the team’s. Smurr scored 11 of his 19 points in the second half, and freshmen Nick Weiss and David Grassi put in a couple of big baskets to supplement the offense. Smurr played smothering defense to help the Illini to a 12-0 advantage in points off turnovers in a game that was played relatively cleanly.

Overall, the men’s team finished an emphatic 4-0 in the weekend round robin, a tournament that consisted solely of community teams, with the exception of the University’s squad. The team’s 17-point victory on Sunday was its smallest margin of victory for the weekend.

The women’s team split a double-header with the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. In the first contest, the Illini women outscored UWW by 12 points in the second half to edge out a five point victory.

Bridie Kean led the team in that game with an 18-point effort and was one of three players to net a double-double, along with Tiffany Wilkinson and Helen Freeman.

The U of I Women struggled in the next contest, with Wilkinson being held to just two points on three shots.

Next weekend, the teams head to the University of Texas-Arlington to begin conference play. The men will play UTA and the University of Alabama, in addition to a community team from Dallas, while the women’s team will head to UTA to face with the Dallas community women’s team.