Men’s Wheelchair Basketball Team Advances to Gold Medal Game

In a thrilling rematch from the Rio 2016 gold medal game, the defending champions prevailed against Spain again, as they recorded a 66-52 victory on Friday night in Tokyo. Brian Bell led Team USA with a 20-point 11-rebound double-double outing, while eight players scored at least one point and 11 players saw action on the court to complete a full team effort.

 

Team USA outscored Spain in every quarter and owned the lead for 36:43 minutes of the game. The reserves made a huge impact in the

outcome, accounting for half of Team USA’s points with 33 compared to Spain’s bench that only scored 11 points. 

Bell is making his second Paralympic Games and was joined by five-time Paralympic veteran Matt Scott, who contributed nine points in the contest and pulled down five rebounds.

This marks Team USA’s sixth gold medal game appearance since 1968 and will compete for their 10th Paralympic medal in program history when they face the winner from the Japan versus Great Britain semifinal.