Paris, France (Sept. 8) — Winning two consecutive championships is widely considered one of the hardest things to do in sports. Three in a row? Even tougher.

Team USA men’s wheelchair basketball had none of that on Saturday at Bercy Arena.

Great Britain gave the U.S. all it could handle, but it wasn’t enough. Team USA pulled out a 73-69 victory to secure gold once again.

“This team has grown so much over the course of the last couple of years,” proclaimed Steve Serio, team captain. “We knew that Great Britain was going to be a great opponent, a really tough group of guys. Right now, we’re just excited that we won a basketball game and got to bring home another gold medal for our country.

“It feels awesome,” exclaimed Jake Williams, owner of a third gold medal. “Gold medals are never easy, and I think this was one of the hardest ones with only eight teams being in the tournament, they’re all really good, but we stayed together as a team and I’m definitely glad that we came out on top.”

Two players shined for each side in the first quarter. For Great Britain, Lee Manning and Phillip Pratt proved a tough duo to stop. They combined for 16 of Great Britain’s 18 first-quarter points on 7/10 shooting, including two three-point makes from Pratt. Serio and Williams proved equally difficult to defend. They tallied 19 points in the first quarter for the U.S., including a late three from Serio to put Team USA in the lead. Trevon Jenifer also had a late bucket in the first, staking the U.S. to a 23-18 advantage through ten minutes.

Team USA kept running its offense through Serio in the second quarter. The five-time Paralympian added nine more points in the frame, going into halftime with 18 points and six rebounds. Both defenses raised their game- neither side reached its first-quarter scoring output in the second quarter. The U.S. stretched its lead up to 11, but Great Britain scored the final four points of the frame to put the score at 38-31 through one half.

The defensive intensity was ramped even further coming out of the break. Neither the U.S. nor Great Britain had much of an offensive spark over the first six minutes of the third quarter- each side had just six points in the frame in that stretch. But a slick assist from Serio to Williams got the Team USA offense running. The U.S. ended the third quarter on a humble 9-6 run. While it wasn’t a groundbreaking stretch by any means, it did bump Team USA’s lead to 53-43 with just one quarter to play.

That advantage proved enough for the U.S. to ride through the fourth quarter all the way to the victory. The trio of Williams, Serio, and Jenifer continued to pace Team USA. They finished with 26, 24, and 14 points respectively. Serio also added ten rebounds and eight assists. Great Britain clawed back within three points with three minutes to go, but timely buckets from Serio, Williams, and Brian Bell as well as a few defensive stops put the game to bed. Team USA has its third consecutive gold medal in the event- the first time that’s ever been accomplished- and eighth of all time.

The win is a bittersweet one for Team USA. Before the game, Serio made a major announcement. The opening ceremony flag-bearer revealed that the Paris Games would be his last.

“He definitely makes my job a lot easier,” said Williams. “Playing for Team USA has been so much fun, definitely the most fun I’ve had playing basketball.”

“This entire Games I’ve tried to be present,” explained Serio. “Live in the moment more than I have in the past. You look at the game, you look at this experience a little bit differently when you know it’s going to be your last one. I can’t think of a better way to go out, I’m going to remember this for a really long time.”