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Thank goodness that it was Giants who were next up...

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Sunday 30 October 2016

Manchester Giants 84-91 Worcester Wolves

 
Taking to the court in Halloween-appropriate pumpkin-orange shirts, Worcester Wolves ensured there were no unpleasant shocks as they downed winless Manchester Giants on Sunday.

With stalwart forward Jermel Kennedy a late withdrawal from Wolves’ trip to the North-West, just seven players suited up, including University of Worcester freshman Mark Jacobs.

After racing to a commanding 56-37 half-time lead, inevitable foul trouble and tiredness caused Wolves to falter as the afternoon progressed, but still manage to hold on for a 91-84 success.

Coach Paul James expressed his pleasure at seeing his charges to their third victory of the season, saying:

“I’m delighted that we could get a win like this, on the road, in difficult circumstances.

“We began really well, lost our way a little as guys got tired from playing extended minutes, but showed a lot of character to close out the win.”

Wolves opened in stirring fashion by holding their hosts scoreless for four minutes while blasting to sixteen points of their own.

Andrew Bachman rattled in an impressive triple of three-pointers in that total and even swooshed home a couple more before the end of the quarter.

Jacobs showed no nervousness as he spun beneath the basket for his opening score, aiding a 31-16 first-period lead.

When Giants diverted resources to deter further Bachman attacks, Danny Huffor was the next man to flourish, stacking up twelve second-quarter points.

Manchester came back into the contest after the interval. Guard Jerelle Okoro tallied a quick-fire ten points and a double of buckets for former Worcester favourite Callum Jones pulled matters back to single figures at 69-60.

A series of powerful moves from forward Samuel Toluwase and further deft touches from Jones ate into Wolves’ advantage. By the final minute of the match the scoreboard was at 89-82 and falling, but Giants ran out of time to complete their comeback.

Huffor and Bachman joint top-scored for Wolves with 21 points, closely followed by Alex Navajas with 19.

Toluwase was the standout for Giants with 26 points.

Asked about the contributions of Bachman and Jacobs, James replied:

“They both did very well. Andrew couldn’t miss in the first quarter and attracted defenders after that. Mark took his chance to impress and handled himself well, he’s one to look out for in the future.”

Wolves are next in action this Sunday 6 November, (tip off 4pm), when hosting Surrey Scorchers at the University of Worcester Arena in the Quarter-Final of the BBL Cup.

James added: “We did some good things today. Foul trouble meant we couldn’t be as aggressive as we would have liked on defence, but we certainly showed improvement from recent games. We’ll go into Sunday with lots of confidence.”

And my prog. reflections on the W at Manchester, ahead of the hosting of Surrey.

I was doing well at the bookies at that time.

Talking of bookies, I am currently spoilt for choice for wagers during a fiesta of a sporting weekend.

1. On Friday & Saturday I very much enjoyed the return of Grand Prix Speedway. 16 riders compete in each meeting. I backed the Pole "Magic" Janowski and British former-world champion Tai Woffinden on Friday - both men made the Final, but just missed out on the winner's garland when finishing second and fourth.

On Saturday, as "Woffy" was now carrying a knock, I lumped on just the Magic man who duly came good Cheers

2. Also on Saturday I kept an eye on the opening day of the Tour de France (no bets placed as the early stages are a lottery with too many contenders), and, of course, the woefully-underappreciated sport of Rugby League where I scooped up success on the rarely-backed achievement of predicting a "40-20" play

3. Late-night Saturday saw me observe Daniel Dubois easily dispose of a replacement (and petrified) Dutchman. None of the household riches were wagered on this farce as the odds were appropriately prohibitively narrow. The early hours of Sunday saw me catch a little of Lakers vs Blazers until I realised that the absence of Lillard meant no way through for Portland.

4. After arising from my bed this morning I am currently again ensconced in my favourite armchair again switching my attention between Tour de France & Rugby League (3 more games on Sky today).

5. Later, I am contemplating fitting in another cheeky turning of the channels to catch a hoss race or two from Goodwood and, of course, NBA tonight.

In amongst all the above I will require to be fed - I have craftily suggested treats for Mrs S in between her kitchen endeavours. She has been given the choice of baking cakes or sewing facemasks.

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Another mixture of fortunes for us last weekend.

Facing the forever-strong Newcastle Eagles was always going to be a big ask, never mind also being short on resources. And so it proved to be with a 67-87 toughie.

Contrastingly, it looked like we would then face our least-hardest task of the season when travelling to the winless Manchester Giants on Sunday. All seemed set fair until I espied just seven players suited up, with one of our standouts, Jermel, unable to travel.

At the risk of sounding traitorous, I admit to taking money from a bookmaker’s satchel when correctly predicting Friday’s defeat.

The same bookie could not have realised how short-handed we were when then offering a plus 14-point start for Giants. I eagerly handed over my earlier winnings in expectation that we could not now possibly win by such a margin.

Righteous justice for a greedy gambler I thought as we opened with a stunning 16-0 blast. But with tiredness taking its toll and foul trouble mounting, Giants gradually pegged us back.

As time wound down I had to suppress an urge to cheer our opponents, but all came good by close of play at 91-84 – a victory for the team, and another for me – double bubble.

Marek Klassen – 13pts, 14 assists. Dishing it up.

Danny Huffor – 21pts. Industrious.

Trevor Setty – 4pts. Dogged by foul trouble.

Alex Navajas – 19pts, 11 rebounds. Took up the slack.

Ashton Khan – 8pts. Determined.

Andrew Bachman – 21 pts. 5 x 3ptrs. Terrific.

Mark Jacobs – 5pts. Fit right in.
  

And followed by an improved (but still no cigar) display in Glasgow.

Good job that Manchester were the next opponents. Having said that, Giants had just beaten Surrey, who themselves had just walloped Worcester... 

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Sunday 13 November 2016

Glasgow Rocks 82-77 Worcester Wolves

Worcester Wolves put a run of disappointing performances behind them to show fighting spirit on their trip to Glasgow Rocks on Sunday.

High-scoring forward Andrew Bachman had to withdraw from an already-depleted squad after sustaining a rib injury during training, leaving just five senior players to make the long journey to Scotland.

Despite four of those players needing to stay on court for the full 40 minutes, Wolves stayed close to their opponents until late in the match, eventually losing out 77-82.

Though disappointed to miss out on the win, head coach Paul James applauded his team’s exertions, saying:

“We had a game-plan to play methodically, play carefully and stay close. We stuck to the plan, made Rocks work and, but for the last few minutes, we nearly succeeded.

“While we take no satisfaction from not getting the win, we have to be pleased with a determined battling display that was much better than some of our recent performances.”

Within ten seconds of the tip-off Trevor Setty was already onto the scoreboard.

Rocks’ point guard Neil Watson missed consecutive three-pointers before Worcester playmaker Marek Klassen connected from distance, quickly followed by Setty.

It would be more than three minutes until Glasgow scored from the field. By then Setty had rattled home a couple of triples in an 11-4 lead.

An 18-12 first quarter lead was added to when Setty capped off a stunning burst of sharp-shooting with his fifth three-point success from his five attempts.

At two minutes before half-time Wolves were in front at 39-30, only for Glasgow to themselves hit a flurry of long-range shots to narrow the gap to just 41-39 when the teams went to the locker rooms.

By three minutes after the interval Glasgow had achieved their first advantage at 49-48 on the back of eight quick points from Watson.

 
As the hosts tightened their defence around Setty, one of their former players, Danny Huffor, stepped to the fore with a series of steals and assists to keep Wolves in touch.

A nip-and-tuck third quarter ended with Rocks just holding sway at 63-61.

With four minutes remaining Worcester trailed 67-73 when Watson fouled Klassen on an outside shot. Klassen was still able to make the shot and convert the bonus free throw for a rare four-point play and just a 71-73 deficit.

However, this would be the visitors last hurrah once Glasgow took the upper hand for the run-in to full-time.

Huffor and Setty led the scoring with 26 and 23 points respectively. Huffor also bolstered his statistics with an impressive 12 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals

Wolves are next in action this Friday 18 November at the University of Worcester Arena versus Manchester Giants (7.30).

Giants picked up their first win of the season on Sunday against Surrey Scorchers, leaving James aware that his side will need to be ready for a revitalised opponent, saying:

“Manchester should gain confidence from their first victory, but if we play like we did for most of today’s game we will be alright.

“Today we showed energy, spirit and discipline, and we played together.”
 

And, despite the introduction of playground-bully Mo Walker, Wolves' horrifyingly-shambolic start to the season continued.

Nearly four years later, I can still recall my shock at the way the game finished and Giants' subsequent wild celebrations.

Moritz Lanegger & Bankevics were a dangerous long-range duo.

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Friday 18 November 2016

Worcester Wolves 88-89 Manchester Giants

 
Worcester Wolves were left disconsolate after somehow managing to throw away a much-needed victory in dramatic circumstances at the University of Worcester Arena on Friday.

An 87-83 lead with 21 seconds to go against Manchester Giants ought to have been sufficient. Dangerous guard Anastasios Traianos was able to connect with a three-pointer to give Giants a sliver of hope.

With just six seconds remaining, Wolves’ Jermel Kennedy missed one of two free throws to make it 88-86. Former Worcester captain Callum Jones then hurriedly located Moritz Lanegger standing poised on the side-line to calmly lob up a long-distance winner.

As Manchester players and staff bounced around the court in wild celebrations Wolves’ coach Paul James expressed his upset at what had taken place, saying:

“I have no idea what our players were thinking in the last 20 seconds or so.

“We only had to play straight-up defence, but we instead gave Manchester a shooter’s chance. We should have locked in - it was a stupid way to lose the game.”

The evening started positively as new 6 feet 10-inch centre Maurice Walker made an immediate impact with four close-range baskets from four attempts and a 17-8 advantage.

However, a 5-16 end to the quarter allowed Giants to edge ahead.

A back-and-forth first half ended with six points from Jones and the teams level at 41-41. The third quarter saw much of the same as the sides exchanged scores.

By a couple of minutes into the last period Wolves were in front at 66-64 following a long assist from Marek Klassen for a Kennedy dunk.

 
Meanwhile, Walker continued to impress as he settled into a pattern of bullying past defenders for repeated successes.

By the last minute of the match Wolves looked comfortable with an 84-77 lead, until their late breakdown.

Walker finished with striking debut statistics of 32 points and 11 rebounds. James praised his new arrival, saying:

“Maurice did a great job and will hopefully continue that form for the rest of the season.

“It’s just a shame that he put in all that work and he still ended up on the losing side.”

Wolves now have matches on the road at Plymouth and Leeds, before returning to the University of Worcester Arena on Friday 2 December to host Bristol Flyers.

“We had the game won tonight but for 20 seconds of madness. It will be hard to pick ourselves up, but we simply have to,” added James.
 

But when you need your first win in over a month, who you gonna call but Leeds Force.

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Friday 25 November 2016

Leeds Force 77-91 Worcester Wolves

Delighted Worcester Wolves’ coach Paul James applauded the all-round contributions of his players as his side secured their first win since October when triumphing 91-77 at Leeds Force on Friday.

Hard-working forward Andrew Bachman returned from injury to inject a welcome burst of energy and contribute 15 points, while Maurice Walker made it a hat-trick of personal double-doubles since arriving last week by tallying 17 points and 10 rebounds.

Marek Klassen top-scored with 18 points against his former club, while Trevor Setty, Danny Huffor and Jermel Kennedy rounded out the double-figure scorers with 10 points apiece.

Wolves held a comfortable advantage until a 9-0 Leeds burst to begin the fourth quarter pulled matters back to just 71-67.

Unlike recent matches where late meltdowns have cost them dear, Worcester this time managed to snatch back the initiative and emerge victorious.

James praised his team’s resilience under pressure, saying:

“Leeds are a scrappy side who can get under your skin, but we were determined to stay focused.

“We built a nice cushion but they came back at us late on. Rather than fold, we stuck to our game and hit them back hard.

“It’s great to get the win and it’s even better that we achieved it as a team, sharing the ball around and with everyone playing for each other.”

It was five minutes into the evening when Wolves began to pull away at 12-8, following a Setty three-pointer. Five quick points from Bachman aided a 27-19 first quarter advantage.

By half-time the lead had extended to 51-39 with Force unable to prevent Bachman streaking to a further ten points.

Kennedy snatched the ball from Leeds guard Eddie Matthew as the second half commenced, setting up a triple for Klassen. The Worcester pair grabbed the last two baskets of the third quarter to make it 71-58.

When Leeds then bounced back into contention, James was quick to call for a steadying time out. From the re-start, Klassen connected from the outside. Setty laid on Klassen’s second triple within a minute, and Kennedy again stole the ball to set up a score for Huffor.

Setty floated home consecutive triples to ruthlessly stamp out Leeds’ resistance.

 Wolves are next in action this Friday 2 December at the University of Worcester Arena versus Bristol Flyers (7.30).

Despite currently propping up the British Basketball League, Flyers ran title-challenging Leicester Riders close for most of their match-up this week, leaving James to declare:

“Bristol’s position does not reflect how much of a threat they can be, so we will have to be on our game.

 
“Our attitude today was first-class. We need to maintain that and keep going forward in our performances.”

And while I'm just having a look for more stuff from 2016, I'll be topical in reflecting on the once 'homely' club that was Plymouth Raiders, not too long after they finally stepped up to the BBL.

"Carlton Aaron underneath the basket – Money!"

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Here’s a report from Wolves first BBL visit to Plymouth, back in the 2006 season.

Unfortunately, we got shellacked, 72-121.

From the start of the game we were pounced upon, already down by 24 points after just the first quarter, widening further to a 38-point deficit by half-time.

OK, as Plymouth ran their bench, we took the final quarter by a point, but by then it was far too late.

Raiders’ huge mound of rebound, Carlton Aaron was the man – when he joined the league last season his pre-billing nickname of ‘Shaq of the BBL’ was laughed at by many as he struggled to slim down.

Well, now that he has injuries and his weight under control, there are sure to be quite a few more dominant displays like this one – 28 points and 12 rebounds in just under 23 minutes!

Aaron underneath the basket – Money!

The breakdown –

Andy Harper - 9pts Off-target with his three-point shooting

Matt Collins- 4pts. Quiet

Michael Gayle - 6pts. Ditto

Tom Perkes -17pts. Tried

James Noel - 8pts. 0-3 from the line. Takes MVP for a dogged 15 rebounds

Solomon Sheard - 8pts. A drop down from recent fine displays, particularly in rebounding – just a single board today!

Steve Archer - 9pts. Got around 15 minutes today, and made his shots

Sergio Rodriguez - 2pts. Little impact, despite big minutes

Darren Francis - 4pts. OK

Ben Potts - 5pts. Limited minutes

And this was my prog reflection on the beasting of Bristol, ahead of hosting them again two weeks later.

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A fortnight ago we recorded back-to-back wins for the first time this season – hooray.

Some might say we only beat a Bristol side with just a single win to its name, so we don’t have anything to really crow about.

Well, you can only beat what’s in front of you and we did more than beat them, we kyboshed them.

It’s not unfair to say that a lot of our defeats this year have resulted from dodgy defence, so I knew we were in the right frame of mind when it took over three minutes for Bristol to get on the scoreboard.

Big Mo had to take an early seat on the bench, but Alex trots on as if he’s been there all along to wallop in eleven quick points in a dominating 30-12 Q1.

By half-time it’s just been more of the same as we keep the pressure on at 54-26.

We get steals, we cause 24-second violations, we cause air-balls, we see embarrassing missed dunks, we see it all - Flyers can do nothing to break through our Great Wall of Worcester. 88-56 by the end – brilliant.

The individual breakdown -

Marek Klassen – 7pts. Tidy

Danny Huffor – 13pts, 7 rebounds. Fagin-esque. Better pick a pocket or two!

Trevor Setty – 8pts, 10 rebounds. Energetic

Jermel Kennedy – 8pts, 6 rebounds. Ditto

Mo Walker – 21pts, 13 rebounds. Four outings/four double-doubles. Top stuff

Alex Navajas – 15pts, 6 rebounds, 3 x 3ptrs. Sparky

Ashton Khan – 11pts, 5 assists. Came to the party

Mark Jacobs – 2pts. Scored on his first touch

Andrew Bachman – 3pts. Lively

And the traditional Xmas week match in Worcester saw yet another letdown.

Double-doubles in every match from Mo Walker were being wasted...

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Friday 30 December 2016

Worcester Wolves 84-87 Plymouth Raiders

Worcester Wolves’ faltering form continued as they spurned chances to finish off a reeling opponent when dropping to an 84-87 home defeat against Plymouth Raiders on Friday.

Wolves sped to an early double-digit lead, saw Raiders drag themselves back level by half-time, again rebuilt a sizeable advantage, only to allow their visitors once more to revive and so snatch the win.

Maurice Walker delivered his by now traditional double-double output with 25 points and eleven rebounds, but Jermel Kennedy, with 21 points, was the only other significant home scorer.

Wolves raced out of the blocks to entertain a large University of Worcester Arena crowd.

A Kennedy scoop shot got the scoreboard ticking. Danny Huffor and Walker both connected twice, Kennedy repeatedly danced past defenders and Plymouth were left baying for an urgent time out, trailing 23-10.

The torment continued after the stoppage.

Kennedy tumbled the ball out of the hands of Plymouth’s Cory Dixon and jammed it home. Andrew Bachman introduced himself to the action with an immediate triple to maximise the advantage at 28-11 with two minutes left in the first quarter.

But Raiders refused to fold. As Worcester shots went astray, Raiders’ hit the target.

Across-the-board scoring gradually eroded Wolves’ lead. A three-pointer from their captain Daryl Corletto finally edged them ahead at 41-40 as half-time approached.

Walker and Kennedy set up shop next to the Plymouth basket after the break. Walker pushed his way to ten third-period points while Kennedy contributed eight. While this helped stack up a 73-60 lead it was worrying that there was scarce scoring punch from elsewhere.

By three minutes remaining in the match just six points had been added to Wolves’ side of the scoreboard. Meanwhile Plymouth had ground their way to fifteen further points.

With a minute and a half left, another Corletto triple moved his side in front at 80-79.

A Wolves failure to take a shot in the maximum 24-seconds helped the deficit to widen to 85-81.

Trevor Setty fired home a desperation long-range success and a foul was committed to halt the game-clock at sixteen seconds left and Wolves behind at 84-87.

In a wild ending, Marek Klassen advanced the ball but could find no-one open, throwing a frantic pass that Walker was left to heave well short of the basket.

Coach Paul James confirmed that the final play was not what was required, saying:

“Unfortunately it just wasn’t a smart play at the end. We needed a three-pointer to take us into overtime, but had guys playing inside the three-point line.

“Maurice seemed to be the only person moving on the perimeter at that moment and we just couldn’t get a good shot off.

“Having said that, it wasn’t all about the ending. We had chances to close the game out earlier.

“Plymouth are a good team with plenty of scorers – we worked hard to put ourselves in a winning position but then allowed them to come back at us.”

Wolves return to the University of Worcester Arena next Friday, 6 January, (tip off 7.30) to host Sheffield Sharks in the first round of the BBL Trophy.

“We are going to have to pick ourselves up and work on finishing teams off. We played some good defence at times today and got good leads. But you have to keep doing the things that got you in front or it just becomes a lottery by the end,” added James.

And the topsy-turvies continued with a victory that I happily described at the time as  "tub-thumping"

The one and only time in around 20 years that I have employed that wording

Talking about the thumping of tubs, last night I was moved to clout a container of Flora when I watched the boxing on Channel 5 - I had a nice potential earner lined up on the Frenchman Ziani to overcome the English challenger for his Euro title on points. 17 seconds to go in the final round and the challenger is floored. He gets up and flails around before the ref calls things off as time expired. A KO victory instead of a clear points decision

Obviously I am concerned for the welfare of the beaten boxer but if the ref had just directed him back to his corner he would still not have endured any more blows and my coffers could have still been enriched     

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Friday 06 January 2017

Worcester Wolves 99-68 Sheffield Sharks

Worcester Wolves have begun the new year with a bang, demolishing Sheffield Sharks 99-68 at the University of Worcester Arena on Friday.

Putting aside a recent poor run of league results, Wolves now progress to the quarter finals of the BBL Trophy, a competition that saw them win their first piece of silverware in the top flight of British basketball in 2014.

Coach Paul James was delighted to be able to talk about a positive evening, saying:

“We’ve always known that we can produce this sort of performance. Its sometimes a mindset that’s needed, understanding that if we all play together, share the ball, and create shots for each other then this will be the result.

“This week in practice we’ve had a lot of stripping things back, getting back to basics and thinking about what we’re trying to do – we’ve now had a reaction and consequently everyone has seen a great game of basketball.”

After five minutes Sheffield were ahead 9-4, but this would be as good as it got for the visitors.

Trevor Setty hit a triple and fellow forward Danny Huffor then commenced a dazzling run of four three-pointers to close the first quarter and push Worcester into a 21-15 lead.

Once Huffor took a breath, the rest of Wolves’ squad stepped forward.

Maurice Walker twice produced his trademark back-to-the-basket move. As Sharks deployed resources to deal with that threat, Walker’s colleagues pounced upon gaps in Sheffield’s defence.

Ashton Khan zipped to the hoop and Andrew Bachman delivered a quick-fire quartet of scores in a healthy 46-33 half-time advantage.

Four minutes of the second half had elapsed before Sheffield could add to their score.

By this time Huffor had re-commenced his torment. Two successes from outside, one on the inside and then a steal at the halfway line followed by an authoritative dunk, brought fans to their feet and saw him bump chests with Setty.

72-47 by the close of the third period was still not enough for a Wolves’ team now overflowing with confidence.

Bachman once more took aim from the perimeter, Khan froze defenders with a sublime head-fake and Walker even dared to float the ball home from distance.

Huffor and Bachman tallied season-highs with 31 and 23 points respectively in the tub-thumping 99-68 victory, but James was keen to highlight the origins of their success, saying:

“It was all about the team. When players were double-teamed inside we were able to make the most of our chances from the outside. Players had their feet set and shot with confidence.”

Worcester will travel to either London Lions or Surrey Scorchers in the next stage of the competition.

“We can beat anyone if we repeat this intensity. As I said to the players – we can achieve whatever we want to achieve if we have the right mindset and we want to do it together,” added James.

The next two weekends will see Wolves on the road at Bristol Flyers and Newcastle Eagles, before returning to the University of Worcester Arena on Friday 27 January to meet Surrey.

But next up and Wolves only went and shocked the Toon.

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Friday 20 January 2017

Newcastle Eagles 103-112 Worcester Wolves

Worcester Wolves have produced one of the upsets of the season by coming away from the home of Newcastle Eagles, the leaders of the British Basketball League, with a stunning 112-103 victory.

Last weekend Newcastle revelled in their capture of the BBL Cup while at the same time Worcester players were left dispirited after suffering defeat against lowly Bristol Flyers.

 
Despite those differing fortunes, by this Friday’s encounter it was difficult to detect any gulf in class between the two teams.

Neither side could pull away from the other up to half-time. However, a startling 30-16 third-quarter blitz would put Worcester in control.

Coach Paul James declared himself “super-proud” of his team, saying:

“The guys have been pushing and challenging each other all week in training – they have been beasted.

“Our game plan was to stand up to Newcastle and to do to them what they usually do to others.

 
“None of our players was going to back down. Our efforts have been rewarded today – I’m super-proud of the players.”

Ex-Worcester forward Orlan Jackman was amongst the contributors to an early 19-10 advantage for the Eagles that left James calling for a time-out.

By a couple of minutes remaining in the opening quarter James’ charges had responded in morale-boosting fashion, with a dozen points from Danny Huffor helping them to take their first lead at 24-21.

By half-time the teams were still close together, with the hosts having the edge at 50-47.

Three minutes after the interval Trevor Setty launched a shot from considerably behind the three-point line. When it hit its target the floodgates opened.

Marek Klassen twice danced to the hoop, lobbed the ball up for Jermel Kennedy to jab home, and finalised his outburst by standing up straight to take a hard charge from Newcastle’s Deondre Parks.

Accompanied by Maurice Walker determinedly grinding his way to a quartet of baskets, Wolves moved 77-66 ahead entering the final quarter.

A delightful behind-the-back no-look pass from Klassen presented Alex Navajas with an easy score to further extend the lead.

 
Ashton Khan joined in the entertainment as he repeatedly sidestepped defenders to pile up a highly-impressive 16 last-quarter points.

Khan’s final total of 22 points was sandwiched by 23 from Walker and 21 by Huffor. Rahmon Fletcher dominated Newcastle’s scoring with 34 points.

Worcester are on the road again this Sunday at London Lions (tip off 4.00).

 
“We had six players today with double-figure points, not just one player out on his own,” said James. “This was a superb team effort – we now need to back up this performance against London.”

Wolves return to the University of Worcester Arena on Friday 27 January, welcoming Surrey Scorchers to the city.

And, the Sunday before hosting Surrey, Wolves administered a Tom Brown's Schooldays beating to London Lions.

Mo Walker revelled in the role of Flashman  and PJ was gushing

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Sunday 22 January 2017

London Lions 71-100 Worcester Wolves

A couple of days after defeating the formidable Newcastle Eagles on their own court, Worcester Wolves have again disregarded the formbook by taking down another title-contender.

On Sunday Wolves travelled to London Lions’ Copper Box Arena and didn’t just come away with a victory, but also administered a severe 100-71 thrashing to their fancied opponents.

It was a tight contest until half-time. However, just as against Newcastle, an overwhelming 30-8 post-interval Worcester outburst left no way back for their startled hosts.

Coach Paul James was gushing in paying tribute to his players, saying:

“It has been an amazing weekend. I’m delighted for everyone. The players worked so hard this week in training to make these wins possible.

“We made sure we got the basics right and then stepped it up from there.

“We had a solid first half today, talked through a few adjustments during the break and then blew London away. One or two threes went in and then the floodgates opened.

“Allied to that, our defensive effort was outstanding – I counted eleven stops in a row – every time Lions had the ball we hunted them down as a pack. The players were relentless.”

Kai Williams was amongst three former Wolves now representing London, and it was the small forward who opened their scoring.

But Alex Owumi missed on his first shot and soon allowed Marek Klassen to dispossess him.

Zaire Taylor picked up two quick fouls and was forced to take an early seat on the bench, setting the tone for a dismal evening for the trio.

Maurice Walker settled into his usual pattern of dominance against his opposing big men to grab nine first quarter points, keeping matters close at 19-23.

London found Ashton Khan far too fleet-footed to stop in the second period. His repeated slices to the basket helped nudge Worcester 43-42 in front at half-time.

Four minutes after the interval the sides were all-square at 50-50. before Klassen provided an explosion of action. Assists to Walker and to Jermel Kennedy for ferocious dunks were followed up by further dishes for the two Worcester men and a double of scores of his own, breaking the match open.

At the other end, London players found themselves pounced upon from all sides and consequently held scoreless for the remainder of the third period.

Though already firmly in charge at 73-50, the pressure was still maintained, with Lions repeatedly denied any space to settle. Klassen would continue to multi-task, rattling in fourteen final-quarter points, and pulling the strings for others.

It was Walker who brought up the century for Worcester, setting the seal on the outstanding 100-71 victory.

Walker and Klassen led the way with 26 and 23 points respectively. Danny Huffor tallied 17 points while Jermel Kennedy secured a double-double return with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Khan chipped in with 11 points.

Wolves will make a triumphant return to the University of Worcester Arena this Friday, 27 January, to host Surrey Scorchers, with the opportunity to record a hat trick of wins for the first time this season.

James announced that there should be no let-up in intensity after a memorable weekend, saying:

“We wanted something out of these two matches. We got the maximum return and it is important that we push on from here.

“This has shown that if everyone buys into the system and trusts each other then the achievements will follow.

“We will enjoy the wins but it will be straight back to hard work again next week.

“It’s bigger than us adding four points to our total in the table, it’s been about us sending a message to the rest of the league and sending a message to ourselves about the potential for success that we have at this club.”