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Wolves beat Raiders


Worcester Wolves 84

Plymouth Raiders 80

 

Worcester Wolves started the second half of their 2009 / 10 BBL League campaign with a much needed win against one of their play off rivals, the Plymouth Raiders, when the Devon side visited the University on Saturday evening.

 

Wolves were in control for the vast majority of the game but nearly let it slip when the Raiders mounted a last quarter charge.and got to within two points of their hosts. However, the Worcester team had been in the lead from the opening exchange of baskets in the first minute of the match and with their improving determination to win games were not to be outdone in the last plays of this enthralling encounter.

 

Giedrius Knysas started in the centre instead of Devin Smith for the Wolves along with his Lithuanian countryman Modestas Sidlauskas, Frenchman Harry Disy, Danny Gilbert and the in form Rod Middleton. Both teams exchanged 8-0 bursts in the first ten minutes but it was the Wolves who took out the early advantage at the end of the first quarter 23-20. Coach Paul James’s team were mirroring their controlled play of their last week’s win against the Glasgow Rocks and, thanks to 3 successive long range threes from Middleton, were eight points up at the half time buzzer.

 

Once again the home defence was working well and only the Raiders Florentino Valencia was making any headway as he totalled 21 points – 9 of them from the free throw line. Ex Worcester player James Noel made little impression against his former club while a more recent previous Wolves player Antony Martin did contribute 12 points but when Middleton and Gilbert made three more maximums in the first minute of the second half, the Raiders looked out of the match.

 

The Wolves advantage peaked at 16 points with just seven minutes to go in the final quarter but then Plymouth sparked into life and compiled a 14 –1 run to leave the capacity crowd wondering if they were in for another overtime game. The lead was down to just two points at 80 – 78 but Disy – 19 points and 9 rebounds – made a long range three in the most important play of the game. Plymouth replied with two Antony Martin free throws and with 44 seconds left Disy contrived to miss  two charity shots for the Wolves. 83-80 to the Wolves and in the next play Plymouth threw their chance away as a needless travelling violation was spotted by

 

 

the officials and that meant that the visitors were reduced to deliberately fouling the Wolves to gain possession. Kenny Gilbert made one of the  resulting free shots to give the Worcester team a deserved, but slightly nervous, win at 84 – 80. Middleton was the game’s highest scorer with 22 while Sidlauskas made two vital last quarter threes in his personal score of 14.

 

Coach James was a little annoyed that a healthy lead for his team had dissolved to just two points with a comfortable win in sight. “We made it hardwork for ourselves. I am trying to develop a killer instinct into my players to turn winning positions in to actual wins. I have stressed how important the next defence is and how important the next offence is when we have a good lead. Tonight we had a 16 point lead and allowed them back into the game. Our indiscipline let them into the match and in the end I was glad just to claim the win.”




 
Wolves steal win at the Tigers Den

After edging past struggling Plymouth Raiders on Saturday night, Worcester Wolves completed a winning weekend by triumphing 76-67 at high-flying Everton Tigers on Sunday afternoon.

 

 

Once the opening minutes of the game had passed, there was never a moment in the game when Worcester did not hold the lead. However, there was never a moment when the Wolves could relax, as Everton fought feverishly to entertain the large Echo Arena crowd.

Worcester set out their stall early, managing to hold the home side to a measly 12 points in a first quarter that finished at 18-12, and barely easing the defensive pressure to end the half ahead at 31-28. By this time, Everton’s often-dominant Great Britain centre Dzaflo Larkai had been harried into committing his third foul and having to spend time on the bench. By contrast, Worcester coach Paul James had cleverly rotated his own big men to avoid significant foul trouble.

As the second half opened, consecutive baskets from classy Wolves guard Rod Middleton and battling centre Harry Disy contributed to a 45-33 advantage midway through the third quarter. However, when Everton forward Olu Babalola began to sink shots close to the hoop, complimented by accurate outside shooting from former Wolves player Adam Williams, the gap decreased. As the quarter ended referee Simon Unsworth called a technical foul on coach James for protesting his decision to disallow a Kastytis Normantas effort, meaning that the last period began at 55-50.

From here, the teams traded scores until Wolves held only a slender lead at 69-67, with just under a minute of the contest remaining. As Rod Middleton drove to the basket through heavy traffic, his shot bounced around the rim, but was superbly put back in by a hustling Kastytis Normantas, leaving Wolves ahead at 71-67 with 22 seconds to go. When Everton’s coach Tony Garboletto himself picked up a technical foul for arguing, the game was effectively over, ending in a succession of Worcester free throws to round out an extremely impressive performance.

Leading scorers for the visitors were Middleton with 21 points, and Normantas with 12.  Babalola led the way for Everton with 19 points.