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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.
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