News

Pulsating action at Worcester Wolves

match report by Colin Taylor, Saturday 01 October 2011

It was an evening of pulsating action at the University of Worcester on Saturday as Worcester Wolves got off to a winning start in their BBL Trophy opener against Guildford Heat.

In a game that the Wolves trailed for long periods, it was only after a period of overtime that they emerged the 93-87 victors.

Big summer signing Richie Gordon did himself and his team no favours by picking up two fouls in only the first minute of the game, having to be quickly replaced by Arnas Kazlauskas. Shaky defence close to the basket allowed Guildford’s England International forward Michael Martin to score at will during a first quarter that saw the Wolves trail 17-24.

Gordon announced his return to the court early in the second quarter with an emphatic dunk, and followed this a few moments later by blocking a Martin layup, leaving Wolves only 25-28 in arrears. By this time, 6 foot 6 inch forward Tommy Freeman had begun to show his prowess from long range, coupling this with several confident drives to the hoop, aiding the home side to tie matters at 40-40 by the interval. Early in the second half both Gordon and Wolves’ point guard Sherrad Prezzie-Blue committed their third fouls. With Gordon called for his fourth offence midway through the third period, once more causing a re-shuffle of personnel, Heat were able to take charge.

When Worcester Head Coach Paul James was awarded a technical foul for disputing a referee’s call, his side trailed 52-62. However a 9-3 run helped reduce the deficit to 61-65 entering the last quarter.

With just three minutes remaining, Freeman coolly wove his way through the Heat defenders and passed to David Watts. Watts was fouled whilst making the score, and converted the subsequent free throw to give the Wolves their very first advantage of the evening, at 80-77.

Worcester very nearly gifted the game to their opponents on consecutive plays. Firstly Freeman mistakenly inbounded the ball into his back court (a play that is legal in the American college game, but not over here). Just after that, a sloppy turnover led to a Guildford breakaway. Incredibly, Heat forward Julius Joseph took so much time to set up his scoring attempt that a determined Watts was able to race back to block the shot.

At 82-82, the match went into five minutes of overtime. Two made free throws from Freeman opened the scoring, and from there the Wolves held an advantage that they would not relinquish, leading to the eventual 93-87 outcome.

Freeman and Prezzie-Blue led the Wolves scorers with 29 points and 20 points respectively, each player netting 4 three-point baskets. Tayo Ogedegebe scored highest for the Heat with 22 points.

Freeman described his input: “Coach James gave me a lot of confidence this week. I tried to help the team out as much as I could, and looked for open shots.”

James was delighted to see his new-look team off to a winning start: “The biggest thing is that the team pulled together really well down the stretch. Some players got into foul trouble and I had to play people in positions they’re not used to, but they got on with it and it was a fabulous team display.”

Wolves will now face Plymouth Raiders next Saturday 08 October (tip off 7pm) at the University of Worcester in the second match of their BBL Trophy group.