Worcester Wolves 71-74 Plymouth Raiders

Worcester Wolves’ proud unbeaten start to the season finally ended on Friday after a 71-74 reversal against a gritty Plymouth Raiders side. Before the game coach Paul James and centre Will Creekmore took the applause of a near-capacity University of Worcester crowd when receiving golden Molten basketballs, in recognition of the part they had played in shooting Wolves to the top of the British Basketball League, after winning every match during October. On the very first day of November, the victorious run came to an end.

Wolves fell behind early, but had rallied by half-time. A 60-52 lead with five minutes to play should have been a sufficient cushion for the top-of-the-table hosts, but a succession of careless turnovers and an inability to prevent a late flurry of accurate outside shooting were the keys to the defeat.

The warning signs were present for Worcester in the initial exchanges of the contest. Turnovers from Jamal Williams and Zaire Taylor bookended the first quarter. In-between, it took an excruciating three minutes before Alex Owumi opened the Wolves’ scoring. Meanwhile a large contingent of travelling Raiders’ fans revelled in seeing forward Trevor Setty and new signing Masse Doumbe combine for a trio of three-pointers, helping their side to a 16-22 lead by the end of the period.

The visitors’ advantage was quickly extended after another Doumbe triple, and the Wolves’ woes continued when they coughed up their next possession after being unable to shoot the ball within the permitted 24-second time-limit.

However, from here until half-time, a stunning turnaround ensued. A burst of scoring from Taylor ignited the Worcester offence. Nine points from the Wolves point guard edged his side in front for the first time, at 29-28, with five minutes until the interval. Andreas Schreiber had come into the evening wanting to show his former Plymouth team-mates what they were missing, and delighted in slamming home a clever assist from Owumi to move matters to 34-28.

The last thirty seconds of the half saw two more baskets from Taylor, with Plymouth’s centre Shane Walker connecting on the buzzer for only his team’s second score in nearly nine minutes.

By three minutes into the third period the Wolves led 44-34, prompting Raiders’ coach Jay Marriot to call for a time-out. From the re-start Owumi floated in a triple to extend the advantage. With a couple minutes of the quarter remaining a dazzling behind-the-back pass from Taylor was gleefully dunked through the hoop by Schreiber. An exasperated Marriott was whistled for a technical foul, and Wolves held their biggest lead of the night at 55-41.

Ex-Cheshire Phoenix guard Gabe Haskins began the final quarter’s scoring, and was soon on hand to present the ball to Setty for another three-pointer. At six minutes to go, a confident score from their English forward Ben Eaves had dragged Plymouth back to 57-52. Although Owumi was the next man on target, both he and his backcourt partner Taylor then fumbled consecutive possessions to gift points to their opponents. Entering the final two minutes of action the evening was tied at 62-62.

Though Taylor kept the Wolves’ side of the scoreboard ticking, his team were unable to repel continued outside attacks from Setty, and from Great Britain under-20 International Louis Sayers. After the Raiders’ pair had combined for the last of a stunning burst of three-pointers they celebrated wildly at mid-court with a gun-slinging mime, forcing a Paul James time-out, with 34 seconds left on the clock and his side in arrears at 69-71. As time wound down, Worcester could not do enough to claw back the deficit, leaving Plymouth to seal their comeback victory from the free-throw line.

James was upset at his side’s performance, saying: “I’m bitterly disappointed. We were very sloppy in the fourth quarter, with too many unforced turnovers and giving way too much room to Plymouth to shoot three-pointers.”
Taylor and Owumi top-scored for Wolves, with 23 and 20 points respectively. Setty was the hot-hand for Plymouth with 27 points, including an impressive five three-pointers.