Friday 21 February 2014 Newcastle Eagles 73-86 Worcester Wolves

Worcester Wolves marched through to the semi-finals of the BBL Trophy after overcoming Esh Group Eagles Newcastle 86-73 on Friday. The Wolves ended an Eagles’ unbeaten run of eleven games at their own court dating back to last October, and extended their own winning run to a highly-impressive thirteen matches.

For three-quarters of the game the outcome was in the balance. From there a stunning burst of eighteen points without reply to begin the last period powered Wolves into a decisive lead, leaving their hosts shell-shocked and unable to respond. Jamal Williams was the star of the scoring surge, drilling eleven points in less than a couple of minutes, on his way to an eventual 23 points, his biggest single-game contribution since coming to Worcester.

Stefan Djukic won the ball from the tip-off and assisted his fellow forward Kalil Irving to open the contest with a three-pointer. By six minutes into the proceedings, with Wolves holding a slender 12-10 advantage, both Jamal and Kai Williams had stepped onto court from the bench. At the close of the initial quarter the brothers had tallied five points apiece, extending the lead to 30-20.

Newcastle’s player–coach Fab Flournoy opened his account as the second quarter began, and set up Great Britain International Darius Defoe for a couple of useful baskets, halving the deficit to 37-32 by midway through the period. A triple from American guard Paul Gause helped close matters further to 42-40, before his opposite number for the Wolves, Zaire Taylor, popped up with five late points to restore a 47-40 first-half cushion.

Veteran forward Charles Smith was first off the mark for Eagles coming out of the interval, and continued input from the reliable Defoe once more reduced the home side’s arrears. By four minutes remaining in the third period the hosts had finally edged ahead at 53-50, a lead they would hold until the end of the quarter, with the evening now poised at 60-56.

It was from here that the visitors would accelerate into the distance. Centre Will Creekmore initialised the burst, before Wolves’ captain Alex Owumi nailed his first basket to push his side back in front at 61-60. Jamal Williams was fouled in the act of scoring and duly converted the bonus free throw as he set off on his astonishing whirlwind of personal activity. Another inside score was swiftly followed by a double of shots floated in from long-distance, to leave Newcastle floundering at 72-60, and held at bay until the final buzzer.

Wolves’ coach Paul James was ecstatic about the triumph, saying: “It was an absolutely marvellous performance. We stuck to our game plan, we shared the ball around, and it all paid off with the win. The character shown by the players was tremendous.”

Referring to the individual display of Jamal Williams, James added: “Our so-called ‘big three’ of Alex, Will and Zaire will always do what they do, but we also need other players to make their mark and Jamal certainly did that tonight. He was red-hot in the last quarter, with some fabulous moves.”

The other teams that will take their places alongside Wolves in Monday’s BBL Trophy semi-final draw are Sheffield Sharks, Cheshire Phoenix and the winners of this Sunday’s encounter between Manchester Giants and Glasgow Rocks.

Taylor led all scorers with 24 points, while Creekmore once more submitted a double-double performance, tallying 17 points and 12 rebounds. Defoe top-scored for Newcastle with 22 points.

Wolves are quickly back into action on Saturday night with a trip to North Solihull Sports Centre to take on winless Birmingham Knights, (tip off 7.30pm).