Friday 31 October 2014 Worcester Wolves 82-90 Bristol Flyers

Halloween Friday saw Worcester Wolves put forward a frightening performance as they were tumbled out of the BBL Cup by Bristol Flyers.

In their debut season at the top level of British basketball, Flyers have already taken victories over several established sides. They have now secured arguably their biggest scalp to date, triumphing 90-82 at the University of Worcester Arena.

Aside from the opening moments of the match, the Wolves were always behind. Trailing by as much as fifteen points, the hosts finally hauled the deficit back to just a single point with four minutes to play. However a combination of stuttering offence and a porous defence, throughout the evening, meant that Flyers were once more able to ease clear. Doug Herring led the line for Bristol with a massive 32 points, while no single Wolves player was able to notch greater than half of that total.

Flyers’ imposing centre Alif Bland gave an indication of what was to follow when easily swatting away an early effort from his Worcester counterpart, Robert Thurman. At the other end of the court Bland laid on a neat pass for forward Greg Streete to convert the first of consecutive triples. Streete returned the favour as Bland nailed the last of his seven opening-quarter points.

A 25-32 deficit only increased as the second period began. Jamal Williams stepped out of bounds when attacking the Flyers’ basket and fellow forward Remi Dibo also gave the ball up on Wolves’ next possession. Bland and Streete continued to keep the Bristol side of the scoreboard ticking and joined the rest of their team in celebrating a buzzer-beating three-pointer from Herring as the first half concluded at 40-51.

Flyer’s double-figure lead was maintained through the third quarter. Bland stood firm in discouraging any Worcester attacks inside, while outside scoring opportunities were squandered. The icing on the Bristol cake was provided by former University of Worcester student Roy Owen who managed to hurl up an improbable long-distance success when falling backwards, moving matters to 64-74.

There was a flicker of hope when young Wolves guard Disraeli Lufadeju drained successive triples and Chavis Holmes danced to the basket for two points and a bonus. However, 79-80 was as close as it got, with Bristol confidently re-grouping, and drawing away.

Wolves’ Coach Paul James expressed his disappointment at what took place, saying: “We had no one tonight who took charge on offence. Defensively we were poor, and Bristol took advantage. They played fabulous team basketball and shot the ball exceptionally well. We got what we deserved in the end.”

Chavis Holmes and Alex Owumi led the Worcester scorers with 16 points apiece. Herring’s 32 points were backed up by Bland and Streete tallying 17 and 16 points respectively.

Last season’s League Most Valuable Player Zaire Taylor will return to the city next Friday when Wolves host London Lions at the University of Worcester Arena.