Friday 27 March 2015 Leeds Force 54-84 Worcester Wolves

Worcester Wolves blasted to a convincing 84-54 victory at British Basketball League newcomers Leeds Force on Friday.

Once Wolves had blown away the early cobwebs following a fortnight’s inactivity, they produced a blistering 26-5 second quarter run to accelerate away from their hosts. On a night of balanced minutes for the Worcester roster, four players reached double-digit scoring with Jamal Williams and Robertas Bitinas leading the way, hitting 20 and 14 points respectively.

Williams was the standout as the match began, notching eight points until a couple of fouls led to him taking a seat. British guard Dwayne Camille floated home a three-pointer to put Leeds 19-13 ahead, before Bitinas did likewise to close out the opening quarter.

Chavis Holmes registered his first points to further close the deficit, before a Paul Guede basket and a bonus free throw nudged Wolves 23-22 ahead at six minutes until the interval. It was from here that the night’s victors were decided.

Captain Alex Owumi, Guede and the returning Williams all sunk triples without any reply from the Force. Their coach Matt Newby tried to slow the onslaught with a time out but, straight from the re-start, Bitinas again connected from outside the arc. A demoralized Leeds side wandered into the half-time locker rooms staring up at Worcester’s commanding 42-24 lead.

Now playing without any inhibition, Wolves toyed with their opponents. Holmes found Kalil Irving alone under the hoop, allowing the forward to jam the ball home. Towards the end of the third period, Holmes again spotted Irving unmarked, leading the big man to produce a delightful wraparound lay-in, widening the advantage to 61-34.

The final quarter saw full minutes for reserves Caylin Raftopoulos and Dejan Radojevic, with both men inking the score-sheet. Holmes prompted excitement on the visitors’ bench when rounding out the evening with a double of long-range successes.

Coach Paul James expressed his satisfaction with the result, saying: “From the second quarter onwards we did a formidable job. We got six or seven stops in a row, while scoring steadily at the other end. From there we never looked back. We played with a lot of confidence at both ends of the floor.”

Centre Robert Thurman was out of the line-up through injury. James gave more information, adding: “Robert rolled his ankle in training this week. He’ll be getting an MRI scan on Wednesday and we’ll monitor things after that.”

Wolves are quickly back into action this Sunday at London Lions (tip off 4pm).