Sunday 29 March 2015 London Lions 88-70 Worcester Wolves

After sweeping aside Leeds Force by a thirty point-margin on Friday, Worcester Wolves came back to earth with a bump when losing out 70-88 at London Lions on Sunday.

After staying with their star-laden opponents for much of the match, a bleak period for the visitors straddling the third and fourth quarters saw London pull away to victory. For the second game in a row Jamal Williams topped the Wolves’ scorers, producing 17 points, and there was a welcome 14 point-return for reserve centre Dejan Radojevic. However, their contributions came to nothing, in a large part due to Worcester turning the ball over nearly twice as many times as their opponents.

Last year’s British Basketball League Player-of-the-Season Zaire Taylor set his stall out by intercepting an errant William’s pass as the game began. On the very next play London forward Lovell Cook copied Taylor’s example, helping his side to an early 5-2 lead. An even first quarter ended with the teams tied at 15-15.

With Robert Thurman out injured, Radojevic got his chance to shine, making an immediate impact with an impressive quartet of scores at the start of the second period, breaking open a 25-15 advantage. By half-time the gap had closed to 37-34 as Cook stepped forward to sink a trio of three-pointers.

By a couple of minutes after the interval Lions had their noses in front at 40-39, following consecutive turnovers from Wolves’ guard Paul Guede. With a minute to go in the third quarter Taylor notched his first points of the afternoon, as his side began to move clear at 59-52.

Lions’ former NBA player Olumide Oyedeji grabbed the first basket of the final quarter, while Great Britain captain Andrew Sullivan eagerly got his hands in the way of another badly-directed Wolves’ ball. The Worcester woes were compounded by a series of unsportsmanlike fouls as frustration grew.

A time out did little to calm matters as a 66-55 deficit merely grew larger. Chavis Holmes incurred a technical foul for arguing a referees call, and then joined the long list of men in a Worcester vest who surrendered possession during a disappointing visit to the Capital.

Next up for Wolves is a Good Friday match at the University of Worcester Arena against league-leaders Newcastle Eagles. Coach Paul James is hoping for an improved display, saying “It should be a classic. If we include the Playoff Final win at Wembley, then we’ve beaten them the last three times we’ve met. I know Newcastle have had this game circled for a long while. We’re the one blemish on their record this year. With a big crowd behind us, we’ll be looking to come away with a big win.”