Sunday 19 April 2015 Durham Wildcats 79-110 Worcester Wolves

Worcester Wolves rounded out their regular season fixtures in fine style with a 110-79 thumping of Durham Wildcats on Sunday. Wolves’ third place finish in the British Basketball League means that they will meet sixth-placed London Lions over two legs in the first round of the BBL Playoffs.

After the thrill of Wolves’ triumph at Wembley to take last year’s title, the excitement will arguably ramp up even higher with a trip to London’s 17,000-capacity O2 Arena as the venue for this year’s Playoff Final, on 10 May.

Once Worcester had overtaken their North-East hosts, towards the end of the first quarter, they never looked back. For the second game in a row Robert Thurman was the leading scorer, totaling 28 points. Robertas Bitinas was the next-ranked man on the score-sheet with 21 points, hitting an incredible 18 of those points in a seven-minute fourth quarter explosion.

Coach Paul James expressed his satisfaction at the afternoon’s work, saying: “Before the match we talked in the changing rooms about making sure we maintain a high level of confidence for the playoffs. The players responded and didn’t just go through the motions to end the regular season. We played hard, we played with professionalism.”

Asked about the individual contributions of Thurman and Bitinas, James replied: “Everyone in the squad contributed. It was a total team display, but, on an individual level, Robert took advantage of his opportunity to dominate smaller opponents and Robertas was simply red-hot during the last quarter.”

There was a 23-17 lead for Wolves entering the second period, with Thurman already reaching double-figure points as it began. Reserve guard Caylin Raftopoulos joined the fray to sink a double of three-pointers, either side of a triple from Paul Guede.

Guede would connect from distance twice more before half-time, helping his side to a healthy 53-38 advantage. By the close of the third period the advantage had nearly doubled to 82-53 as Wildcats struggled to fend off their much-slicker visitors.

Aside from Bitinas’ stunning burst of firepower, the final period was notable for more reliable output from Thurman. Fittingly, the game’s last play was a Bitinas pass for Thurman to slam through the Durham hoop.

Wolves bid to retain their title begins this Friday at the University of Worcester Arena (tip off 7.30pm), with the matchup against Lions being given extra spice by the presence of BBL Most Valuable Player Zaire Taylor in a London vest rather than his former Worcester colours. James gave his expectations for the tie, saying: “They have plenty of talent in their team, such as Zaire Taylor and Andrew Sullivan. But there’s also plenty of talent on our side. I like our style right now, we’re ready.”