Friday 23 October 2015 Worcester Wolves 92 – 65 Leeds Forces

Worcester Wolves cruised past Leeds Force 92-65 at the University of Worcester Arena on Friday, maintaining their third place in the British Basketball League.

A ten-point lead after the first quarter had more than doubled to 55-32 by half-time. There was no let-up after the interval, with Wolves’ coach Paul James taking the opportunity to spread minutes across his squad.

Jay Couisnard led all scorers with 22 points, while Ben Eaves impressed with a 15 points and 11 rebounds performance. For the second week in a row Ashton Khan and Javier Mugica put forward strong displays, tallying 16 and 14 points respectively.

Couisnard and Khan signaled their intent from the outset, with the former connecting from the corner and the latter driving confidently to the hoop. A triple from Khan was enough to force a Leeds time out after only five minutes had elapsed, and from the re-start Couisnard stepped in front of a wayward pass and lolloped up the court for an easy lay-in.

Reserve guard Jordan Dawes was already off the bench before the close of the first period and was on the scoreboard as the second quarter began, bringing matters to 29-19.

Mugica flexed his shooting muscles to make a double of three-pointers as self-assurance oozed from the Wolves. Leeds’ hulking seven-foot centre Zak Wells callously hacked Khan to the floor, but still the much-smaller man somehow managed to direct the ball into the basket as he dropped backwards.

Into the second half of the evening and Leeds had already waved the white flag of surrender that matched the colour of their vests. Eaves displayed the skills of a ball-handler to glide to the basket, and then the certainty of a sharp-shooter to nail a triple, helping the third quarter to close at 74-50.

Disraeli Lufadeju gleefully accepted a pass from Wells as the Leeds man inexplicably turned down the easier task of scoring, and so the Leeds turnovers continued. University of Worcester students George Emms and Jack Staynings were both ushered into their debuts and both players enchanted their audience by sinking long-distance efforts.

Paul James was satisfied with what took place, saying: “These are the sort of games we have to win, and win well. It was a whole team performance with everyone playing unselfish basketball.”

Wolves will travel to Sheffield Sharks next Sunday, before returning to the University of Worcester Arena on Friday 6 November to meet London Lions in the quarter-final of the BBL Cup.