Friday 22 April 2016 Glasgow Rocks 90-53 Worcester Wolves

Worcester Wolves face a monumental task if they are to progress to the British Basketball League Playoff semi-finals, after suffering a disheartening 53-90 defeat at Glasgow Rocks on Friday.

Wolves fell behind from the opening tip, trailed 17-27 after the first quarter, were 32-49 in arrears by half-time, before seeing that already-considerable deficit more than doubled before the night’s end.

Glasgow put forward a quartet of double-digit scorers, with Great Britain International Kieron Achara on 22 points and point guard Warren Gillis on 20, leading the way. By contrast, Worcester’s only impactful scorer was Perris Blackwell with 18 points.

By midway through the initial quarter Achara had already notched nine points, helping his side into a 19-11 lead. Jay Couisnard and Ben Eaves both hit three-pointers to give the visitors hope.
However, the gap widened through the second period as numerous shots missed the target. By the interval only 11 of 34 attempts had been successful while Rocks continued to make the majority of their own.

It was a more even third period as both teams tightened their defenses, slowing the scoreboard to 66-45. It was the last quarter that was to be Wolves’ final undoing as they completely stalled on offense.

It would take a full five minutes for their next score from the field, via Blackwell. A few seconds later the Worcester big man again connected, before Rocks once more put a lid over the basket. In the meantime the hosts took their chances with ease, a whopping 24-8 blitz sinking Wolves into a mighty hole.

Coach Paul James described his team’s struggles, saying: “Early on we didn’t deal well with Achara. From there it only got worse.

“We were continually chasing the game, which didn’t allow us to settle. Too many of our players had poor shooting nights, while Glasgow stayed steady.”
Wolves uphill battle to overturn Rocks’ huge first-leg lead will take place this Sunday, (tip off 4pm), at the University of Worcester Arena.

“Today was a horror-story, but on the positive side it is only half-time in a two-leg tie. Obviously we will need a big turnaround on Sunday, but we have got to believe that we can do a lot better,” added James.