Saturday 14 January 2017 Bristol Flyers 81-73 Worcester Wolves

Worcester Wolves’ yo-yo year continued on Saturday when they fell to a 73-81 defeat at Bristol Flyers.

Last week Wolves looked as if they might have turned a corner after a crushing 31-point victory over Sheffield Sharks. Their latest 5-11 win-loss record now sees them drop out of the British Basketball League’s top-eight play-off places.

Coach Paul James summed up the situation, saying: “We played really well against Sheffield, taking all of our chances. Today we had the opportunity to do the same thing but unfortunately missed way too many shots.

“All the time you miss shots you lose confidence while the opposition gain confidence – we fell into a hole that we couldn’t climb out of.”

Maurice Walker opened the scoring, but this would be the only time during the evening that the visitors would be in front. By midway through the first quarter, eight points in a row from Bristol’s bustling forward Leslee Smith had taken them 13-7 ahead.

Matters stood at 22-17 by the close of the period. Four minutes before half-time Wolves trailed 37-21 before making a defensive stand. Marek Klassen scored after dispossessing Smith and then took an assist after a steal by Danny Huffor, closing the deficit to 39-32 at the interval.

After the break it was the hosts’ turn to control the scoreboard. While grabbing points on nearly every possession, Bristol were also able to disrupt Worcester’s ability to reply, building a 63-47 advantage.

Unable to connect from distance, Wolves were left to battle close to the basket. In a tightly-refereed contest, Walker was adjudged to have transgressed enough to earn himself a second technical foul and ejection from the match.

Late three-pointers from Huffor gave the possibility of an upset, reducing the arrears to 77-73 with 45 seconds to play, but Flyers held their nerve to close out the win.

Klassen led the Worcester scorers with 18 points, closely followed by Walker and Huffor with 17 and 16 points respectively.

Wolves now face a tough double of matches at title-contenders Newcastle Eagles and London Lions next Friday and Sunday. “It will undoubtedly be a challenging weekend. We created plenty of scoring opportunities today – we have to do a much better job of finishing off easy chances,” added James.