Sheffield Sharks 80–91 Worcester Wolves

Worcester Wolves gained swift revenge for their narrow defeat at home to Sheffield Sharks last Friday by overturning the same opponent 91-80 in South Yorkshire on Wednesday with a performance hailed as ‘outstanding’ by their coach Paul James.

Wolves got in front early to lead at the end of every quarter and employed clever clock-management in the final stages to prevent Sharks from building the momentum needed for a comeback.

“We looked closely at the tape from Friday and knew that if we just cleaned up a couple of minutes of carelessness we could turn things around,” explained James.

“Today we were composed, fought hard and got the result. For the last seven minutes or so we ran the clock down on each offense which meant Sheffield found it difficult to come back at us with a run. It was an outstanding display.”

Alex Navajas set a captain’s example from the outset. After a hard drive to begin the scoring he set his feet to sink a three-pointer. He then intercepted a Sheffield attack to lay on a triple for Michael Ojo before grabbing another steal, prompting the hosts to desperately call for a time-out having conceded ten points in under two minutes.

Ojo was similarly on fire. He twice pulled up outside the key for successive threes, took a pass from new point-guard George Marshall for a score from the left corner and converted again from distance to finalise a stunning 14 first-quarter points.

Although Worcester led 25-18 entering the second period, Sharks rallied to tie matters at 34-34 five minutes before half-time.

Marshall slotted in two free throws to open his Wolves account and secured a long two for his debut field goal. Dallin Bachynski stepped back to nail a triple and aid a 46-42 interval advantage.

With Marshall growing increasingly comfortable alongside his new teammates and Trayvon Palmer and George Beamon repeatedly weaving their way to the hoop, a tidy 68-61 lead was taken into the final quarter.

After a further couple of minutes Sheffield were forced to request another break as they looked up at a 75-63 deficit. But there would be no way back. The 24-second shot-clock was utilised to full effect, with baskets demoralisingly made just before it expired.

Beamon and Ojo led the scoring with 19 points apiece, supported by 17 from Navajas and 16 for Marshall.

James praised the debut of his latest signing, saying: “George handled himself really well, contributing both on offense and defence. I’m delighted for him.”

Wolves’ next two British Basketball League fixtures will both be against Newcastle Eagles. Next Tuesday, (7.30pm), they make the trip to the North East, before returning to the University of Worcester Arena on Friday 13 April for the second encounter.

“We played within ourselves today. We got hold of the game and played methodically. By next week George will be even more settled in. We need to use this display as a platform for the rest of the season,” added James.

Match report by Colin Taylor
Image credit Razorlight Imagery