Bristol Flyers 80-78 Worcester Wolves

After the high of winning at Sheffield Sharks on Friday, Worcester Wolves came out on the wrong end of a scrappy encounter at Bristol Flyers on Saturday.

Wolves stood back and watched their hosts build a huge 19-point first-quarter lead before battling hard to overhaul the deficit and set up a comeback victory. However, late lapses allowed Bristol to snatch a slender 80-78 success.

Flyers’ Daniel Edozie returned from Commonwealth Games duty with a tiger in his tank, rattling home ten points in an 18-5 tear after only five minutes had elapsed.

Edozie’s England team-mate Robert Gilchrist also made his first appearance after his Australian adventures to sink a turnaround jumper, but this would be just a small dent in Bristol’s commanding 29-14 opening quarter.

Worcester found their feet in the next period, limiting Bristol to a single field goal in the first four minutes and beginning to click offensively. Dallin Bachynski blocked an attack to set up a Trayvon Palmer three-point play and George Beamon danced to repeated scores.

Wolves’ rotations were disrupted as half-time approached when Michael Ojo was called for his third foul and further muddied matters by attracting a technical foul when disputing the referee’s decision.

Flyers’ advantage had been hauled back to 45-42 as the second half began, with the pendulum swinging firmly in Wolves’ favour. Beamon continued his forays to the hoop and Bachynski now patrolled the space close to both baskets, pushing their side 65-60 in front entering the final quarter.

A Palmer triple had a large band of travelling supporters celebrating a 75-67 lead with five minutes to go, before Flyers revived. Bachynski left the court on his fifth foul, shots went astray and Bristol had swept 79-75 ahead by the final minute.

Beamon provided hope with another three-pointer, but Alex Navajas’ desperation hurl as time expired missed the target to leave the visitors deflated.

Beamon dominated the statistics with 32 points and 10 rebounds while Bachynski fought to a 19 point and 12 rebound return. Palmer with 13 points was Wolves’ only other significant scorer.

Coach Paul James stated his disappointment, saying: “We dug a hole early on, fought back well to get ahead, but lapses of concentration at the end cost us a win.”

Just two regular-season fixtures remain for Wolves. This Friday (7.30pm) they welcome Cheshire Phoenix to the University of Worcester Arena, before travelling to Glasgow Rocks on Sunday 29 April. Tickets for the final home league game before the playoffs can be found here.

“We’ll review the tape of the match next week and get ready for the final weekend,” added James. “We want to finish things off in the right way and then prepare for the playoffs. We want to give our fans something to celebrate.”

Match report by Colin Taylor
Image credit @JSSportPhoto