Worcester Wolves 93-96 Newcastle Eagles

Friday 29th March 2019

Worcester Wolves clung to the coat-tails of British Basketball League high-flyers Newcastle Eagles at the University of Worcester Arena on Friday before dropping to a 93-96 reversal.

Any chance of victory looked to have ebbed away once Newcastle had established a 32-18 second-quarter advantage. But Wolves scrambled back to tie matters by half-time. 

Eagles’ double-digit lead was re-built in the second half before their hosts again clawed their way back into the contest, only falling short at the end by a single score.

The opening quarter ended with Worcester trailing 17-24. The deficit immediately expanded to 17-28 when former Wolves forward Kai Williams was impeded shooting a three-pointer, resulting in successful foul shots and a bonus free throw as players argued the referees call.

Newcastle’s quicksilver guard Rahmon Fletcher twice sliced to the hoop before the tide turned.

Deshawn ignited the comeback by swatting away a Williams attack. Miki Servera sank a triple and fired a bullet assist for Freeman to convert.

Alex Navajas backed down his defender to the basket and Eagles were rattled into consecutive turnovers. Another Servera success levelled the half-time scoreboard at 42-42.

Newcastle re-asserted control after the break, threatening to again kill off the evening with a 79-69 cushion as the final period began.

Robert Crawford sprang up with a trio of scores and Lester Prosper was able to bully his way forward to once more level the contest at 81-81 with five minutes remaining.

With just nine seconds to go Eagles held a 94-93 edge when a Victor Moses basket was ruled out for a shot-clock violation. But after the referees had gathered for further discussion the initial decision was overturned. A hurried finale saw a Servera triple go awry.

Freeman and Servera joint top-scored with 19 points, supported by Prosper and Crawford on 14 and 13 points respectively.

Wolves’ coach Tony Garbelotto said after the defeat: “I can’t argue with the players’ effort, they want to win. But they don’t know how to win – that’s the biggest problem.”

Wolves will be back at the University of Worcester Arena this Friday 5 April, (7.30pm), to welcome the team currently a place above them in the British Basketball League, Surrey Scorchers. The victor will leave their opponent at the foot of the table. The next day, (7.30), Wolves travel to championship-contending London City Royals.

“We’re good enough to beat Surrey, but this club should be beating the top teams,” added Garbelotto. “We have a chance to do that next week against London.”