Cheshire Phoenix 88-69 Worcester Wolves

Sunday 05 January 2020

It was a case of after the Lord Mayors Show for Worcester Wolves as they slipped to an 88-69 defeat in their first-round BBL Trophy tie at Cheshire Phoenix on Sunday.

The high of powering past Leicester Riders last Friday to progress to the BBL Cup Final left Wolves with the challenge of maintaining their intensity.

Cheshire also held the advantage of a rested festive period, making their first appearance since before Christmas day while, contrastingly, the visitors were playing their fourth fixture in just over a week.

Worcester began the match with dependable forward Jordan Williams not suited up and standout centre Amir Williams sat on the bench. The latter only came onto court for a few moments, slotting in a single basket, before retiring from the action.

Raheem May-Thompson was the feature of a competitive opening quarter, making a trio of scores to restrict Phoenix to an 18-14 lead.

But a gulf between the sides soon became evident. May-Thompson’s final points of the first-half came after Cheshire had stretched their advantage to double-figures at 30-20 five minutes before the interval.

Mark Hughes toiled for nine points over the second-quarter but with scant offensive output from elsewhere, Cheshire eagerly snatched the opportunity to pull away.

Former Worcester guard Disraeli Lufadeju stepped up in a two minute spell where he sank consecutive three-pointers and produced a strong drive to the hoop to establish 50-33 half-time control for the hosts.

The gap remained steady at 66-49 entering the final quarter of the match.

Busy work from Cortez Edwards, including a circus shot that rocketed skywards and somehow flew down through the net at the same speed, was to be Worcester’s last hurrah, narrowing the deficit to 66-55 with seven minutes remaining.

Time and again Wolves were outmanned around both baskets, leaving Cheshire to ease to the win.

American pairing Edwards and Hughes led the scoring on 23 and 18 points respectively. May-Thompson was the only other double-digit man with 11.

There will be a quick chance for Wolves to make amends for the defeat this Friday, 10 January, (7.30) when Cheshire make the opposite trip to the University of Worcester Arena for a BBL Championship encounter.

Tickets for this Fridays game are available online and from the University Of Worcester Arena.