Worcester Wolves 86-72 London Stars

By Colin Taylor

Worcester Wolves stand just one game away from a place in the National Basketball League Playoff Final after seeing off southern challengers London Stars 86-72 at the University of Worcester Arena on Saturday.

After the match, players and coaches were presented with the Division One North League Winners Shield but will have been relieved that they had enough in their locker to deny a lively London side from putting a spoke in the wheel of the celebrations.

London led 36-34 at half-time and, in a see-saw contest, still held a 54-53 edge at the start of the final quarter, only surrendering in the closing minutes of the evening.

“We played with nerves at times today,” admitted coach Dean Blake. “But, just as we’ve done many times this season, we settled down and we got into our rhythm.

“London have some very good players on their roster, including ex-professionals, so we had to stay focused to get the job done.

“Receiving the shield and medals for winning the league is recognition for a season of hard work from everyone involved with the Wolves and feels fantastic.”

Nearly four minutes had elapsed before Worcester moved their side of the scoreboard. Contrastingly, London had little early difficulty in finding the target, quickly accumulating ten points to their name.

Humberto Ferreira bustled forwards with a three-point play and took a hand-off from Wilfrid Santhe to reduce the arrears.

Fin Rennie produced a crowd-pleasing behind-the-back pass for Earl Burgess to convert, holding Stars to an 18-12 lead entering the second quarter.

Rennie supplied a burst of action to help push his side ahead. A corner-court triple was followed by a simple lay-up after intercepting an errant pass.

Once Harry Godwin had driven aggressively to the hoop it became 19-18 in favour of the hosts.

Emmanuel Yeboah debuted on the scoresheet with a three-pointer and Rennie again found his aim.

However, Wolves mood was lowered when London’s much-travelled veteran Ryan Martin found enough space to sink a three as the half-time buzzer sounded.

Yeboah slotted home a trio of further shots from beyond the arc as Worcester threatened to pull clear but, frustratingly, Martin was able to reply in kind on the last play of the third quarter to keep the pot boiling.

Martin again connected from distance to push the visitors in front as the last period commenced.

Godwin and Yeboah ensured the outside exchanges continued while, closer to the basket, Stars’ Bradley Kaboza displayed some of the moves that once earnt him a spot in London Lions’ Europe Cup squad to restrict Wolves’ to a 61-58 advantage with seven minutes to go.

But Yeboah’s hot hand refused to leave him, even seeming to inspire traditional inside-battler Burgess to step outside his usual territory to similarly connect.

With home confidence now oozing, one-way traffic ensued for the remainder of the match.

Yeboah led the scoring with 25 points, made up of a single free-throw and a stunning eight three-pointers from just ten attempts.

Burgess and Ferreira patrolled the paint to notch 19 and 17 points respectively, with the former also contributing a hefty 13 rebounds.

Kaboza with 25 points and Martin with 21 were London’s standout performers.

Wolves’ playoff semi-final is slated to take place on Saturday 11 April (7.30pm) back at the University of Worcester Arena against Manchester Magic.

“I’m proud that we’ve carried on our unbeaten record at home,” added Blake. “There was another big crowd here today so we’re looking for everyone and more to come along again in a couple of weeks and push us on to another win.”