Worcester Wolves 90-77 Plymouth Raiders

Worcester Wolves have progressed into the last eight of the British Basketball League Trophy after overcoming Plymouth Raiders 90-77 in a nervy contest on Friday evening. The game was still tied going into the last quarter of play, but the Wolves eventually wore down their opponents in front of a large festive crowd at the University of Worcester.

A triple from Michael Ojo got the scoring under way for the Raiders, with centre Arturas Masiulis replying for the Wolves. Masiulis sank three more baskets before being forced to the bench after two quick fouls. At this point the Wolves trailed 10-15 with four minutes remaining in the period. It was his replacement Arnas Kazlauskas who levelled the scores at 15-15, and guard Alex Owumi who notched consecutive scores to enable the Wolves to close the quarter 19-17 ahead.

A double of three-pointers from Plymouth forwards Javarris Barnett and Colin O’Reilly helped their side to re-take the lead at 21-25. Masiulis returned to the court to tip in a shot from Carlos Fernandez that was bouncing around the rim and then forward Stan Ocitti bagged a close range score to take matters to 25-27 with six minutes remaining in the first half.

Water-tight defence from both sides meant that nearly four more minutes had elapsed before recent signing Kai Williams brought the Wolves level at 27-27. With just 18 seconds to go until the interval, Worcester playmaker Sherrad Prezzie-Blue converted a long-distance effort and on the next play stole the ball from his opposite number Drew Lasker, edging the hosts to a 36-34 advantage.

Masiulis and Fernandez briefly stretched the lead to 40-34 before the teams were once more tied at 43-43 midway through the third period. Triples from Kazlauskas and Owumi were answered in kind by Barnett and O’Reilly, leaving the game poised at 56-56 going into the last ten minutes of action.

A neat wraparound pass from Ocitti to Masiulis allowed the big Lithuanian to score and draw a foul from Plymouth centre Matt Schneck, before a three-pointer from O’Reilly matched the scores. When Masiulis dunked to tally the last of his 22 points of the night the Wolves led 66-60 with five minutes left. Raiders’ coach Gavin Love called a time-out and then saw Barnett hit five quick points to drag his side back into contention.

Wolves’ coach Paul James likewise called a halt to proceedings and finally saw his charges establish some daylight from the visitors. Two triples from Owumi sandwiched a score from Ocitti and aided the Wolves to lead 77-70 with a couple of minutes of the evening remaining. The game ended in unusual circumstances after a persistent series of fouls from Plymouth in a vain attempt to slow the clock and regain possession. All of Worcester’s final 13 points were scored from the free-throw line and the Raiders were left with only four players on court by the full-time hooter.

Paul James was pleased to see the Wolves finally come out on top, saying: “It was a good win in the end. It was a tight game initially but in the last quarter we played more freely. We got some stops and sunk some three-pointers and that was the difference.”

Looking ahead to the next round of the Trophy competition, James commented: “We’ll now play either of Durham or Newcastle. Either of those two will be tough, but I’m optimistic. We’ve now had three good wins on the bounce and have finished the year off really well.”

Both Masiulis and Ocitti registered notable double-doubles of points and rebounds. Masiulis notched 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, with Ocitti hitting 19 points with 11 boards. Owumi and Prezzie-Blue scored 21 points and 15 points respectively. Barnett top-scored for Plymouth with 24 points.

It will be three weeks before Wolves return to the University of Worcester, to face London Lions on Friday             18 January. Their only game before then will be a trip to Leicester Riders on Saturday 5 January.