Friday 08 March 2013 Worcester Wolves 94-76 London Lions

Worcester Wolves bounced back in style from last week’s BBL Trophy disappointment when comfortably seeing off the challenge of London Lions on Friday. The tip-off of the match was delayed due to the Lions arriving late at the University of Worcester after being caught up in heavy motorway traffic and the Wolves seemed determined to punish their visitors for their tardiness. A double-digit lead was established after only a few minutes of play and was easily maintained throughout the evening, on the way to a 94-76 victory.

London’s captain Michael Martin fumbled his side’s opening possession, allowing his Wolves’ counterpart Carlos Fernandez to eagerly pounce and score. Wolves’ centre Arturas Masiulis helped himself to the next five points and Fernandez then floated up a long pass for Stan Ocitti to slam though the basket. After four minutes Lions’ coach Vince Macauley called for a time out with his team trailing 15-9.

The break in proceedings did little to slow the Wolves’ onslaught. Last week’s star Alex Owumi nailed his first triple and a few moments later dunked the ball home following a steal from forward Kai Williams. Another Owumi three-pointer helped his side race to a 25-10 advantage and the lead was further increased by scores from Wolves’ forwards Kalil Irving and Arnas Kazlauskas.

In the last minute of the quarter Orlan Jackman and his backcourt partner Junior Williams finally registered the Lions’ first scores from the field in nearly six minutes of play, to close the opening quarter 30-15 in arrears.
It was a just Williams beginning to the second period as Kai and Junior matched scores. The margin between the teams held steady throughout most of the period until three minutes to go when it peaked at 52-30 after Masiulis made two points and a bonus shot following a clumsy challenge from London’s Perry Lawson.

The last hurrah for the Lions came in the remainder of the first-half as they posted a 12-2 run. Recent signing Rod Brown began the scoring burst and also laid on a three-point basket for Jackman. Full-court pressure harassed Worcester into failing to progress the ball into their opponents half in the permitted eight seconds and England international Tayo Ogedengbe then nailed a score. More London pressure saw Lawson steal the ball from Fernandez and Brown convert, as the sides went into the locker rooms at 54-40.

Backchat from Lawson to referee Neil Wilkinson was penalised with a technical foul and the Wolves once more began to pull clear. By three minutes left in the third quarter the lead had pushed back out to 70-47 after five points in a row from Ocitti.

Sherrad Prezzie-Blue showed that he is building back to fitness after his recent knee injury with a couple of clever plays. Firstly he stole the ball from Jackman and hurled a full-court pass to Owumi for a one-handed dunk, and then he thrilled spectators with a behind-the-back dribble and score from long-distance, putting the match to 75-51 as time expired in the third.

With their visitors’ spirit now broken, the Wolves were left to stroll through the final ten minutes. Masiulis and Ocitti formed a near-impenetrable barrier around the Worcester basket, limiting the weary London attackers to a mere six scores in the remainder of the game. Meanwhile, Irving and Ocitti kept the host’s side of the scoreboard ticking over towards the final 94-76 outcome.

Wolves’ coach Paul James was satisfied with what he saw, saying: “I’m pleased with the win. We shot the ball well and we were good defensively.”

Although it was Alex Owumi who once more led the Worcester scorers with 25 points, Ocitti and Masiulis were not far behind with 23 and 22 points respectively. James was pleased to see a spread of high scorers, commenting: “Alex has scored consistently all season long, but when we get more players in double figures it makes us hard to beat.”
Looking ahead to Sunday’s trip to Cheshire Phoenix, James added: “They can be tough at their place, but we’ll look to dictate the pace, play at our tempo and play Wolves basketball to get the win.”

As well as his 23 points, Ocitti impressed by hauling down a massive 19 rebounds. Brown led the London scorers with 20 points, closely followed by Ogedengbe with 19 points.