Tuesday 26 March 2013 Worcester Wolves 87-102 Newcastle Eagles

Worcester Wolves slumped to a third successive defeat when they were brushed aside 87-102 by the Newcastle Eagles on Tuesday evening at the University of Worcester. Having lost out to lower-placed sides at the weekend in Sheffield Sharks and Manchester Giants, the Wolves were unable to make any impact against the title-challenging Eagles.

Newcastle were without one of the league’s leading rebounders, Kareem Maddox, leaving a significant hole around the basket. While Worcester were indeed able to capitalise on this by grabbing more than twice as many rebounds than their opponents, they were unable to convert many of these second chances into points. Eagles’ veteran forward Charles Smith made over two-thirds of his shot attempts and finished the game with a huge 40 points, while, in stark contrast, the Wolves shot woefully from three-point range, making only three shots out of an incredible 30 attempts.

The game opened on a failed three-pointer from Wolves’ small forward Carlos Fernandez. Eagles’ guard Damon Huffman then made a triple. Fernandez missed another three, but watched Huffman again make his, leaving Wolves down 0-6 after less than a minute had elapsed.

A sequence of two more wildly optimistic shots from distance by Fernandez, seven points from Smith and another three from Huffman, was enough for frustrated Wolves’ coach Paul James to call time out with his side already trailing at 5-19 by midway through the first quarter.

A revival in fortune followed as power forward Stan Ocitti found his range, helping to reduce the deficit to 21-26 by the close of the quarter. However, within three minutes the arrears had more than doubled to 27-39 as ex-Worcester guard Anthony Martin hit a couple of baskets and Smith continued to tick over his personal account.

As half-time approached the gap looked manageable at 42-50, until Huffman nailed a triple and in the closing seconds was left totally unguarded to freely repeat the feat, moving matters to 44-56.

Another burst of action from Ocitti once more gave hope of a comeback to the Wolves. He made both free throws when fouled by Newcastle forward Joseph Ikhinmwin, then rose up to swat away a shot attempt from the same player. Two more converted foul shots preceded a two-handed dunk from Ocitti and suddenly his side had fought back to 52-58 after three minutes of the half.
Unfortunately this was to be as close as the hosts would get. Going into the last two minutes of the third quarter the game stood at 58-68, but a disastrous end to the period ensued. Smith and his backcourt partner Joe Chapman were confidently able to penetrate to the hoop past flailing challenges, while Huffman was given plenty of space to sink his sixth triple of the night, putting the visitors out of reach at 60-80.

While the outcome of the game was by now decided, the final quarter was notable for a couple of Wolves’ players; American guard Alex Owumi worked tirelessly to sink eleven points and bring his personal tally to 26, making him comfortably his side’s highest scorer during the three-game winless spell. Meanwhile, 20-year-old English forward Kalil Irving continued his emergence in his debut year by hitting eight points on his way to a game total of 16.

Coach Paul James did not mince his words as he spoke of his disappointment about what he had seen, saying: “I’m very disappointed. We have to find a way of getting some fire back into the team. If that means changing things up, then that’s what I’ll do. Certainly the last few performances from some of the players have not been good enough. Some of the players need to take a hard look at themselves and decide if they want to play for the Wolves or not.”

Looking ahead to Good Friday’s game at home to Plymouth Raiders, James emphasised what will need to happen: “We’ve got to show more passion, more spirit, more fight and play for the shirt. Kalil Irving came out and played with no fear and even Albert Ziwa came on and found a way to get to the free throw line. Our more experienced players have got to bring that sort of passion to the game.”

Owumi pulled down twelve rebounds to accompany his 26 points, while Ocitti also registered double-double statistics when notching 18 points and grabbing eleven rebounds. Smith’s 40 points for Newcastle were supported by 24 points from Huffman.
Wolves will now have a quick opportunity to get back on the winning trail when they face Plymouth Raiders at the University of Worcester this Friday (tip off 7.30pm). The club have laid on a special bank-holiday ticket offer for their fans, with two adults able to gain admittance for the price of one.