Friday 10 January 2014 Worcester Wolves 90-66 Durham Wildcats

Worcester Wolves saw off the challenge of Durham Wildcats by 90-66 at the University of Worcester Arena on Friday. However, this latest win that sees the Wolves stay clear at the top of the British Basketball League, was never quite as comfortable as the score-line might suggest.

Durham kept up with Worcester for several spells of the match, benefitting from their hosts inconsistent outside shooting and frequent failure to take care of the ball. Coach Paul James was candid in his assessment of what took place, saying: “We didn’t move the ball well, we didn’t always execute our plays well enough and we were often static on offence. It wasn’t a great performance, but we just did enough to get the win we wanted.”

Wildcats raced into a 2-7 lead, including five points from their American guard Danny Huffor. It took until the sixth minute of the evening before Wolves could edge in front after centre Will Creekmore sank his fourth basket. Kai Williams entered the fray and floated home a three-pointer with his first touch, extending the advantage to 15-12.

After an even 19-19 first period, the teams were still tied at 21-21 in the second minute of the next quarter following another Huffor conversion. From here Worcester were finally able to wriggle clear of their opponents, restricting them to a meagre nine points for the rest of the half.
In the meantime, Creekmore and his captain Alex Owumi were the main contributors to keeping the Wolves side of the scoreboard ticking over. Prior to the game, star point guard Zaire Taylor was presented with a golden match ball after winning the Molten BBL Player of the Month award for December. It was fitting that he demonstrated one of the strengths that secured him that honour when galloping the length of the court for a lay-up just before the half-time buzzer sounded, putting his side 45-30 to the good.

Taylor was again the man in the right place as the second half began, snatching the ball at mid-court from Durham’s young English forward Odiba Attah and racing forward to score. Another Taylor basket saw the Worcester advantage peak at 55-31 with four minutes remaining in the third quarter.
A large home crowd applauded the return to action after a lengthy injury setback of Jamal Williams. Although only seeing a few brief moments on court, that time was notable for being spent alongside his younger brother, Kai, in a historic first for the players and the club.

Entering the last quarter with a healthy 64-45 lead, Paul James initially gave opportunities for his bench players to show their mettle, with Owumi the only starter remaining. With Huffor in particular still irritatingly popping up with scores, James recalled his senior men to quell the resistance.
As time wound down there was another burst of entertainment from Taylor. He firstly tormented his opposite number Devin Ginty into a turnover and lofted the ball for Creekmore to slam home, before freezing Durham defenders as he spun amongst them and conjured the ball into the net.

Though not totally satisfied with the nature of the victory, James added: “We won a game we were expected to win. We’re still top of the league, so all in all we should be thankful. We’re now entering a two-week break where we can work on getting into our offence more quickly and where it will be my job to keep the team focussed.”
Owumi top-scored for Wolves with 27 points, with Creekmore achieving yet another double-double of 21 points and 14 rebounds. Huffor led the way for Durham with 20 points.
The next outing for Wolves will be the visit of Cheshire Phoenix to the University of Worcester Arena on Friday 24 January.