Saturday 17 January 2015 Bristol Flyers 68-69 Worcester Wolves

Worcester Wolves took their fifth win on the bounce on Saturday, but only secured victory in the dying seconds when defeating Bristol Flyers 69-68.

Last weekend Wolves triumphed against Newcastle Eagles, the current leaders of the British Basketball League. This week they travelled to the home of a team sitting towards the other end of the table and, as might have been expected, raced to a comfortable early lead.

By half-time the advantage stood at 48-35. However, a dearth of offence after the break saw Bristol claw their way back into the contest and eventually take a one-point lead with less than half-a-minute to play. Wolves’ playmaker Chavis Holmes took responsibility for a last response, teasingly dribbling the ball from side to side as the clock wound down. As a large band of travelling Worcester fans held their breath, he finally drove forwards and released a teardrop shot that fell through the hoop.

The evening began in confident fashion for the visitors with Holmes, Alex Owumi and Paul Guede all banging in three-pointers before any Flyers’ reply. Another triple apiece for Holmes and Owumi helped accumulate a 23-17 first quarter lead.

Holmes eagerly pounced on consecutive Bristol turnovers at the start of the second period, further boosting Wolves’ cause. French forward Remi Dibo was on target at the half-time buzzer to maximise his side’s advantage.

The tide turned after the interval. Flyers’ aggressive centre Mathias Seilund bustled his way towards a series of scores, while guard Bryquis Perine increasingly found his way to the basket. In contrast, Worcester could muster just three scores across the entire third quarter.

By four minutes of the evening remaining, Wolves were clinging to a slender 63-61 lead. A welcome four points from Disraeli Lufadeju seemed to have settled the nerves, before a double of responses from Seilund. Trailing by a single point during the final minute, Bristol guard Greg Streete grabbed hold of a Jamal William’s fumble to reverse the lead and bring a capacity home crowd to their feet in delight.

It was left to the calm head of Holmes to take charge and clinch the victory for Worcester. Coach Paul James described the nail-biting last moments: “It was a designed play for Chavis. We drew it up and we were either going to score or not. Chavis came through for us.”

Referring to the difference between his side’s first and second-half performances, James added: “We got away from what gave us success before the break. We stopped sharing the ball and played as individuals. Thankfully we clinched it at the end.”

Holmes and Owumi top-scored for Wolves with 22 and 17 points respectively. Seilund led the way for Bristol with 25 points.

Today (Sunday) Wolves are on the road again, at Durham Wildcats, in defence of the BBL Trophy. They will return to the University of Worcester Arena next Friday, 23 January, to host Sheffield Sharks.