Friday 19 February 2016 Worcester Wolves 83-70 Manchester Giants

Fans of Worcester Wolves turned out in big numbers on Friday to roar their team on to a welcome victory over Manchester Giants.

Wolves’ third match at the University of Worcester Arena in a single week, and their fourth game overall in that same week, might have been expected to produce fatigue in both players and spectators. The reverse was the case as Coach Paul James expertly juggled his resources in front of a party atmosphere, drawing a halt to a three-game losing streak.

Wolves broke the contest open in the second quarter, building a double-digit lead that they held onto until the final 83-70 score-line.

There was a spread of scorers throughout the home side. Perris Blackwell and Pavol Losonksy led the way with 18 and 16 points respectively, closely followed by Orlan Jackman on 14 points. Sparingly-used reserve guard Jordan Dawes was given substantial minutes on court and responded with valuable energy, as well as grabbing a useful four points.

James was pleased to get back on the winning trail, declaring: “I’m delighted. We’ve had a rough run lately, but turned things around tonight.

“We were solid defensively and on offense we got back to sharing the ball more. Sixteen assists in the first half alone shows that we were making extra passes for each other and it paid off with lots of scoring opportunities.”
James also singled out Dawes for particular praise, saying: “We had a team meeting where he said to me that he felt he could contribute at the point guard spot. I said I’d try to get him some minutes – he got in for all of the second quarter and did a great job of bringing energy and keeping the ball alive.”

The evening began slowly. Two scores for former Wolves captain Callum Jones and a three-pointer from dangerous forward Ingus Bankevics pushed Giants in front at 8-11. Blackwell replied with a basket and then stood ramrod straight in front of Jones to wrestle the ball out of his hands and set up a Jay Couisnard triple, overturning the lead.

Javier Mugica opened the second period with two scores and laid one on for Dawes. Dawes returned the favour for Mugica and Wolves were suddenly 24-15 ahead. By half-time the advantage had stretched to 38-28.
Early successes after the break for Giants’ hulking centre Flo Larkai gave fleeting hope to his side, but Worcester’s own front-line of Blackwell. Losonsky and Ben Eaves re-established control at 60-47.

The first five minutes of the final quarter saw an astonishing sixteen-point outburst from Manchester’s speedy guard Stefan Gill. But with little support from elsewhere, his toils were in vain. As he tired, Ashton Khan sprang upwards to deny him another basket and bring excited spectators to their feet, sealing the victory.
Wolves will now take a fortnight’s break from action until they travel to Leeds Force on Friday 04 March for a re-arranged fixture. Their next outing at the University of Worcester Arena will be on Friday 18 March when Plymouth Raiders visit the city.

James is relishing a much-needed period of rest for his squad, saying: “It’s been quite a stretch of matches recently. The players need a rest. They’ll have 3 or 4 days to themselves now before we come back to training and start looking towards the playoffs.”