Worcester Wolves 99-91 London Lions

Worcester Wolves are gaining ground on their play-off rivals in the British Basketball League after their latest victory at the University of Worcester Arena.

Friday saw a 99-91 win against London Lions that moves Wolves to a 10-12 win-loss record and seventh place in the table. Lions and Plymouth Raiders occupy the two places directly above Wolves, with both clubs now bearing nine losses.

A large crowd was on hand, eager to see the return of three former Worcester stalwarts in Alex Owumi, Zaire Taylor and Kai Williams. It was Williams who starred in the early going.

Marek Klassen set the scoreboard ticking with a three-pointer, but Williams replied in kind. After Trevor Setty had bundled into him as he again took aim, he calmly sank all three of the resultant foul shots. Two more triples pushed his side into a 31-21 first-quarter lead.

The free-flowing nature of the night continued as Klassen was dead on the mark with three outside successes in as many minutes, dragging the arrears back to 37-39. Latest signing Trey Zeigler grabbed his first points in a Wolves vest and handed off a pass for Jermel Kennedy to nudge the hosts in front.

Five points from Owumi and a single free throw success from Taylor closed out the first half and kept an entertaining pot boiling at 48-49.

It was more of the same in the third period as the teams took turns to score, with Wolves edging 69-67 ahead entering the last quarter.

New man Zeigler played a part in finally putting daylight between the combatants, swiping the ball away from Owumi and galloping to the other end of the court for a lay-up and a bonus free throw after brushing aside a clumsy challenge from Taylor.

Ashton Khan came to the fore with several bursts to the hoop, establishing a decisive double-figure lead as the match entered its closing minutes.

Kennedy and Klassen topped the scoring charts for Wolves with 19 and 18 points respectively. Khan and Danny Huffor notched 14 points, with Zeigler not far behind in a 12-point debut.

Williams impressed for London with 28 points, including seven three-pointers, while Owumi would miss all but one of his seven attempts from beyond the arc in his total of 14 points. Taylor struggled to make an impact with a mere four points.

Coach Paul James expressed his pleasure at the win, saying: “It was a hard-fought victory. London took us out of our rhythm in the first half but I’m delighted at the way we kept our calm and toughed it out for a great win. Also, well done to Trey on his debut – he was lively in defence and now gives us another scoring option.”

Next Friday (7.30) will see Wolves’ BBL Trophy semi-final second-leg take place at the University of Worcester Arena against Plymouth Raiders, with James remaining confident that his side can pull back a 78-96 first-leg deficit.

“We’ve still got forty minutes of basketball to play. We’ve already had some big wins here in Worcester, against some really good teams. It will be fantastic for the club and fantastic for all of our fans if we can make it to the final in Glasgow.

“Another big crowd spurring us on, just like they did tonight, and absolutely we can do it.”

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