Worcester Wolves 126-97 Newcastle Eagles

The unstoppable force that is Worcester Wolves continues to run over every opponent that is put before them, with Newcastle Eagles being the latest side to cower before their power.

Nine wins in a row have boosted Wolves up to fifth place in the British Basketball League, with a realistic chance of rising as high as third in the jockeying for play-off seedings.

Another big Friday night turnout at the University of Worcester Arena were sent into raptures as they witnessed their team destroy one of the country’s perennial contenders 126-97.

Coach Paul James hailed the victory as historic, saying: “In the history of Worcester Wolves basketball that must be the most prolific performance we’ve had, and against a Newcastle team who have been at the top year after year, in front of another fantastic crowd – it’s sheer fun.”

Wolves were dealt a blow when stalwart Maurice Walker was ruled out of the evening with a hamstring injury. However, this merely allowed another of James’ multiple weapons to be brought out of his arsenal. Alex Navajas seamlessly stepped into the void to rattle in nine points in an assured 27-19 first quarter lead.

A triple from former Worcester forward Orlan Jackman pulled Eagles’ deficit back to 33-27 three minutes into the second period. But this would be the last time that the visitors were more than bystanders to proceedings.

By half-time Wolves’ advantage had shot out to 57-38 with the ever-growing Trey Zeigler proving unstoppable as he continually danced around defenders for a highly-impressive 21 pre-interval points.

Teamplay was on show as the second half commenced with the ball being confidently passed between all five players before Marek Klassen sank a three-pointer.

Klassen connected from distance twice more as the third quarter wound down, prompting Newcastle to urgently appeal for a time out. Not realising that their plea for a break had not been accepted by the officials, their guard Rahmon Fletcher lazily dropped the ball into his own basket only to then find two points added to Wolves’ total for an overwhelming 87-61 third quarter lead.

Worcester continued to torment a deflated Eagles side for the remainder of the match. Zeigler stole possession and galloped up-court for a powerful one-handed slam. When Jermel Kennedy did the same thing a moment later, the two men joyously engaged in back-bumping celebrations.

Navajas displayed his versatility with several outside successes, while Ashton Khan revelled in repeated drives to the hoop for a quickfire fifteen last-quarter points.

Zeigler amassed a huge 37 points, with Navajas also achieving a season’s best return of 29 points. Klassen tallied 25 points as well as contributing an eye-opening 16 assists for his team mates.

James was keen to give praise across his squad, saying: “With Mo out we needed players to step up. That certainly happened. Newcastle had no answer for Trey, Alex did what he does so well, and Marek ran the show.

“Those players had fabulous individual totals, but without the rest of the team making extra passes, setting screens and grabbing rebounds, they couldn’t have done it. It was another outstanding team display.”

Wolves travel to Glasgow Rocks this Sunday (tip off 5pm), with the next match at the University of Worcester Arena taking place on Good Friday against London Lions.

“Glasgow are really tough on their own floor,” added James. “For the next few minutes we can enjoy another great win but after that we have to concentrate on what is sure to be a hard game this Sunday.”

Tickets for our Good Friday game against London Lions can be purchased here.