Worcester Wolves 86-84 Sheffield Sharks

Photo credit: Tom Bennett at Razorlight Imagery

Worcester Wolves have made it through to the semi-finals of the BBL Playoffs after a thrilling 86-84 victory over Sheffield Sharks at the University of Worcester Arena on Sunday.

Taking into account Friday’s 73-71 win in South Yorkshire, the four-point aggregate margin means that Wolves now advance to a two-legged final four encounter against Newcastle Eagles.

Coach Paul James admitted that Sheffield had been challenging opponents, saying: “It was always going to be a hard contest. It’s great that we have knocked out the defending Playoff champions, especially as they match up so well with us.

“Both legs were hard-fought and we really had to battle. Coming away from Sheffield with a slender win set us up for today. It was always going to be close back here but I’m delighted that we did enough to get through.”

An electric second quarter helped Worcester build a commanding 50-31 lead just before half-time, only to then be severely outscored by their visitors in the final quarter, leaving themselves teetering on the brink of elimination.

“It was a nail-biting end to the match,” confessed James. “We had a bit of a meltdown late on. We will need to be better than that against what is likely to be even tougher competition still to come.”

Marek Klassen opened the scoring with a confident drive to the hoop. A quick five points from Jermel Kennedy led to a 7-0 start. By the close of the first quarter Wolves’ lead stood at 21-16.

At six minutes before half-time the advantage had closed to 26-24, before a sudden explosion of scoring. With Maurice Walker attracting a double-team of defenders, Trevor Setty found space to sink a three-pointer. Walker swatted away a Sharks shot attempt to set up a Klassen triple.

When Klassen produced a mesmerising no-look behind-the-back pass for Walker to slot home, Sharks were desperately calling for a time out, trailing 37-28.

The break in play did little to interrupt Worcester’s onslaught. An effervescent Klassen lobbed the ball up for a crowd-pleasing Kennedy alley-oop and followed up with a swift double of long-range baskets.

A 50-34 interval cushion was maintained throughout the third period, becoming 70-54 entering the final quarter. The only chink in the hosts’ armour was a worrying inability to convert free throws.

Bonus shots awarded for Sharks’ technical and unsportsmanlike fouls were spurned, as were repeated free throws resulting from fouls committed in the act of shooting.

As time wound down Wolves’ advantage was whittled away. At a minute remaining a Malcolm Riley triple put matters at 85-81. When fellow forward Zach Gachette also connected from outside it became 85-84.

At nine seconds left Setty split a pair of free throws, gifting Sheffield the chance to remain in the tie. However, a large home fanbase were finally able to relax when Klassen intercepted his foes’ last possession.

For the second game in a row, Danny Huffor led Wolves’ scorers with 23 points. Klassen and Setty were next on the scoreboard with 14 and 13 points respectively.

Worcester will carry confidence into their semi-final with Newcastle, having defeated them both home and away in their latest two meetings. The victors will progress to the BBL Playoff Final at London’s prestigious O2 Arena on Sunday 14 May.

“Everyone will be up for the next stage,” added James. “I’m really pleased for all the players who have worked exceptionally hard to get us to this point and I’m really pleased for all our loyal fans who stuck by us despite the poor start we had to our season.”

The first leg at Newcastle Eagles will be streamed live at the University of Worcester Arena on Wednesday 3rd May. It is free to attend and the bar will be open. Doors open at 7pm for a 7:30pm tip-off.

Tickets for the 2nd Leg at home on Friday 5th May are available here – get them while you can!