Worcester Wolves 92–96 Sheffield Sharks

Worcester Wolves just came out on the wrong side of a rollicking encounter with Sheffield Sharks in front of a jam-packed University of Worcester Arena on Friday.

Wolves held narrow advantages at the close of each of the first three quarters but fell behind in the crucial closing minutes as Sharks snatched a 96-92 victory.

The rock ‘em sock ‘em tone of the evening was set early. George Beamon opened his scoring account with a triple and watched Michael Ojo do likewise. Although both men had already rattled in another couple of three-pointers before the first quarter had expired, Sheffield were similarly productive to restrict their hosts lead to 34-31.

Worcester student Dominic Ives stood firm in disrupting Sharks’ first attack of the second period as his team tried to break clear. 7-foot centre Dallin Bachynski thundered through defenders for a ferocious dunk, swinging on the rim in celebration and pushing Wolves 41-33 ahead.

Although still in front at 58-52 as the second-half began, Wolves were swiftly pulled back to a 58-58 tie within a minute of the re-start.

Trayvon Palmer impressed with a series of dances to the basket but Sheffield continued to respond. When their guard Chris Alexander nailed a three with just two seconds remaining in the third quarter for a 73-72 lead the air went out of an excited home crowd.

However those same supporters were immediately brought to their feet in stunning fashion when Beamon grabbed the inbounded ball and hurled it almost the length of the court for a breath-stopping super-long-range success.

Captain Alex Navajas kept the pot boiling with a trio of final-quarter buckets and a 81-76 edge, but Sharks refused to be sunk as the momentum once more switched.

By a minute to go Worcester trailed 87-93. Beamon was again on target to close the combatants to a single score and with seven seconds to go Palmer’s desperation shot just fell short, ending a thrilling contest in the visitors favour.

Beamon led the scoring with 27 points, supported by 23 points for Palmer and 14 apiece for Navajas and Ojo.

Coach Paul James was disappointed to see his side fall short, saying:

“We played really well in parts but not for the whole game. The win was there for the taking but we didn’t hold our shape when it mattered.”

Wolves will now face the same opponents this Wednesday 28 March (7.30pm), in South Yorkshire, with new point-guard George Marshall expected to be ready to reinforce James’ squad.

“By Wednesday George should have had a few training sessions with us,” added James. “He’ll help us with our rotations and if we play like we did tonight, but for 40 minutes instead of 38, we’ll give ourselves a chance.”

Match report by Colin Taylor
Image credit Razorlight Imagery