Worcester Wolves 68-71 Sheffield Sharks

Worcester Wolves stay at the foot of the British Basketball League after suffering a narrow 68-71 reversal to Sheffield Sharks at the University of Worcester Arena on Friday.

Wolves fell into an early 13-33 hole before grinding out a recovery to lead 66-64 with four minutes remaining. But Sharks were able to re-take control over the closing stages to snatch the win.

Interim coach Tony Garbelotto couldn’t hide his disappointment after the defeat, saying: “We didn’t deserve to win the game after our first-half performance. Crucial times require guts and determination but we let Sheffield come out with possessions they shouldn’t have.

“I can’t even describe how upset I am – I’m upset for the players, for the fans, for the organisation because that’s a game we just gave away.”

Three minutes into the evening Worcester were 12-8 ahead. But a solitary free throw would be all they could muster over the remainder of the opening quarter.

Sheffield’s Dirk Williams was given space to slot in a trio of consecutive three-pointers. Veteran guard Chris Alexander repeatedly wove past defenders and the match looked to be quickly slipping away.

A double of second-quarter threes for both Adam Thoseby and Robert Crawford gave respectability to the score-line though Sharks still held sway at 47-34 going into the interval.

Deshawn Freeman finally found a way to penetrate to the basket and Lester Prosper got into a rhythm to close the deficit to 52-61 entering the final period.

A quartet of Thoseby foul shots dragged matters back to 63-64 and another Crawford triple edged Wolves into a long-awaited lead.

With under a minute to go Worcester trailed again at 67-69 after Darell Combs missed one of a pair of foul shots. Freeman was similarly at fault to leave the gap at 68-69.

Contrastingly, Williams was then faultless from the line to stretch Sheffield’s advantage back to 71-68 and a last-gasp hurl from Combs bounced off the front of the rim, ending Wolves’ fightback.

Crawford led the home scoring with 15 points, followed by 13 for Freeman and 12 from Prosper. Alexander and Williams tallied 21 and 19 points respectively for Sharks.

Wolves will next take to the court on Sunday 17 March when they travel to Glasgow Rocks (5.00). After that they will return to the University of Worcester Arena on Friday 22 March to host Manchester Giants. Tickets available here.

“We’re not playing to our potential,” added Garbelotto. “Perhaps players are listening too much to everyone saying we’re playing great after the two wins over Surrey and Plymouth. We’ve worked hard in practice so that’s not an issue, but you have to come out and play hard in the games.”

Match report by Colin Taylor

Image credit JS Sport Photography