Plymouth Raiders 83-53 Worcester Wolves

Sunday 20 October 2019

Worcester Wolves had to settle for a split-weekend as they failed to follow up Friday’s home win over Plymouth Raiders when travelling down to Devon on Sunday.

In stark contrast to Friday’s 104-100 high-octane shootout, Wolves struggled to put up little more than half of their earlier offensive output while they watched Plymouth coast to an 83-53 success.

An overpowering 30-6 second quarter had Raiders firmly in control at 43-24 by half-time. A far more productive third period cheered Worcester. But any thoughts of a comeback disappeared when they stumbled to just nine points in the final ten minutes of the match.

Jordan Williams started the afternoon in positive fashion as he bullied his way to the game’s first five points.

Julius Van Sauers profited from deft passes from Williams and from guard Kofi Josephs to aid an 18-13 first quarter advantage for the visitors.

However, a couple of minutes after the restart Raiders had drawn level. By midway through the period the hosts were 30-20 ahead. Careless ball-handling widened the gap.

Numerous Worcester shots fell short of their target while Plymouth attempts repeatedly connected to contribute to the latter’s healthy interval-lead.

Further Williams scoring and a trio of baskets for Cortez Edwards briefly brightened the outlook before the return of offensive jitters and defensive frailties confirmed Raiders’ dominance.

Williams was the only Worcester player to break into double-digits with 15 points. Conversely, Plymouth enjoyed the luxury of five men scoring in the teens.

Wolves will be on the road again next weekend, travelling to the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre on Saturday 26 October (7.30pm) to meet the leaders of the BBL Cup South group, London City Royals.

The next match taking place at the University of Worcester Arena will be the visit of neighbours Bristol Flyers on Friday 1 November.