Worcester Wolves 77-78 Surrey Scorchers

Friday 15 November 2019

Worcester Wolves missed the chance to confirm a home BBL Cup quarter-final tie after they lost by the slenderest of margins to Surrey Scorchers on Friday.

Their 77-78 setback means Wolves complete their group qualification fixtures with a 6-4 win-loss record.

Victory for nearest rival Bristol Flyers in their final qualifier at London Lions next Wednesday will leave Wolves facing a road trip to Sheffield Sharks in the final eight of the competition instead of welcoming Newcastle Eagles to Worcester.

Friday’s match started well for Wolves as their big man pairing of Julius Van Sauers and Jordan Williams blocked successive Surrey attacks, contributing to ten points without reply.

Scorchers reduced the lead to 21-16 by the close of the first quarter before a confident William’s drive and a coast-to-coast pleaser from Cortez Edwards re-established control.

But the visitors again came back into the contest. Caylin Raftopoulos sank a three-pointer to tie matters at 32-32. James Hawthorne blew the chance to put his side in front by misjudging the power needed to dunk the ball through the net, bringing howls of derision from a large University of Worcester Arena crowd.

A Mark Hughes triple nudged Wolves 37-36 ahead as the second-half began. A free-scoring third period ended with Surrey on top at 57-53.

That advantage extended to 66-57 with six minutes left in the evening as Worcester repeatedly telegraphed passes, allowing easy interceptions for their opponents.

Kofi Josephs inspired a fightback with continued forward thrusts that forced Scorchers to foul to slow his advances. Joseph’s perfect seven-from-seven free throws brought the teams together at 74-74 by the final couple of minutes of the match.

An exchange of scores from Raftopoulos and Hughes had Worcester clinging to a 77-76 lead with ten seconds remaining before a Tayo Ogedengbe layup once more seesawed the outcome.

With just a second and a half to go Wolves had side-line possession but found their attempts to inbound the ball frustrated by the hulking presence of 6 foot-11 inch NBA draftee Ryan Richards, leaving a desperate William’s shot to fall short.

Maarten Bouwknecht led the Worcester scorers with 15 points, closely followed by 14 points apiece for Josephs and Williams and 13 from Hughes.

Coach Matt Newby was brief in stating his disappointment about the defeat, saying: “If you don’t perform you don’t win. We didn’t perform. It’s as simple as that.”

It will be at least a fortnight before Wolves take to the court again, either travelling to Sheffield Sharks or returning to the University of Worcester Arena to face Newcastle Eagles.