Plymouth Raiders 72-58 Worcester Wolves

Wednesday 30 December 2020

Worcester Wolves were unable to build on a closely-fought first half at Plymouth Raiders on Wednesday, rounding out their 2020 results with an eventual 72-58 defeat.

Only old-hands Maarten Bouwknecht and Jordan Williams with 16 and 15 points respectively were able to make any significant impact on Worcester’s side of the scoreboard.

Coach Matt Newby acknowledged that integrating a newly-arrived quartet of American recruits into his squad presented a challenge.

“It was inevitable that introducing four guys to our line-up was going to cause some inconsistency and some breakup to our patterns,” said Newby.

“Today was an opportunity to get the new players onto the floor and to let them see the level of opposition they’ll face in this league.

“We have to remember they’ve only been here 72 hours and only got the green light today to play. That’s not an excuse but a genuine reason why there perhaps wasn’t the sharpness there for them that you would normally expect at this time of the season.”

Plymouth’s pair of Great Britain Internationals Ashley Hamilton and Will Neighbour slotted in seven unanswered points to open the contest.

Bouwknecht fired in a trio of three-pointers and Williams bustled to a trio of inside scores to restrict Raiders’ advantage to 24-18 entering the second quarter.

Brandon Anderson, Lamarr Kimble and Mike Parks Jr all featured in the opening period but it was the last US import to make his debut, K.J. Lawson, who was the first to ink the scoresheet, floating home a triple from the left corner of the court.

Matthew Bryan-Amaning accepted a pinpoint assist from Williams to edge Wolves into their only lead of the night at 27-26 a couple of minutes ahead of half-time.

Plymouth reversed control by the interval at 32-28 and would thereafter dominate the match. Williams notched a basket to begin the second half, but there would be no further third quarter field goals for the visitors aside from a brief burst of scoring from Kimble.

By the second minute of the final period another Hamilton attack maximised Raiders’ lead at 59-41 and allowed them to saunter to victory.

Wolves are next in action on Friday 8 January (7.30pm) when they host Glasgow Rocks at the University of Worcester Arena in front of the Sky Sports cameras.

“Glasgow have done well with their original squad and have added some reinforcements which can only improve them,” said Newby.

“We now get a chance to integrate our own new faces into the team and let them learn our system and learn what their roles will be. And players who have been with us from the outset will now get more time to adjust to a new dynamic.

“The deal that the league has with Sky is great for basketball. Next week will be a chance for us to showcase ourselves on a big stage – it should be a great advert for the game.”

The game against Glasgow will also be free to view on the Wolves YouTube channel.