Bristol Flyers 73-76 Worcester Wolves

Sunday 17 January 2021

Worcester Wolves made it a double of weekend wins by following up Friday’s 73-71 cliff-hanger over Cheshire Phoenix with victory at Bristol Flyers on Sunday.

But Wolves fans watching proceedings from their settees were made to again bite their nails as they saw their team lose hold of a late double-digit lead before eventually squeezing out a 76-73 triumph over their M5 neighbours.

Worcester’s welcome third win in a row gives them an even 4-4 win-loss record and pushes them up to fifth place in the British Basketball League.

“It was another close one,” confessed coach Matt Newby. “But that’s the standard of the league now. Not many matches will be blowouts this season.

“Yes it became tight by the end, but ultimately we got the win and were also able to rotate players throughout the match and continue to blend players into our systems.

“I can’t be anything but happy that we got the win.”

Wolves’ big man pairing of Jordan Williams and Mike Parks set out their stall as the match began, slotting in all of the points in an unanswered 9-0 start.

Bristol bounced back to restrict the visitors to an 18-16 first-quarter edge.

Parks hooked the ball over his counterpart Marcus Delpeche and playmaker Maarten Bouwknecht drained successive three-pointers to leave Flyers calling for time out.

Williams continued to make his presence felt and Bouwknecht drilled another triple at the half-time buzzer to keep Worcester 37-32 in front.

Bristol’s inside resistance took a blow early in the second half as an accumulation of fouls forced Delpeche and latest recruit Justin Baker to seats on the bench.

Brandon Anderson notched scores either side of the third quarter interval to widen Wolves control at 60-50.

Josh McSwiggan emphasised his return from a lengthy injury with a head-down drive and thunderous slam but Flyers managed to maintain their shape.

By the final minute a turnaround jumper from Anderson put matters at 72-69 before multiple rebounds and a final decisive put-back from Raphell Thomas-Edwards kept the result in the balance with 21 seconds to go.

Exchanges of free throws between Anderson and Bristol guard Josh Wilcher and a last-gasp missed heave from the latter decided the victors.

Anderson led all scorers with 21 points, supported by 18 from Williams and 13 for Bouwknecht.

Next up for Wolves is the visit of title-challenging Leicester Riders to the University of Worcester Arena this Friday 22 January. The match tips off at 7pm and will be streamed live and for free on Worcester Wolves YouTube channel.  

“I’m looking forward to Friday,” added Newby. “We know that Leicester have good personnel and a good coach.

“It’s up to us to take responsibility for improvement. No disrespect to Cheshire and Bristol, but the likes of Leicester are the next step up in where we need to be.”