A win is a win in Worcester

The Wolves ground out their sixth straight Championship game when they faced Glasgow at home Saturday night. Shooting 38% from the field and 25% from three, they still found a way to keep the two points in Worcester.

Carlos Fernandez returned for the Wolves but was replaced in the starting five by Callum Jones and was used sparingly throughout.

DeAundre Cranston was good to go for the Rocks but they were without EJ Harrison and were to lose Mychal Green through injury early in the game.

The home side got in to their stride quickly and looked to put their marker down for the contest. Gordon dunked an alley-oop from Prezzie-Blue and Freeman sunk a trademark three in the opening seconds. Worcester were also guarding the visitors well for the first phase but their achiles heel all night showed up early and never went away. Wolves were guilty right throughout the contest of allowing Glasgow to be first to the second ball, to recycle possession and come again. The Rocks dominated the boards and the rebound count at the half was 12-21 in the visitors’ favour.

Green turned his ankle in transition with just six gone and was not to return. Bunyan came in to the game to replace him.

Their opposite number (Sherrad Prezzie-Blue) had started the game impressively. As play continued two men dropped off him looking for the assist and he stepped to the side and got nothing but net from 20 feet.

The first ten ended with a five point lead for the hosts at 18-13. Despite the aforementioned rebound count and the quick fire Wolves opening, neither side had the edge.

Sterling Davis had led by example in the first ten and went to the line again at the beginning of the second to take two. Wolves were moving the ball around well and Freeman was exploiting gaps inside that were there all night in the Rocks defence. Wolves couldn’t always make the most of the space that was there though.

Despite the hosts positive start to the second it was Glasgow led by Cranston who went on a mini scoring run and things were back level in no time at all.

The Rocks then edged themselves ahead but missed opportunities to extend that lead further with several failed attempts from the charity stripe. Throughout the second ten it was Richie Gordon alone who was keeping the reins on Glasgow and stopping them from putting daylight between the two sides. Great work from the centre at the low post set up a three point play to wind the Rocks back in. Gordon led the scorers at the half with 13 points.

Sherrad Prezzie-Blue ended the twenty with three personals but that wasn’t to affect him or the Wolves in the second half. Watts and Davis exchanged threes and the teams went in to the break at 32-37 Glasgow.

As Mychal Green hobbled back in to the gym it was clear his game was done and that Glasgow are officially the unluckiest side on the injury count this season.

Freeman got the game underway again with a three followed by an assist for Gordon and things were level once more within a minute. Those two excellent exponents of the big man game in the BBL, Cranston and Gordon, continued to exchange buckets with the latter working really hard for his team. At one point Gordon chased a ball to half court after beginning that chase from under the basket. He would give nothing up and it was his tenacity and attitude which eventually saw Worcester take this one.

Others had stepped things up also though and were putting in the hard yards, notably, Freeman and Watts. Allowing the Rocks to recycle the ball continued to hurt the homeside as they looked to pull away. Failing to guard the perimeter did the real damage though as Huffor, Davis and Bunyan all accepted the invitation to score from behind the arc. It was a one point game at the end of the third at 53-52 (Wolves) with Freeman unlucky in his attempt at a buzzer beater.

A disciplined Rocks defence had given up very few free-throws in the first three quarters.

Bunyan had been doing an excellent job in Green’s absence and continued to put in a shift in the final ten. It took two minutes before a score though as Freeman fed Prezzie-Blue for the first basket of the quarter. Just twenty points were scored in total in the final ten. Gordon backed in, turned and scored and Huffor was given a chance for a two after Worcester again failed to take possession that was rightfully theirs. At the halfway mark in the final quarter the Wolves were up by four at 58-54.

A big three from Murray brought the defecit back to just one point as time ticked away in the game. Worcester were trying to manage the game clock with the ball in their point guard’s hands but as the attempt followed, no dice. Sterling Davis made no mistake as the Rocks got possession and with just 22 seconds left he had given the visitors the lead by one.

Coach James called the timeout and called the play. That attempt broke down due to a defensive foul and Worcester were to try again with the inbound and with just 9.2 seconds on the game clock. There were two men on that hardwood (for the home side) who you might consider clutch and the ball was dished to one of them. David Watts is a reliable go to man when you are down and time is running out and BOOM, he nailed the three. The scoreboard said 63-61 and more importantly 1.8 seconds left. The Rocks lost that next crucial possession as the ball ended up in Freeman’s hands – in came the foul and Freeman was at the line with this one in the books. Except to say that Freeman missed his first from the line breaking a 100 per cent streak that had gone through three games.

Some may consider that Worcester got away with one here, but only if they are judged by the same high standards they have maintained for most of the season. The fact is the bar has been raised, but that doesn’t automatically translate in to a poor performance on the night. Glasgow forced them in to a different game plan and should get credit for that. Wolves weren’t running the sets you expected at times and players were having to improvise with the ball. The effort was always there though, and at several points in the game the determination to see this one through from the Worcester five was clearly visible.

Gordon was the glue that held this performance together however, with another doube double of 26 and 14. The game plan rarely changes for the big man, he is the constant out and the rest know where to look for him. He also always leaves everything on the court at the end of forty minutes and again on Saturday pulled his team through to keep the Eagles honest at the top of the standings.

Worcester Wolves 64 (18, 32, 53) (Gordon 26, Prezzie-Blue 15, Freeman 14)
Glasgow Rocks 61 (13, 37, 52) (Davis 17, Huffor/Cranston 10)