Worcester tighten grip at top and make Trophy semi-finals

Worcester Wolves tightened their grip at the top of the BBL Championship with a confortable 117-60 victory over bottom side Birmingham Knights this weekend.

Stefan Djukic was on fire for the Wolves with 30 points in less than 28 minutes, but double-doubles from Alex Owumi and Will Creekmore cemented their top spot for another week over bottom side Birmingham.

The Wolves also secured the third, and most indecisive, spot of the BBL Trophy semi-finals on Friday with their 86-73 victory at the home of the Newcastle Eagles on Friday night.

Zaire Taylor top-scored for the Wolves with 24 points, but Jamal Williams’ contribution off the bench with 23 points and six rebounds helped the West Midlands side progress in to the next stages of the Trophy competition.

Joining them in the final four were Glasgow Rocks, who made it a double over Manchester Giants this weekend, beating them 85-80 in the BBL Championship at the Emirates Arena on Friday night and another hard-fought victory at Wright Robinson College on Sunday down to the wire, as Sterling Davis’ Rocks held out for a 73-71 win to leave the Rocks just two games away from a Trophy final appearance on their home court come the end of March.

Despite a dominant third quarter form the home side, which saw the Giants turn around a ten point deficit to give them a four point lead in to the final period, it was not enough as Gareth Murray’s basket with nine seconds remaining was the difference between the two sides come the final whistle.

It now means Cheshire Phoenix, Glasgow Rocks, Sheffield Sharks and Worcester Wolves await the semi-final draw come Monday morning.

In the other BBL Championship fixtures, Leicester Riders got back to winning ways with a 98-60 victory over Plymouth Raiders to halt a three-game losing streak – Anthony Downing leading the scoring at the John Sandford Centre with 19 points.

Whilst Durham Wildcats made it a weekend to forget for Jay Marriott’s Plymouth Raiders, who had to take away a second away defeat to the South-West as Lee Davie’s side stay in the hunt for 8th spot with a 89-66 win at Newton Aycliffe – helping heap the pressure back on to Trophy semi-finalists Glasgow who sit in ninth place just one win beneath the North East side.

Surrey United also made it a clean sweep over Birmingham Knights, with their third victory over the Midlands’ side, at home 104-92.