Wolves 93 Heat 87 after OT

BBL Trophy group 4: 1 October 2011

New haircuts for Sherrad Prezzie-Blue and Carlos Fernandez were the standout thing from the warm-up and drills. That and the Wolves looking up for it and sharp, with Worcester’s new Point Guard Prezzie-Blue firing in three after three during the drills. A good team spirit was evident on campus. Watts also had his eye in from three from the corner, and that accuracy was later to translate in to the game.

Guildford forwards Michael Martin and Julius Joseph were expectantly prominent during the Heat’s warm-up.

Starting five for Wolves – Prezzie-Blue, Freeman, Watts, Gordon and Zimnickas.

Starting five for Heat – Martin, Joseph, Ogedegebe, McLemore and Shingles.

It was a frenetic start to the first game of the BBL season for these two sides, but against what was clearly a well marshalled defence, Worcester worked the ball around well. But it was the Heat who began to make most of their possession as they took a six point lead, with Martin looking ominous for Guildford. Riche Gordon gave away two fouls in quick succession as the Heat amassed their lead and he made his way to the bench.

The Wolves responded with a Prezzie-Blue three, but they were giving up too many points in defence as the Heat exposed a Gordon shaped hole. Worcester tried from long range to get back in contention but Watts was coming up short. Freeman however, found his range, and nailed a three from both corners in successive possessions.

The momentum felt like it was swinging back Wolves way, and Joseph was called for a charging foul on the next Guildford possession to give Worcester the ball. Gordon was back in the game with two minutes left in the first. As was to become the story of the game, Wolves had given Heat too many chances from the free-throw line through infringements, and they used this time to take a 24-17 lead in to the second ten.

Fernandez was involved for Wolves early in the second. Kaslauskas was guilty of very slow reactions as Guildford scored from the rebound, but he redeemed himself charging down the lane to set up Gordon for his first points in a Worcester uniform. Worcester fans were then treated to a great break from Prezzie-Blue which saw him deceive the oncoming defender with a behind the back dribble, to set up Freeman at the net.

Wolves clearly stepped up the tempo and the aggression in their play, with Freeman in particular going hard at the Heat defence. A steal from Fernandez and a Kaslauskas two was followed by a block from Gordon and a score from Watts. The home side were back within two and were much more solid in defence. And they kept coming, with a bounce pass assist from Gordon to Kaslauskas and Watts looking like he wasn’t going to miss, as he stepped up to level the game from the free-throw line.

Kaslauskas was proving to be a good out for the Wolves as they looked to work the ball to the basket, and he won the ball on the rebound to give it back to Prezzie-Blue who then dropped a second chance three. The score gave Worcester the lead for the first time since very early in the game.

Jones took over Point Guard duties as we saw out the second, and Freeman nailed a three to add to what was an impressive half for the former Bobcat. Worcester’s new import shooting guard racked up 15 points in the first twenty. The sides went in to the break level on 40 points.

The third was a tale of the Heat taking the ball to the free-throw line almost every time they entered the Wolves’ paint. Credit had to go to the way that Guildford were inviting the foul however, and Brandon Shingles was putting on a master class as he hung in the air waiting to get the contact. The Wolves were making use of their own possession, but they weren’t able to get away from the Heat who were trading baskets with their hosts.

It became a case of one foul call too many for the home fans, as a great block by Gordon drew the call from the officials and boos rang out around the hall.

Tommy ‘Threeman’ was Wolves go to man again as he put down another one from long range, but Martin joined Shingles on the top of his game with two quick baskets.

After riding the wave of infringements, Wolves started to fight back from the ten point lead that the shots from the line had given the Heat. A Guildford foul on the perimeter gave Kaslauskas three goes from the line of which he netted two; and a superb block from Jones set up Zimnickas at the rim.

The Wolves called a time-out and as they returned to the court they started to get a few calls go their way. Martin was sat down for fouls called against him, and the lead was down to just four with ten minutes left in the game.

The fourth opened up with a heartbreaking three from the visitors which would have made many of the home crowd think the game was slipping away. But Worcester’s players were not entertaining a defeat. After trading scores in the first five Worcester had not made any ground, but after a failed possession from the Heat, the visitors seemed to set up their own screen for David Watts and he eased passed two defenders for a score. Shortly after, Watts, who had been shooting well all evening, downed a three to draw the Wolves level. Watts lifted his arms asking the crowd to make some noise, which they did.

A Freeman score in which he drew the foul capitalised on the home fans’ excitement as the chance for a winning start to the season was on. An almighty scrap under Worcester’s basket saw them win the rebound, and they looked to be getting on top defensively as the Heat were struggling in areas they had been stronger in for most of the game.

The fourth continued to ebb and flow, Worcester had a four point lead thanks to great work from captain Jones, but the Heat came back again and with 82 points a piece it was anybody’s game.

It was the Wolves who had the chance to finish things with a ball to be put in from the sideline with pretty much a second on the clock. After a time-out to discuss the play, Prezzie-Blue tried the Alley-oop but Watts couldn’t convert, and as Freeman followed in at the buzzer, no dice.

So it was overtime, and a five minute period for either side to make it 1-0 for the season.

A Heat offensive foul sent Freeman to the line, and he downed both efforts in a great night for him. Then Prezzie-Blue drew a foul and netted one. The Heat then got their chance from the line, but the crowd continued to play their part with Ogedegebe missing all four attempts from two visits as the noise seemed to affect him.

With the tension high we saw errors from both sides, Zimnickas failed to get a shot off as the clock ran down and ended up sending the ball to the backcourt, then came a travelling infringement from the Heat and a ball through the legs ran out of play for Worcester.

But Worcester were able to put three points between them and the visitors, with a nice assist from Freeman to Zimnickas contributing to that lead.

With 33 seconds left in overtime, Worcester led by three.

Worcester kept possession well and drew two fouls from the Heat as they ran down the clock and frustrated Guildford. A psyched Tommy Freeman fittingly finishing things off with two out of two in what was a big game, from a big player.

The clock ran down to give the Wolves a 93-87 win.

Coach James will be delighted with the character his side showed. It would have been very easy to let the frustration build in the third when they couldn’t claw things back and were getting foul after foul called against them. The defence stuck to its task on a difficult night against tough opposition, and the hard work and concentration ultimately paid off.

Wolves – Freeman 29, Prezzie-Blue 20, Watts 18
Heat – Ogedengbe 22, McLemore 17, Joseph 15