Wolves advance to quarter-finals

Worcester and Guildford met again, this time in BBL Cup action Saturday night. Richie Gordon got in to the Halloween spirit during the pre-game announcements sporting a wolf mask as he was introduced to the crowd. And that was the most prominent part he was to play in the first 30 minutes of the game as he got in to early foul trouble and sat out a large part of the game.

Starting fives: Wolves: Freeman, Gordon, Prezzie-Blue, Kaslauskas and Fernandez.

Heat: Martin, McLemore, Ogedegebe, Shingles and Lutaaya.

The Heat had the lion share of possession early on and when a technical was called against Gordon, they were able to open up a five point lead on the hosts. The visitors were in aggressive mood as McLemore cynically slapped the ball away from Fernandez at the basket. The Heat player was pleased with his efforts and maybe rightly so as the Wolves’ small forward couldn’t convert from the line.

Missed baskets followed from both sides before Joseph sunk one from the perimeter giving his side a ten point advantage. Kaslauskas responded with a big three of his own and the home crowd came to life.

Kaslauskas was lively in the first and drew another foul in the key from the Heat, this time from Mukole. The Lithuanian took one of the two. Worcester were coming back strong at the Heat and a lovely break from Freeman and a pass behind him inside let in Zimnickas for the two. Then Wolves broke up the next two Heat attacks and Prezzie-Blue rushed the ball to the other end of the court allowing two quick scores for the home side. The second an assist to Watts whose lay-up had the Wolves back within a point.

With Kaslauskas looking determined and the Heat still coming both teams added scores before the end of the quarter with the Heat leading 21-17 after ten.

The home side opened the second period with two nice plays. Good use of the screen got the ball out to Prezzie-Blue in the open and he dropped in three from distance, Jones had added a nice lay-up prior to the long range effort. But the Wolves were not able to eat in to the visitors lead and in fact they stretched it to seven with a lovely three of their own from Joseph.

Coach James was rotating his five frequently and his players showed a good ability to play in a different position as required.

A travelling call came against the Heat and Worcester’s Director of Basketball spoke to the referee, presumably saying it wasn’t the first time they had committed the violation. Amusingly, the word in the ear had an effect as the Heat were called for travelling on their next three possessions.

Wolves were again using the screen well but they were not making the most of their possession at the net, but with good defence they had several chances and clawed the lead back. A shot from distance from Prezzie-Blue nailed three and we had a one point game again.

A rare Gordon appearance saw him get the chance to give the hosts the lead for the first time in the game, but he missed the lay-up. At the other end Shingles drew a foul in the act of shooting, something he did time and time again when the Heat last visited campus. And as the Heat extend the lead slightly again, Freeman got his first real chance in the open and got nothing but net from downtown as this contest continued to be a close one.

A timeout was called in the game with three minutes left in the half after another foul on Shingles. He returned to miss both efforts from the line and the home side did then grab the lead for the first time in the game, as a big half for Kaslauskas saw him drain another three.

Worcester continued to have the edge on the court and would go in to the half with a big psychological edge if they could take the lead in with them after a lot of Heat possession. Worcester’s point guard Prezzie-Blue exploited the space inside on two occasions getting to the basket and scoring and drawing the foul on the second trip down the lane. Raftopolous called the timeout and we returned to action to watch Sherrad take the ‘and one’.

It was a great second quarter for the home side. The Heat had plenty of their own chances, but the Wolves were clinical late on and were successful in upsetting Guildford’s game (41-38 at the half). It was clear that if the home side could get all facets of their game working well they could take this one away from the visitors in the second half. Prezzie-Blue led the Worcester scoring with 13 at the break.

The beginning of the third saw great D from the Wolves with Kaslauskas in the faces of the opposition. Another three point play from a busy Zimnickas saw Wolves put eight points between them and the Heat. Guildford were coming up against a brick wall time and time again, Worcester’s defence were playing close to the basket and sometimes it felt like three or four men came inside to smother the man with the ball trying to get two.

Kaslauskas continued his best game in a Wolves shirt to date as he nailed another three. But despite a lovely jump shot from Fernandez also adding points, the Heat were still chipping away as best they could and two big 3s from Joseph and Ogedegebe got it back to a three point game.

It seemed that the outside shot was the trade off that the Wolves were allowing when playing such a tight game inside. It had been a tactic that had worked so far, but Guildford were asking questions and Joseph again took his opportunity in the open to level the game with another long range basket.

It stayed level for a while as both sides failed to do much in possession until forceful play from Zimnickas inside saw him pivot and score. Excellent Heat defence continued to stifle the home side though and they were forced on three successive possessions to take long range efforts as the shot clock ran down. Despite all the changes being made in the five to that point by Coach James a change felt overdue for the five on the court at the time, as it just wasn’t happening for them.

The game continued to ebb and flow and Raftopolous was animated courtside. With just one second left Watts threw a fantastic pass from mid-court to Jones under the basket, but his lay-up unluckily rolled around and came back out.

The sides were level at the half on 55 in what was a fascinating contest. Both sides clearly knew a lot about each other’s game and whoever could successfully adapt their play in the final quarter would take it.

And that team was Worcester who came out and bossed the fourth. Great vision from Freeman put in Prezzie-Blue who hung around, drew the contact and scored. The point-guard took the ‘and one’ again. The home side were strong under their own basket too as a great block from Gordon saw a quick transition and a score on the alley-oop from Gordon from a Prezzie-Blue pass.

Prezzie-Blue and Callum Jones were the aggressors for Wolves, particularly their American point-guard who was successfully managing the game in the fourth. The former Worthing Thunder star laid on another assist for Gordon who scored with the lay-up.

Then Tommy Freeman stepped up with a late scoring run, finding room to sink three. Wolves had built up a ten point lead as Freeman went at the Heat again and nailed a fantastic three as he was flattened in the process. He took the extra point after a timeout and on the next possession played in Jones with a bounce pass assist for two.

Wolves had a lead of 12 with less than five left in the game.

Exceptional defence from the home side added insult to injury. Heat scored a three but it came after the buzzer as the shot clock ran down so the score was cancelled out (harsh but fair).

Kaslauskas was enjoying himself and Gordon was making a nuisance of himself as the former set up the latter for another two. Worcester were coming up big in the final ten.

The Heat were looking for anything they could get, but it wasn’t happening, Prezzie-Blue and Jones continued to force the issue and get chances from the line. When Sherrad took his second, Worcester were up by 15 and he had 18 for the game.

The Heat finally registered but Freeman was in the mood to finish them off and scored four points in quick succession.

It had been a versatile performance from many of the Wolves’ players and there is a lot of talent in this squad that if harnessed correctly has a lot of potential.

The Heat got in to team foul trouble and Worcester ran down the clock in possession and drew the fouls. Freeman took two from the line getting nothing but net again and showing what an accurate shooter he is.

Worcester opened up the biggest lead of the night at 14 points and the Heat found themselves scrapping in vain with Julius Joseph rolling around on the floor and taking the ball out of bounds. The Heat got frustrated as another foul was called and Ogedegebe got heated claiming Kaslauskas had been using his elbows,. The referee wasn’t interested, Kaslauskas went to the line and Joseph was sat down. A big game for Joseph but to no avail.

Opposition players talked amongst themselves as Kaslauskas waited to finish things off. The game ended with Gordon slapping the ball away from the unhappy Ogedegebe at the net and the buzzer sounded with the ball in Freeman’s hands. It was smiles all round for the guys in the Worcester uniforms.

Wolves 88-77 Heat

Prezzie-Blue 20, Freeman 18, Zimnickas 15, Kazlauskas 15

Joseph 27, Martin 16, Ogedengbe 11

Wolves will now face Mersey Tigers at the quarter-final stage of the BBL Cup in Knowlsley on 11 November.