WORCESTER Wolves saw their fine run of form come to abrupt halt following an 80-57 defeat away at Manchester Magic on Valentine’s Day.
An even contest saw Manchester just 56-53 ahead entering the final quarter but thereafter the hosts stepped on the gas with a blistering 24-4 run which left Worcester staring at a hammering.
Worcester suffered a similar second-half collapse at Liverpool last weekend only to pull off a late comeback.
And Wolves coach Dean Blake hopes a bad pattern is not developing for his side.
Blake said: “Manchester were hitting everything in the last quarter and we just couldn’t get a run going of our own.
“Last week we had a bad third quarter but we were able to get over it.
“Against a better team this week, we couldn’t. We need to solve the problem.
“We will obviously have to put right what happened, if we want to win the league.”
Magic grabbed the game’s initial seven points before Earl Burgess strong-armed his way to a trio of three-point plays which pushed Wolves 20-17 in front to close the first period.
Wilfrid Santhe produced a solo drive to recommence the scoring and, after watching him slot in a couple more within a minute, Manchester called for a timeout, trailing 26-17.
At three minutes before half-time the hosts again requested a break in the action after Dume Okibe thrust upwards for a powerful one-handed slam and a double-digit 35-24 lead.
Another confident Santhe weave put Worcester 38-32 to the good at half-time.
However, led by playmaker Jack Walton, Magic chipped away at their visitors’ advantage.
By two minutes remaining in the third quarter, as well as laying on a series of scores for teammates, the teenage sensation sank a double of outside shots to push his side 50-48 ahead.
Any chance of a road victory vanished when it took nearly four minutes of the final quarter for Wolves to impact the scoreboard with an Emmanuel Yeboah triple.
That basket would prove to be Worcester’s only points from the field for the rest of the evening as multiple attacks came up empty and repeated turnovers provided easy opportunities for their opponents.
Yeboah led the away scoring with 15 points, with Burgess contributing 11 points and 12 rebounds in a losing cause.
Despite the defeat, Wolves still sit at the top of Pool A of National Basketball League Division One with a 14 win and five loss record, but have a cluster of clubs nipping at their heels.
