WORCESTER Wolves moved one game away from the National Basketball League play-off final following an 86-72 victory against London Stars.
London led 36-34 at half-time and, in a see-saw contest, still held a 54-53 edge at the start of the final quarter, only for Worcester to stage a late comeback at the University of Worcester Arena.
After the match, Wolves players and coaches were presented with the Division One North League winners shield.
Worcester coach, Dean Blake said: “We played with nerves at times.
“But, just as we’ve done many times this season, we settled down and we got into our rhythm.
“London have some very good players on their roster, including ex-professionals, so we had to stay focused to get the job done.
“Receiving the shield and medals for winning the league is recognition for a season of hard work from everyone involved with the Wolves and feels fantastic.
“I’m proud that we’ve carried on our unbeaten record at home.
“There was another big crowd here so we’re looking for everyone and more to come along again in a couple of weeks and push us on to another win.”
Nearly four minutes had elapsed before Worcester moved their side of the scoreboard after London had quickly established a 10-point lead.
Humberto Ferreira bustled forward with a three-point play and took a hand-off from Wilfrid Santhe to reduce the arrears.
Fin Rennie produced a crowd-pleasing behind-the-back pass for Earl Burgess to convert, holding Stars to an 18-12 lead entering the second quarter.
Rennie supplied a burst of action to help push his side ahead, with a corner-court triple and a simple lay-up after intercepting an errant pass.
Once Harry Godwin had driven aggressively to the hoop it became 19-18 in favour of the hosts.
Emmanuel Yeboah debuted on the scoresheet with a three-pointer and Rennie again found his aim.
However, London’s much-travelled veteran Ryan Martin found enough space to sink a three as the half-time buzzer sounded.
Yeboah slotted home a trio of further shots from beyond the arc as Worcester threatened to pull clear.
However, Martin replied in kind on the last play of the third quarter to keep the pot boiling.
Martin again connected from distance to push the visitors in front as the last period commenced.
Godwin and Yeboah ensured the outside exchanges continued while, closer to the basket, Stars’ Bradley Kaboza restricted Wolves’ to a 61-58 advantage with seven minutes to go.
But Yeboah’s hot hand refused to leave him as one-way traffic ensued for the remainder of the match.
Yeboah led the scoring with 25 points, made up of a single free-throw and a stunning eight three-pointers from just 10 attempts.
Burgess and Ferreira patrolled the paint to notch 19 and 17 points respectively, with the former also contributing a hefty 13 rebounds.
Worcester will play either Manchester Magic or Barking Abbey in the play-off semi-finals on Saturday, April 11 with the tip-off at 7.30pm at the University of Worcester Arena
