WORCESTER Wolves suffered British Basketball League play-off heartbreak in the capital at the hands of the London Lions in a double-overtime thriller.
Wolves went into Sunday’s second leg trailing London by a single point after Friday’s 85-84 thriller at the University of Worcester Arena and were within a few seconds of progressing to the next stage before being hauled back as the Lions won 94-90 to take the tie 179-174 on aggregate.
A disappointed coach Paul James labelled the defeat as ‘difficult to take’ for his players and the sizeable bunch of travelling fans.
“We were one defensive rebound away from making the semis. Then a freaky shot from the corner extends the match,” he said.
“I’m so disappointed for everyone. London played well but so did we. The players are devastated. I can’t fault their effort – I’m proud of them.”
“We have undoubtedly had some quality players on our roster. It will now be a time for everyone to reflect on what has taken place and to look towards what they want to happen going forward.”
The afternoon in London was a chess match from the outset. Trayvon Palmer cleaned up a George Beamon miss and the latter took the next score for himself.
However, the next seven minutes’ moves all belonged to Lions who pushed 20-14 ahead opening the second quarter. Midway through the period, a Palmer dunk had reversed matters to 30-29 in his side’s favour.
By half-time London had again got the upper hand at 42-37 before Beamon went to work with repeated scores and Dallin Bachynski put in a shift close to the basket.
Worcester’s rotations were dealt a blow when Robert Gilchrist picked up his fourth and fifth fouls in under a minute to end his involvement before the third quarter had expired.
The last ten minutes of regulation time began with Lions ahead at 62-61. The back-and-forth nature of the contest continued until the last few moments when Wolves’ hopes of success were harshly dashed.
London’s Great Britain international Justin Robinson put his side 86-83 in front in the first period of overtime before more Beamon heroics levelled the aggregate score at 87-86 on the day.
London failed to get a shot away on their next possession leaving a three-second window for Wolves to snatch the tie.
On this occasion Beamon’s shot went astray, setting up a further five minutes of added time.
While their opponents were still able to call upon a greater number of senior players, a tiring Worcester team could sustain their exertions no more, securing only a single field goal.
Beamon led the line with 26 points and a battling eight rebounds. Bachynski fought his way to 17 points and 16 rebounds while Michael Ojo and Palmer tallied 15 and 12 points respectively.
London are joined by Leicester Riders, Glasgow Rocks and Bristol Flyers in the hunt for glory at the O2 Arena on Sunday, May 20.
