WORCESTER Wolves head coach Paul James was left satisfied with his team’s pre-season victory over Surrey Scorchers.
If there were doubts over the Wolves’ virtually all-new squad performing as a unit, they were thwarted on Sunday (September 13) at the University of Worcester Arena, with an impressive 79-66 win against the Scorchers.
With only a couple of players returning to last year’s third-place finishers in the British Basketball League (BBL), it was always going to be a challenge to maintain the high standard Worcester fans have come to expect from the club.
But after trailing at half-time, the players eventually settled sufficiently to see off a determined Surrey outfit, with ex-Leicester man Pavol Losonsky leading the statistics with 23 points and 11 rebounds.
It was Surrey who began the scoring, moving 6-0 in front after nailing consecutive three-pointers, but baskets from the returning Disraeli Lufadeju and new signing Perris Blackwell kept matters tied at 12-12 by the end of the first quarter.
Worcester finally nudged ahead at 18-17 when newly-arrived American guard Malik Smith connected from outside the arc, but uncertainty in positioning and hesitancy in passing contributed to a 27-32 interval deficit.
Soon after the break, Smith was twice more on the mark from distance and when his third attempt bounced up off the rim a determined Losonsky was in the right place to tip the ball home.
Losonsky was again in the thick of the action when providing a double of assists for Blackwell to convert into easy buckets, rounding off a 28-15 third quarter streak for the hosts.
The advantage grew greater in the final period, with Smith controlling the tempo and big British forward Ben Eaves revelling in plenty of court time once Blackwell had taken a seat on the bench. Smith and Lufadeju contributed 19 and 15 points respectively, while Eaves and his fellow forward Javier Mugica joined Losonsky in grabbing double-figure rebounds.
Looking ahead of Wolves’ BBL opener against Glasgow Rocks on Friday (September 18), James said: “We don’t know a great deal about the Rocks as, like us, they have signed quite a few new faces.
“But we will improve as players settle and execute our plays. I’m hoping that Jay will have his passport and be cleared to play on Friday.
“We still have a lot to work on, with pretty much a new team.”
Wolves take on the Rocks at the University Arena with a 7.30pm tip-off.