HEAD coach Matt Newby has urged his Worcester Wolves side to start their regular British Basketball League season campaign ‘with fire’ when they welcome Surrey Scorchers to the University of Worcester Arena.
Wolves go into Friday’s clash on the back of a thrilling BBL Cup 90-86 quarter-final win over Newcastle Eagles which sealed a two-legged semi-final against Leicester Riders, who eliminated cup holders London Lions.
With just a minute to go Eagles held sway at 86-85. Worcester reversed the lead before new signing Amir Williams emerged victorious from an on-the-floor tussle with Newcastle seven-footer CJ Gettys, throwing the ball back out to his teammates before sealing victory from the free-throw line.
A tight opening quarter featured eight-point contributions from Jordan Williams and Edwards and the first points in a Worcester vest from Amir Williams as he buffeted past Gettys.
A 25-24 Wolves edge widened into the maximum gap between the teams at 42-32 with three minutes of the first half remaining. The close nature of the contest was restored as Eagles narrowed their hosts’ advantage to 44-41 by the interval.
Worcester’s defensive intensity came to the fore when the combatants returned to the court with Amir Williams standing tall to produce his fourth block of the evening and force a shot-clock violation.
Newcastle three-point successes either side of the third quarter break put them 67-65 ahead. Edwards similarly connected from distance to prevent the visitors’ lead from increasing.
Jordan Williams repeatedly backed down opponents for his own scores or drew double-defenders to leave team-mates open to make their shots. Edwards drilled his fourth triple to give an 80-74 advantage with four minutes left before Eagles replies set up an exciting finish.
Newby praised his players’ composure and said: “Newcastle have been a power in this league for many years and we had to be focused to beat them.
“Our maturity got it done at the end. If we’re mature at critical instances then we’ll stay in good shape. We saw that from the likes of Cortez Edwards and Kofi Josephs, with Jordan Williams putting the team on his shoulders and we saw a great debut from Amir.”
Newby enjoyed watching the battle of the big men and said: “CJ (Gettys)is a great player but I think it’s one-nil to us. Him and Amir show a different dimension to the sport.
“It’s been a guard-orientated league for a long time but, if our game is to move into Europe on a regular basis, it needs to know how to incorporate these big fellows into our game,” he said.
The Wolves coach labelled a two-legged tie with Leicester Riders as the ‘toughest of the tough’.
“Leicester have been consistently at the top for many years so they will be another good challenge for us,” Newby added.