A MONTH on the road awaits the Worcester Wolves after two defeats in the space of 48 hours to the high-flying London Lions in the British Basketball League and BBL Cup.
Wolves don’t return to the University of Worcester Arena until Friday, December 14 when the Cheshire Phoenix visit and Ty Shaw will be looking for a return to winning ways after two close games with the Lions.
After Friday’s close 71-63 defeat, Wolves headed to the capital on Sunday but were bounced out of the BBL Cup in their quarter-final clash at the Copper Box Arena.
Wolves fought valiantly to convert a first-quarter fifteen-point deficit into a tied match at 74-74 with seven minutes remaining before late lapses led to a 99-89 Lions victory.
Worcester were unable to turn back an early onslaught from the British guard pairing of Justin Robinson and Jordan Spencer as the duo combined for thirteen points in London’s 17-5 lead.
By the last minute of the opening period the host’s advantage had maximised at 33-18. Deshawn Freeman swatted away a shot attempt to spark Wolves’ offense as the second quarter began. A series of Jordan Whelan drives reduced the arrears.
London’s Brandon Peel embarrassingly clanged a dunk off the rim while Filip Kramer set to work with a trio of close-to-the-basket scores to bring the visitors to within a single point at 46-47 with two minutes left in the first-half.
A double of careless Worcester turnovers allowed Lions to take a 53-48 lead into the locker rooms.
Kramer continued to out-graft defenders and Darell Combs produced spin moves to keep the deficit constant at 68-73 entering the final quarter.
After feeding on a crafty assist from Robert Crawford, Combs sped forwards to level the afternoon. But Spencer replied to edge Lions back in front and precipitate Wolves incurring a swift double of technical fouls to turn the afternoon. Six more Spencer points put matters out of reach at 74-82.
Further scores for Combs and Crawford kept the margin of defeat respectable at 89-99.
Combs led the way with 21 points, supported by Kramer and Freeman who lodged identical tallies of 17 points and nine rebounds. Whelan and Crawford posted 15 and 14 points respectively.
Wolves travel down the M5 to tackle the Bristol Flyers on Saturday (November 24) with tip off at 7.30pm.