WORCESTER Wolves were pipped at the death by North West London who ran out 83-74 winners in this National League Division One clash.

The home team started the game with an aggressive full court press yet the Wolves had anticipated this and passed their way out of danger.

Josh Cooprider, Paul Gerald and Colin Chiverton ran in easy baskets while two Cooprider three pointers gave the Wolves a convincing 26-12 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter saw North West London revert to a half-court man to man defence and the Wolves struggled to break through.

Offensively the home team started to find their range and clawed back the deficit to two points as the half time score read 42-40 in Wolves' favour.

The Wolves' coaches were clearly not happy at the interval after watching a 14 point lead being wiped out in a three-minute spell. How Wolves would re-act in the second half was crucial.

Wolves raced into an eight point lead in the first two minutes yet once again the London team pressed the visitors and raced into a seven point lead.

The see-saw battle then saw another twist as Cooprider scored three, three point attempts in two minutes. Solvason also scored from long range as the Wolves went seven points up with two minutes remaining.

The London side refused to accept defeat and as they continued to press the Wolves made some basic errors that the London team capitalised on. On the buzzer, North West London closed the game with a three point attempt.

Coach Jimmy Smith said: "We failed to look after the ball and made some poor decision when they were chasing the game."

Director of Operations Mick Donovan said: "We have to win at least three of our remaining five games to secure a top four finish. A massive opportunity was missed tonight."

The Wolves play league leaders Derbyshire Arrows next week at UCW at 7pm February 15.

Top Scorers: Cooprider 30 points, Chiverton 20 points.