Worcester Wolves 119

HULL 68

A LARGE crowd assembled at the UCW Sports Centre to see Worcester Wolves return to National League Division Two duty in the first game of the 'double header' weekend against Hull.

Wolves were without Keith Jarrett and Rikki Prince yet were eager to consolidate their top of the table position.

Wolves started at a blistering pace with the American duo Ty Shaw and Josh Cooprider scoring at will against the Hull defence.

In the opening quarter, Cooprider had scored 15 points and Shaw 12 as the home team raced into a 40-8 lead.

The second quarter saw the visitors offer more resistance yet Colin Chiverton and Shaw maintained the Wolves onslaught and at half time the Worcester team had secured a 57-18 advantage.

The major challenge for coach Jimmy Smith lay in motivating the players for the second half of a game that had been secured.

Cooprider and Dave Jones continued to succeed from the 3 point line and Chiverton was happy to collect rebounds from any missed shots.

Shaw was relentless with his drives to basket and the 7ft 1in forward Marsh from Hull recorded several fouls in his attempts to block the energetic American.

As the game drew to a close all of the Wolves players were managing to improve their personal scoring rates and a spirited Hull team refused to give up.

Scorers: Ty Shaw 34, Colin Chiverton 29, Josh Cooprider 27.

HULL 63

WORCESTER WOLVES 124

Worcester made the trip for the second league encounter against Hull in confident mood following the 50 point win the night before.

In the opening quarter Dave Jones took the early initiative and scored 4, 3 point attempts in the first 10 minute spell.

Josh Cooprider and Wayne Robinson added to the 3 point successes as the Wolves raced into a 35-20 lead.

Once the second quarter started Ty Shaw made his first real impression offensively scoring several drives to basket bringing a case of 'deja-vu', for the Hull team following Shaw's 34 points haul the day before.

Rick Solvason then joined the action and responded with two 3 point efforts that closed the first half with the Worcester side leading 62-28.

The struggling Hull side continued to plug away in the second half yet the relentless bombardment from the Wolves, left the home side somewhat dispirited as the game drew to a close.

As Wolves returned home the weekend had seen them score 243 points in two games to consolidate their place at the top of the division.

Top scorers for the Wolves: Ty Shaw 26, Dave Jones 21, Josh Cooprider 20.

Coach Jimmy Smith said: "It was a solid performance in both games. The players were given specific targets and responded positively. Saturday should prove to be a much tougher test."

This Saturday North West London are the visitors to Worcester for the top of the table clash at UCW 7pm.