Plymouth Raiders 81, Worcester Wolves 90

WORCESTER Wolves bounced back in style from a disappointing home defeat against Cheshire Phoenix to seal a victory against bottom-of-the-table Plymouth Raiders in the British Basketball League.

Raiders’ player-coach Daryl Corletto dazzled with 15 points in the first quarter but, on this occasion, Worcester shackled him sufficiently so he could only contribute nine points thereafter.

The match stayed tight until late in the final period when the balanced attack of Wolves meant they pulled clear of their tiring hosts.

Perris Blackwell led the line with 20 points and 14 rebounds but, unlike several recent games, was not left to battle alone.

Javier Mugica gave an all-round display with 11 points, nine rebounds and five assists, while guards Josh Cameron and Jay Couisnard weighed in with 16 and 14 points.

Couisnard and Cameron opened their scoring accounts with triples, helping their side to a 16-14 lead after six minutes.

It was from here that Corletto exploded into life with eight unanswered points in less than a minute to prompt a Worcester time out.

Cameron restarted proceedings with another outside success before Corletto continued his outburst to put Raiders in front at 31-28.

By half-time, however, Wolves had edged back in front at 48-45, a lead that would be extended to 58-50 by midway through the third period once Mugica had debuted his name on the scoresheet.

Until the start of the final period, Plymouth had showed efficiency at the free throw line by converting all 17 of their foul shots.

However, Dante Williams was first to see an attempt go awry, triggering a series of misses from his team mates.

Raiders showed similar uncertainty in their ball-handling as players tired.

A couple of interceptions of flagging point guard Josh Wilcher by Couisnard stood either side of a confident blocked shot by a leaping Blackwell.

Playing the full 40 minutes had by now taken its toll on Corletto as his earlier accuracy departed. There was no such let down for Worcester as head coach Paul James rotated his troops to victory.

James said: “It was a good win. We needed a reaction. We moved the ball well on attack with balanced scoring and, most importantly, after the first quarter, we knuckled down to some serious defence.”