WORCESTER Wolves face up uphill task to reach the British Basketball League play-off semi-finals after crashing to a 90-53 defeat at Glasgow Rocks last night.

Head coach Paul James described Wolves’ display in the first leg of their quarter-final as a “horror story” as they failed to deal with Rocks’ Great Britain International Kieron Achara.

Glasgow had a quartet of double-digit scorers, with Achara (22 points) and point guard Warren Gillis (20) leading the way.

By contrast, Worcester’s only impactful scorer was Perris Blackwell with 18 points.

Wolves fell behind from the opening tip, trailed 27-17 after the first quarter and were 49-32 in arrears by half-time.

Coach James said: “Early on we didn’t deal well with Achara. From there it only got worse.

“We were continually chasing the game, which didn’t allow us to settle.

“Too many of our players had poor shooting nights, while Glasgow stayed steady.”

He added: “It was a horror-story, but on the positive side it is only half-time in a two-leg tie.

“Obviously we will need a big turnaround tomorrow, but we have got to believe that we can do a lot better.”

The return leg takes place at the University of Worcester Arena tomorrow (4pm).

Midway through the first quarter Achara had already notched nine points, helping Rocks into a 19-11 lead.

Jay Couisnard and Ben Eaves both hit three-pointers to give the visitors hope.

However, the gap widened through the second period as numerous shots missed the target.

By the interval only 11 of Wolves’ 34 attempts had been successful, while Rocks continued to make the majority of their own.

It was a more even third period as both teams tightened their defences, slowing the scoreboard to 66-45.

It was the last quarter that proved to be Wolves’ final undoing as they stalled in attack.

It took Wolves five minutes of the fourth quarter before for Wolves scored through Blackwell.

A few seconds later the Worcester big man connected again, before Rocks put a strong defensive lid over the basket.

In the meantime, Rocks took their chances with ease, enjoying a 24-8 blitz to sink Wolves into a big hole at the end of the first leg.