WORCESTER Wolves head coach Paul James praised his players’ character after they defeated winless Manchester Giants 91-84 on Sunday.

The victory was Wolves’ third of the season and helped them recover from their 87-67 loss to Newcastle Eagles last Friday.

After racing to a commanding 56-37 half-time lead, inevitable foul trouble and tiredness caused Wolves to falter as the afternoon progressed.

However, they still managed to hold on for a 91-84 success at the Trafford Sportsdome to move up to seventh in the British Basketball League.

James said: “I’m delighted that we could get a win like this, on the road, in difficult circumstances.

“We began really well, lost our way a little as guys got tired from playing extended minutes, but showed a lot of character to close out the win.”

Andrew Bachman played a starring role in the victory as he was Wolves’ joint top scorer along with Danny Huffor with 21 points.

James was also impressed by the contribution of University of Worcester freshman Mark Jacobs, who was drafted in after forward Jermel Kennedy’s late withdrawal.

“Andrew and Mark did very well,” he said.

“Andrew couldn’t miss in the first quarter and attracted defenders after that.

“Mark took his chance to impress and handled himself well, so he’s one to look out for in the future.”

Wolves opened in stirring fashion by holding their hosts scoreless for four minutes while blasting to sixteen points of their own.

Bachman rattled in an impressive triple of three-pointers in that total and even landed a couple more before the end of the quarter.

Jacobs did not shy away as he spun beneath the basket for his opening score, aiding a 31-16 first-period lead.

When Giants diverted resources to deter further Bachman attacks, Huffor was the next man to flourish, stacking up 12 second-quarter points.

Manchester came back into the contest after the interval. Guard Jerelle Okoro tallied a quick-fire ten points and a double of buckets for former Worcester favourite Callum Jones pulled matters back to single figures at 69-60.

A series of powerful moves from forward Samuel Toluwase and further deft touches from Jones ate into Wolves’ advantage.

By the final minute of the match the scoreboard was at 89-82 and falling, but Giants ran out of time to complete their comeback.

Wolves return to action on Sunday (4pm), when hosting Surrey Scorchers at the University of Worcester Arena in the quarter-final of the BBL Cup.

James added: “We did some good things on Sunday.

“Foul trouble meant we couldn’t be as aggressive as we would have liked on defence, but we certainly showed improvement from recent games.

“We’ll go into Sunday with lots of confidence.”