WORCESTER Wolves hopes of making progress in the British Basketball League’s play-off crashed in Chester last night when they lost 87-77 to Cheshire Jets.

The first leg at the University of Worcester on Saturday had finished all-square on 80-80.

Wolves were only three points down at the end of a free-scoring first quarter yesterday which saw the Jets hold a narrow three-pont lead.

Both defences tightened up in the run-up to half-time but Colin O’Reilly was spearheading Cheshire’s hopes and led them to another one-point advantage as they stretched their lead to 44-40 at the break.

Worcester took charge in the third quarter with their two American stars, Tommy Freeman and Richie Gordon, impressing as they went into the final stanza with a two-point advantage over the Jets, 60-58.

But Cheshire came storming back in the last quarter and, after taking the lead early on, stretched out to end Wolves hopes of making play-off progress by taking the match with 10 points to spare.

Tommy Freeman led the way for Wolves with 22 points, while he was closely followed by compatriot Sherrad Prezzie-Blue with 19.