WORCESTER Wolves bounced back in fine style from their three-game slump when overcoming Plymouth Raiders.

A large Bank Holiday crowd at the University of Worcester saw Wolves rampage to a 33-15 first-quarter lead and then fend off a late surge from their visitors.

However, Wolves were unable to follow up the win at Glasgow Rocks yesterday, going down 88-69 to their play-off rivals.

After Tuesday’s defeat against Newcastle, Wolves brought in Sherrad Prezzie-Blue and Arnas Kazlauskas at the expense of Kai Williams and Arturas Masiulis against Plymouth.

Wolves led 5-2 after two minutes before power forward Matt Schneck replied.

Over the next seven minutes, Plymouth could only muster a couple of baskets from the field while having to watch Worcester race to 25 points with 14 from stalwart guard Alex Owumi.

After Owumi’s second triple, Wolves led 19-6 and Raiders called for a time-out.

Owumi nailed another straight from the restart before Masiulis joined the fray and made it 30-10.

Three minutes into the second period, Masiulis swatted away a shot attempt from point guard Drew Lasker and, a moment later, sank his own shot to increase the lead to 43-21.

The hosts' cushion stayed steady with Williams regaining his scoring touch to tally Wolves’ final five points and move the scoreboard to 52-32.

But it was Wolves' turn to misfire on offence in the second-half as their opponents turned the defensive screw.

Five points from Owumi and three from Masiulis were the only reply to a healthy 19 for Raiders. Lasker sandwiched a three-pointer among two close-range makes and the Plymouth run was bolstered by a triple from Jamal Williams, the elder brother of Kai, to reduce the arrears to 61-51.

The deficit was further reduced after a burst of activity from centre Andreas Schreiber.

After notching another score, the game stood at 67-60 and coach James called for a time-out with seven minutes left.

Prezzie-Blue floated home the ball to steady the ship before Masiulis and Schneck exchanged scores.

Owumi confidently sank his sixth three-pointer to widen Wolves' advantage to 75-62.

Playing only a six-man rotation due to injuries, a tiring Plymouth team were unable to respond.

Late triples from Kazlauskas and Ocitti helped increase the margin of victory to 89-69.

James said: “It was good to break the cycle of defeats.

“We came out with a lot of passion and commitment and started to play the way we should as a team.

"We shot the ball well in the first-half, weathered a Plymouth comeback, and shot the ball well again in the last quarter. It was a well-deserved win.”

Owumi and Ocitti registered double-doubles of points and rebounds. Owumi notched 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds with Ocitti making 12 and 14 respectively.

Prezzie-Blue tallied 14 points with Masiulis and Kazlauskas scoring 12 each.