SATISFYING was the verdict from Worcester Wolves’ coach Paul James after seeing his new line-up take to the court for their final pre-season warm-up against Surrey Scorchers and wrap up a 79-66 win.
With only a couple of players returning from last year’s third-place finishers in the British League, it was always going to be a challenge to maintain the high standard that Worcester fans have come to expect.
Trailing at half-time, the players eventually settled sufficiently to see off a determined Surrey outfit with ex-Leicester man Pavol Losonsky leading the statistics with 23 points and 11 rebounds.
“We still have a lot to work on, with pretty much a new team,” remarked James. “However, once people worked out their roles more in the second-half, we were able to raise our intensity level.,” said James.
It was Surrey who began the scoring, moving 6-0 in front after nailing consecutive three-pointers.
It would take three minutes until Losonsky opened Wolves’ account and baskets from the returning Disraeli Lufadeju and new signing Perris Blackwell kept matters tied at 12-12 by the close of the first quarter.
Worcester finally nudged ahead at 18-17 when newly-arrived American guard Malik Smith connected from outside the arc, but uncertainty in positioning and hesitancy in passing contributed to a 27-32 interval deficit.
Soon after the break, Smith was twice more on the mark from distance and when his third attempt bounced up off the rim a determined Losonsky was in the right place to tip the ball home.
Losonsky was again in the thick of the action when providing a double of assists for Blackwell to convert into easy buckets, rounding off a 28-15 third quarter streak.
The advantage grew greater in the final period, with Smith controlling the tempo and big British forward Ben Eaves revelling in plenty of court-time.
Smith and Lufadeju contributed 19 and 15 points respectively, while Eaves and his fellow forward Javier Mugica joined Losonsky in grabbing double-figure rebounds.
Wolves begin their regular season against Glasgow Rocks at the University of Worcester Arena on Friday (7.30pm).
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