Worcester Wolves 88 Guildford Heat 77 (From Worcester News)

Worcester Wolves 88 Guildford Heat 77

6:50pm Sunday 30th October 2011 in Reports

Worcester Wolves surged to their fourth win in as many matches when seeing off the challenge of Guildford Heat in the opening round of the British Basketball League Cup at the University of Worcester.

Having met each other twice already in the BBL Trophy, there wasn’t much these two teams didn’t already know about each other and, in the end, it was a sensational start to the final quarter which helped Paul James’ side book their place in the next round of the cup.

It was the visitors who began the contest in great fashion, building up a double-digit lead inside four minutes.

While Wolves grabbed the first score of the game, Guildford went on to post 12 points without reply.

However, it wasn’t long before Wolves finally came alive and thanks to an 11-2 run, narrowed the gap to 17-21 by the end of the first quarter.

With Wolves centre Richie Gordon spending much of the first-half on the bench in foul trouble, it was left to the Lithuanian duo of Arnas Kazlauskas and Alex Zimnickas to take control of play close to the basket.

Wolves trailed at 26-30 midway through the second period following a three-point score from Kazlauskas.

This was followed by further long range baskets from Sherrad Prezzie-Blue and Tommy Freeman, and then another from Kazlauskas, putting the home side ahead at 35-33 with two minutes of the quarter remaining.

Coming out of the locker rooms with a slight 41-38 advantage, the Wolves lead increased to 46-38 on the back of a spectacular tear-drop score from Zimnickas that brought the crowd to its feet.

However, the lead ebbed away as the Heat’s England internationals Tayo Ogedengbe and Julius Joseph both hit from beyond the arc to bring the teams level at 51-51.

In the last period, Gordon marked his return to the court by swatting away an Ogedengbe effort, and then raced up court for a neat score from a long Prezzie-Blue assist.

With Freeman coming to the fore with 13 late points, including several acrobatic reverse layups, the Wolves lead peaked at 83-68, before settling to the 88-77 final outcome.

Prezzie-Blue and Freeman led the Wolves scorers with 20 points and 18 points respectively, while Kazlauskas impressed with a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds. Joseph scored highest for the Heat with 27 points.

Wolves chief James was pleased to have once more defeated his former team He said: “It was a bit of a slow start, we were a bit of a nervous. We had the added pressure to repeat our good road form here at home, but we came through well.

“We had to adjust when Richie picked up quick fouls, but you have to have a plan ‘B’, a plan ‘C’, and a plan ‘D’ ready. We have a deep bench and I thought that Alex came in and did a good job, whilst Arnas had a fantastic performance.”

Wolves will now have a couple of weeks without a game before travelling to Mersey Tigers in the last-eight of the BBL Cup on Friday November 11.