Worcester Wolves sent their fans into pre-Valentine’s Day raptures as they stormed back from a late nine-point deficit to snatch a heart-stopping 77-75 win at Surrey Scorchers on Saturday.
Brandon Anderson rampaged to a stunning 17 last-quarter points to finally nudge Wolves 75-74 ahead with just 19 seconds remaining in the match.
When Anderson sank the last of a marathon eleven free-throws during the final period the scoreboard stood at 77-74 with 4.8 seconds to go.
Worcester twice fouled to take time off the game clock and leave ex-Worcester guard Caylin Raftopoulos to split a pair of foul shots to give the chance of a last-gasp winner.
The attempt failed and, fittingly, Anderson rebounded to close out a thrilling fightback victory.
“I’m really pleased for the players,” said Wolves’ coach Matt Newby. “Our team defence caused Surrey a lot of problems late on and gave us the possessions we needed to make our comeback.
“Brandon is very good in clutch situations and we found a way to keep getting him the ball. When someone’s flowing you just have to continue to back them. Today was a massive team effort from everyone.”
An aggressive Mike Parks was in the thick of the early going. Jordan Williams jabbed the tip-off to Lamarr Kimble who duly fed the American centre.
On the very next play Parks got in the way of the ball at half-court and raced to the hoop for his second score.
Williams launched a quarterback assist for Anderson to convert, Josh McSwiggan and Kimble found their range and Scorchers were calling for a time out trailing 13-2 by just three minutes into the evening.
Though ending the first quarter 25-14 to the good, Wolves then began to stagnate.
By half-time the tables had been turned, with the hosts now 42-38 to the good. Only Williams could reply offensively as the gap widened to 61-52 entering the last period.
Consecutive missed lay-ups by Anderson and Kimble and Raftopoulos sinking a demoralising three-pointer prompted a Worcester time out where a line was drawn in the sand, prior to the gripping finish to the contest.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here