A CRACKING Easter weekend of basketball awaits Worcester Wolves as Tony Garbelotto’s men look to bounce back from a 106-83 defeat at free-scoring Plymouth Raiders.
Wolves tackle Bristol Flyers at the University of Worcester Arena on Friday before a trip to Leicester Riders 24 hours later (both games tip off at 7.30pm)
Coach Garbelotto will look for his side to learn from Sunday’s trip to Devon when they were unable to slow down a rampant Raiders team.
Half-time arrears of 37-50 only worsened after the break with multiple turnovers and wayward shooting taking their toll.
Jordan Whelan came on from the bench in just the second minute of the match to supply a pass for Deshawn Freeman to convert and drove through a gap for a 6-2 lead.
But this was as good as it got for Wolves. With three minutes remaining in the first quarter the teams were level at 12-12, and by the close of the period Plymouth were 22-18 to the good.
Raiders’ back-up centre Shawn Shelton had no difficulty in dancing to a trio of scores as the second quarter began, stretching the advantage to 31-18.
At the 12th attempt a Wolves three-pointer finally dropped through the net. Despite the scarcity of long-range successes, a further seven first-half attempts were taken, with just one more finding the target.
Worcester’s difficulties were typified on their last pre-interval possession as Robert Crawford gave up the ball after bustling into his defender.
Crawford gained some redemption by scoring a quick seven points to give brief hope for Wolves as they cut the deficit to six points, trailing 51-57, four minutes into the second-half, before Plymouth stepped back on the gas to roll to a dominant 80-60 lead entering the final quarter.
With Worcester’s turnover total once more edging higher, and chances to put the ball through the hoop not being taken, Raiders were left to coast to an easy victory.
Freeman toiled throughout the afternoon for a 22 point/10 rebound double-double performance.
Lester Prosper scored 16 points, with Whelan and Alex Navajas contributing 13 points apiece.