WORCESTER Wolves head coach Paul James has urged his side to start games better after a poor first 20 minutes contributed to their 84-80 defeat at the Surrey Scorchers on Sunday.
Wolves failed to follow up the excitement of Friday’s BBL Cup 101-80 win over Manchester Giants with a disappointing reverse which saw them trail for large periods of the match, often by double figures.
Despite the slow start which saw them 20-8 down at one point, James’ men dragged the scoreboard back to a 77-77 tie with just two minutes left.
However, a series of missed free throws and an afternoon of wayward shooting meant they just missed out on victory.
George Beamon topped the scoring with 25 points, with his fellow American Trayvon Palmer notched 15 points. Wolves failed on ten of 27 free throw attempts, a statistic James felt was significant.
“Obviously that sort of return is unacceptable and meant that we didn’t pressure Surrey’s leads when we should have,” he said.
“We dug ourselves too big a hole in the first half and although we very nearly climbed out of it the damage had already been done.”
Wolves will now face the challenge of travelling to high-flying Newcastle Eagles on Friday, before returning to the University of Worcester Arena on Friday, October 27 to greet Cheshire Phoenix.
“We’ll have plenty of work to do this week. We certainly cannot afford to have another first 20 minutes like we did against the Scorchers,” said James.