WORCESTER Wolves' play-off hopes took a dent as they were edged out 103-101 at Solent Stars in their first match of 2005.

Wolves trailed at the end of each quarter and could not claw their way back despite Ty Shaw, 35 points and 13 rebounds in the match, going agonisingly close late on.

The University College Worcester side, seventh in English Basketball League Division One, now face a must-win game at Kingston Wildcats this weekend.

Following a Solent foul on the tip-off, Rob Clarke opened the scoring but after missing three shooting opportunities, Solent finally responded with a basket from Marlin Capers.

Wolves led by a fairly narrow margin for the first few minutes of the quarter, but Solent gradually closed them down and took the lead.

Worcester seemed to lack cohesion early on and trailed 23-13 after seven minutes.

That lead became an impressive 34-19 advantage when Capers sunk two free shots after Shaw conceded a technical foul.

Solent began the next quarter with the same intensity shown before the break, while Worcester continued to struggle to find the basket.

Five minutes in and the deficit had grown to 45-25. Worcester's shooting and rebounding were the main areas of concern, and Solent capitalised on the visitors' shortcomings.

Towards the end of the quarter, the Wolves finally started to compete evenly with Solent, but had left themselves a huge mountain to climb in the second- half as they trailed 57-38.

Worcester appeared to have regained some focus after the break which saw them make inroads into Solent's lead.

Josh Cooprider, who scored 20 points in the match, began to hit more long-range shots, with Shaw also working his way to the basket, but Solent still managed to maintain their lead at 73-52.

However, in the last few minutes of the quarter, as Solent began to slow, Worcester closed the gap further. Rick Solvason sunk a three-pointer on the buzzer and the quarter ended 86-72 in the hosts' favour.

Worcester opened the final quarter looking like a new team. They played with more coordination and focus and at last the points found their way onto the board.

With three-and-a-half minutes gone, Wolves had closed to within eight points of Solent, courtesy of several home infringements.

Three minutes later, Solent led by just five at 98-93 and for the first time in the game a Worcester victory looked possible.

Solent reached the 100-point mark after eight-and-a-half minutes before fouling Solvason and all three free shots were successful.

Worcester kept in touch and, with seconds to go, Shaw took a pass but his shot for two points, which would have taken the game into overtime, missed.