WORCESTER Wolves remain unbeaten in the National Basketball League Division Two following a 104-77 home victory over Northampton Neptunes.

The familiar starting five of Josh Cooprider, Wayne Robinson, Ty Shaw, Colin Chiverton and Dave Jones took the floor for the Wolves.

Cooprider greeted the Northampton defence with a breathtaking early spell that saw the American shoot four three-pointers in the opening three minutes.

Chiverton picked up some easy points as a result of some excellent assists by Shaw. Northampton responded positively with strong work inside by Joe Reynoso. Wolves ended the first quarter with a 31-29 lead.

The second quarter saw coach Jimmy Smith continue to vary the line-up as he tried to block the visitors' scoring opportunities. This was achieved as Northampton could only manage 15 points.

Wolves did not have the same problem with Shaw and Rikki Prince contributing to the Wolves 31-point total, giving the Worcester side a 60-44 lead at half time.

The second half saw Prince continue to impress and Robinson drove the full length of the court to score an excellent basket that sparked the Wolves offensively. Jones and Prince exploited the Northampton defence as the tireless work of Shaw, Dean Blake and Chiverton on the defensive boards gave the visiting team little opportunity.

As the game entered the final quarter the Wolves lead had been extended to 30 points and the only notable events focused upon the departure from the game of Colin Rhooms, Chiverton and Matt Wurmli with five fouls each. Wurmli's fouls were all collected in a four minute spell.

While the visitors reduced the deficit from the foul line, the defensive play of Shaw and Prince kept the visitors at bay.

Coach Smith also faced the wrath of the referee as he collected a technical foul for his criticism of the officials' performance.

Smith said: "Defensively we played with more intensity than we have done in previous weeks and offensively we had several options that we took effectively."

Top scorers: Cooprider 27, Shaw 19, Chiverton 18, Prince 9, Robinson 9. Top rebounders: Chiverton 10, Shaw 9, Blake 5.

This Saturday Wolves return to Patrons Cup action at home to Liverpool (7pm).