Worcester Wolves' brave National League basketball play-off challenge came to an end when they lost 104-95 against North West London.

The University College Worcester sports hall was packed to capacity long before the players were introduced for what proved to be an exciting encounter.

The North West London team had won nine out of their last ten games and included several fast and exciting guards and forwards, most notably Malik Sivens and Jay Ataha.

Wolves were at full strength and in buoyant mood following their emphatic win previous week.

Straight from the tip off, Colin Chiverton fed Josh Cooprider who raced to the three point line and scored a long range three point attempt.

Exchanged

Rick Solvason then added a lay-up and as baskets were exchanged in the first quarter it was Paul Gerald who was giving the visitors most concern with some penetrating drives to basket.

Alarmingly for Wolves, however, was the domination of Baptiste at both ends of the court with his outstanding rebounding.

As the first quarter drew to a close Chiverton missed from close range and the London side edged ahead 25-19.

The pulsating pace did not drop in the second quarter as Cooprider and Solvason continued to shoot well from long range yet the visitors were relentless with their fast breaking play and powerful rebounding.

Solvason closed the quarter with two three point efforts as Wolves were hanging on with the half time interval showing a 51-45 lead for the visitors.

Following the half-time break when the hundreds of fans drew breath, the fast tempo returned with Cooprider again shooting well despite intense pressure from Sivens. Gerald continued to battle against the bigger London forwards and at one stage the referees had to intervene when the battle became too physical.

Chiverton also broke out of his subdued spell and began to find gaps offensively.

Going into the final quarter the game continued to show attacking play with both teams scoring at will.

Cooprider and Chiverton missed some key foul shots yet Wolves still managed to reduce the deficit to four points with four minutes remaining.

Once again Sivens broke free from Wolves defence to stretch the Londoners lead back to nine points.

As the whistle blew for full time the home crowd gave the spirited Worcester side a standing ovation yet the bigger and faster North West London were worthy winners and will go on to play Derbyshire in the final at the National Indoor Arena.

Cooprider had an outstanding game and top scored with 33 points and the impressive Solvason scored 29 points.

Despite not being a main points scorer the determined play of Gerald was also a key feature of Wolves play.

Wolves Director of Operations Mick Donovan said: "Overall, it's disappointing not to be going to the final yet the reality is that we could not protect the backboards against the best rebounding team in the league. The crowd were remarkable with their support.

"We continue to learn and will continue to build on the strong base that we have created."

n Colin Chiverton of Worcester Wolves and a Sports Studies Student at UCW has been selected for the English Universities team.

This week he is playing games in Edinburgh against the Welsh, Irish and Scottish Universities teams. It is his second season with the national side.