A TOP-of-the-table encounter saw Worcester Wolves travel south to take on unbeaten London United in English Basketball League Division One.

Wolves started strongly with Matt Collins and Ty Shaw making good drives to the London basket to give the Wolves a five-point lead in the opening three minutes.

The London side then responded through 6ft 7in shooting guard Pete Deppisch who hit four thee-pointers in a two-minute spell.

Despite the close marking of Valdas Urbanavicius and then Danny Williams, Deppisch steered the home side into a 34-21 lead at the close of the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Rob Clarke was introduced for Wolves and the improving forward received some good passes inside the zone that he converted comfortably.

Matt Collins and Danny Walker were playing well at both ends of the court but the Wolves shooting guards were missing scoring opportunities from long range.

However, the Worcester side were managing to reduce the London lead with some fine inside play that saw Shaw scoring some excellent baskets.

On the half-time buzzer, the Wolves had reduced the defecit to 54-47 in favour of London.

The main concern for the Wolves focused upon the three personal fouls collected by both Shaw and the subdued Andrew Harper.

The second-half started with Deppisch coming out for London with more converted three-point attempts.

In response for the Wolves, Urbanavicius finally found his range, scoring 10 points that included two three-pointers from long range.

Shaw and Clarke were both fouled as they went to basket and both players managed to sink their foul shots.

As the third quarter drew to a close, once again it was Deppisch who had the most influence for the home side as another three-pointer saw United lead 79-65.

The final quarter opened with some great shooting from Harper for the Wolves as the London side struggled to contain the American guard.

The reliable Collins also found success as the Wolves closed on United to bring the score to 93-89 with four minutes remaining.

Wolves coach Josh Cooprider then received a technical foul for consistently challenging the decisions of the officials.

This seemed to drive the Wolves on even more as another three-pointer from Harper forced the London side to take a time-out.

It resulted in the home side keeping the ball when they returned to the court in an attempt to wind down the clock.

Shaw collected his fifth foul and had to leave the game after an outstanding contribution at both ends of the court.

The game ended with another three-pointer from the home side and the spirited fightback from the Wolves ended in a narrow defeat.

The scorers were Shaw 26, Urbanavicius 16, Harper 16 and Collins 15.

After the game, Josh Cooprider reflected on the performance and said: "The second-half saw an impressive performance, yet basic mistakes in the first-half and our failure to challenge Deppich proved to be costly.

"Overall, it was a much improved performance and we look forward to playing Worthing at home next week."