Saturday, January 28, 2006

WORCESTER Wolves produced a convincing 98-84 win at London Capitals to remain top of English Basketball League Division One.

In the early stages of the game, the Capitals' American shooting guard McCue hit two long range three-pointers to give the home side an early lead.

Wolves coach Josh Cooprider immediately swithed his defensive tactics and instructed Andy Harper to take responsibility for marking the dangerous London shooter.

In response Harper then hit two three-pointers himself and was supported at the offensive end of the court by Ty Shaw and Colin Chiverton who also found gaps in the London defence.

At the end of the first quarter the wolves led 22-21 in what had been a very physical first period.

In the opening spell of the second quarter, Lithuanian Valdas Urbabanavicius made his first telling impact by adding another couple of threes for the Worcester side and, following a steal by Matt Collins, Shaw joined the long-range shooters with a three-pointer of his own.

Chiverton was in outstanding form for Wolves as he supported the guards in their attempts to block the London breaks and assisted Shaw with some excellent rebounding.

Following the half-time interval, the Wolves came out in a fiery mood with Harper, Urbanavicius and Shaw scoring regularly for the visitors. Chiverton continued to consolidate the defence yet the Capitals seemed to struggle to respond to the high tempo approach employed by the Wolves.

Ben Potts re-joined the game and scored a three-pointer under intense pressure from a London guard and as the game headed towards the final quarter, Harper scored from the half-way line on the buzzer to totally deflate an effective Capitals side.

Going into the final quarter the Wolves led 74-67.

The final quarter saw the Capitals continue to play effective counter-attacking basketball yet Harper and Shaw continued to find scoring opportunities from the service of Collins.

As the Capitals made a final push to reduce the deficit Collins controlled the play in mid-court and the Wolves took the valuable league points against an impressive Capitals side.

The Wolves are at home on Saturday against Nottingham, before taking on City of Sheffield Arrows in the Trophy Final on Sunday at the Skydome in Coventry.

Following a great demand for tickets for the final, the Wolves have increased their allocation. Supporters can still obtain tickets by calling Susie Hart on 01905-855140.