JOSH Cooprider praised his players' work ethic after Worcester Wolves lifted the first piece of major silverware in their brief history.

Wolves, who were formed just six years ago, beat City of Sheffield Arrows 97-82 at the Coventry Skydome yesterday to claim the EBA National Trophy and the head coach was understandably delighted with his team's triumph.

He said: "Before the game, all we wanted to do was to play the game exactly how we have played it all year. Thankfully, this was the case and I am delighted with the win.

"We didn't want the nerves and new experiences of playing in a cup final to really affect us.

"We came out and really set the tempo and they were playing catch up from there on in. I thought we had a great first quarter and did OK in the second.

"Even though they came back at us a bit in the second, we still won it by a point.

"Second-half, we got a little bit tired because I kept the first five on for a bit longer than normal because they were playing so well and I didn't want to ruin the flow of the game.

"They came back at us again in the third quarter but we showed our strength in the final quarter and pulled away."

The fact this is Cooprider's first year in charge of Wolves made the victory even more special for him.

He added: "It is my first year as a coach at the club so to win the Trophy is the best case scenario for me. I put a structure in place and try and motivate the players, but they are the ones who do all the hard work. This is not a celebration of today -- this is a celebration of all the hard work we have put in since August 23 when the season started."

The head coach is now looking for his team to build on their impressive win and add a league title to it.

He said: "Hopefully, this will be the start of some really good things for us. We are trying to position ourselves so that we have a chance to win the league and, hopefully, we will be peaking in the play-offs and we can give ourselves a chance to win there too."

Andy Harper, voted the game's most valuable player, said: "Obviously it feels amazing to have won the National Trophy with Worcester.

"City of Sheffield Arrows are a tough side, they played well and it was a difficult game. We are all just delighted to have won."