WORCESTER Wolves made it a double-winning weekend when they followed up victory over Surrey Heat with a hard-fought 83-79 triumph at Durham Wildcats.

This latest win makes it six in a row for Wolves during February and moves them up to fifth place in the British League. It also leaves them brimming with confidence ahead of this weekend’s BBL Trophy semi-final showdown against top-of-the-table Leicester Riders.

Wolves guard Alex Owumi hit successive baskets to move his side into a 9-6 advantage but the Wildcats took the next nine points for what would be their largest lead of the contest.

Worcester power forward Stan Ocitti made a couple of free throws and then rose up to block a shot by Wildcats’ Mike Baldarelli as Wolves edged to a 19-17 first quarter advantage.

Tit-for-tat scoring continued throughout the first-half with Worcester maintaining a slender 40-39 lead by the interval.

Wildcats’ re-took the lead but mid-way through the period the sides were still level at 51-51 before a burst of action from Carlos Fernandez helped Worcester to establish some daylight as they entered the final session 63-53 to the good.

A series of errant shots from both teams left matters at 70-61 to Wolves by which point Durham coach Dave Elderkin called a time out with four minutes remaining. Baskets from Baldarelli and Sam Johnson helped narrow the gap to 72-68 over the next two minutes, ensuring a nervy finale to the game.

With just 37 seconds to go, a couple of Baldarelli free-throws had pulled the Wildcats back to within a single score at 78-75 and it was now the turn of Wolves coach Paul James to call a time out. Owumi then found Worcester veteran Arnas Kazlauskas who coolly floated his shot home for three and finally break the back of the Durham resistance.

James said: “Durham’s position in the league does not reflect their ability. This was a hard-fought game throughout. Both teams moved the ball well, but we picked up our defence in the second-half to get the points.”

James also praised his captain Fernandez’s performance, adding: “This was a great birthday present for Carlos.

“He had a fabulous game. He played the full 40 minutes and took care of the ball for us.”

Owumi led the Worcester scorers with 24 points. Ocitti and Kai Williams were next highest scorers with 18 and 16 points respectively. Birthday-boy Fernandez registered powerful all-round statistics of 14 points, ten rebounds and seven assists.