WORCESTER Wolves won the first title of their eight-year BBL history with an 83-76 Trophy final victory over Glasgow Rocks at their opponents’ Emirates Arena.
The Wolves’ heroes were the game’s most valuable player Jamal Williams and 6ft 9ins centre Will Creekmore Williams came off the bench to score 26 points, including three three-pointers, while Creekmore bagged 22, added 15 rebounds and was a force that Glasgow never found a way of containing.
The big man drew 10 fouls and wore down Rocks’ defence over the 40 minutes. Alex Owumi and Zaire Taylor added 11 points each.
Wolves had to work hard for their first piece of BBL silverware by a team that fed on the emotional lift of a 5,000 strong crowd.
Rocks showed huge opportunism, splashing eight three-pointers, including several when Wolves threatened to take control of the game.
The visitors struggled to impose themselves in the first-half on a team seven places below them in the BBL table.
As hard as Owumi and Creekmore worked to subdue Rocks, Daniel Northern, Chris Johnson and Gareth Murray were determined to contribute at the other end.
When Murray, who led the home scoring with 23 points, scored a three to give them a 25-15 lead in the first quarter, it sparked Owumi and Creekmore into greater efforts.
Owumi hit a three and although Creekmore managed only four points in the second quarter, he drew four fouls as Rocks struggled to contain his power close to the hoop.
Wolves closed the gap to just three with eight points off the bench from Williams, only for Murray to splash two more threes and a two to keep the hosts in front 44-38.
Within 25 seconds of the second-half starting, Creekmore drew a third foul from Northern, who was withdrawn to the bench.
A three and a three point play by Williams narrowed the gap to just four and Wolves had eight free throws in the next two minutes, but only hit three of them.
But Taylor drove and dished to Kai Williams, whose short range jump shot gave Wolves a 56-55 lead with 46 seconds left of the third quarter.
Taylor then drove for two more to cap a five minute, 14-4 run for Worcester that put their noses in front with 10 minutes remaining.
Murray hit two more threes at the start of the last quarter as Rocks led 65-64 but a two by Creekmore, seven points from Jamal Williams and four from Taylor featured in a decisive 13-5 run.
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