WORCESTER Wolves director of basketball Mick Donovan has spoken out in praise of the club's loyal army of fans.

British Basketball League leaders Poujoulat Heat Guildford were the latest team to inflict defeat on Wolves, but Donovan was keen to highlight the impact the supporters have on the team.

He said: "Once again our fans were fantastic with the noise levels they created.

"The support that they have given the team throughout the season despite our league position has been excellent and is always a massive positive when we have to lick our wounds after a defeat.

Guildford have a four point cushion at the head of the BBL table after Saturday's 93-71 win in front of another big crowd at the University of Worcester sports centre.

It was their fifth consecutive BBL win and their third over the Wolves so far this campaign, as Danny Gilbert and Rod Wellington shared 50 points between them.

Wolves started the better, though, and soon led 5-1 as well as showing some great defensive energy in the early stages.

However, Guildford closed out the final spell of the first period with eight unanswered points to take charge of the contest at 17-10.

Wolves were guilty of some sloppy passing and poor shooting and struggled further when point guard Matt Collins' participation in the game was ended by a facial injury. Collins went to hospital, but was released the same evening, suffering mild concussion and his injury did not need stitches.

After getting in early foul trouble, the visitors out-scored their opposition by 10 points in the second quarter to establish a 44-27 half-time lead.

The main response from the Wolves came from Michael Gayle who replaced the injured Collins.

Wolves refused to give in and while Soloman Sheard and James Noel continued to battle on the boards at both ends it was Guildford who were beginning to dominate the physical encounter.

At this stage, Wolves were showing some resilience and it was Gayle who netted a triple on the third quarter buzzer to make the score 66-50 going into the decisive quarter. Wolves narrowed the gap to 72-61 with some fine long-range shooting from Tom Perkes, but could get no closer as the Heat posted a decisive 19-2 surge that gave them an unassailable 89-63 advantage.

Gilbert and Wellington scored 25 points each for the Heat, while Perkes responded with 22 for Wolves. The impressive Gayle contributed 15 points.

Donovan added: "We had spells when we managed to compete and whenever we closed the gap, we failed to execute at key moments.

"There were some promising individual performances, yet as a group we dropped below our recent improved standards and overall Guildford looked pretty comfortable.

"The end of the season is drawing closer and we have to keep battling until the final game."