THERE will be no British Basketball League Cup run for Worcester Wolves this season as they lost in the first round to Sheffield Sharks at the University of Worcester.

But the match was an entertaining spectacle which marked the return of American Anthony Paez and the arrival of Vidantis Uzkuaritis from Lithuania.

Paez went on to top-score for Wolves with 21, while Uzkuaritis starred with spectacular long-range shooting as he amassed 14 personal points.

It was an excellent debut as he only arrived in England in the morning and was introduced to his team-mates just minutes before the game.

Sheffield raced into a first-quarter advantage of 27-13, aided by a run of nine unanswered points early on.

Great Britain international Chris Sanders was in impressive form and he scored 23 points overall, while James Whyte contributed 20.

Wolves settled better in the second period and, with Harry Disy to the fore, they pegged the lead back to just four points at half-time.

Disy ended the game with his first double-double for Wolves, scoring 19 points and making 12 rebounds.

The revival continued in period three and both teams appeared determined to reach the second round at Guildford.

Wolves’ fans were on their feet as spectacular moves from Paez and Disy ended in flying dunks.

Will Funn joined in with two post-to-post mazy runs on his way to a fine game score of 16 points, nine rebounds and five assists.

Wolves’ all-out attack saw them go into the lead early in the fourth quarter as the all-action Uzkuaritis sunk a huge three.

This, however, was the catalyst not for Wolves to go on and win the game but for Sheffield to explode into action.

The visitors produced a match-defining run of 16-1 as Wolves tired from their catch-up efforts in the previous two quarters.

The home team did not score for four-and-a-half minutes and conceded two technical fouls as they battled hard.

They were also in deep foul trouble as Funn, Disy, Justin Brown and Skouson Harker all left the game early with five personal fouls each.

Wolves managed a 9-2 run to take the game to within five points but the ultra-cool Whyte kept his nerve as he netted from the free throw-line to establish a final margin of nine points.

For the second week running, Wolves can be pleased they got into a winning position but coach Harker must be equally disappointed they did not complete the job.

The schedule has not been kind to his team as they travel to one of the joint leaders Everton Tigers on Friday and entertain high-flying Newcastle Eagles on Saturday (7pm).