3-WAY TIE AT THE TOP AS WOLVES FAULTER

By Bradley Gains
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Updated: November 4, 2013

Worcester Wolves’ unbeaten start to the season came to an end this weekend and they were then joined at the top of the Championship standings by Leicester and Sheffield, with all three teams on a 6-1 record.

Paul James’ side were aiming for a seventh straight victory in the league in their BBL TV clash with Plymouth but it was the Raiders who came away with the two points. The visitors launched a 3-point tirade, in the final quarter, led by Louis Sayers and Trevor Setty to stun the Wolves. The latter finished with 5-9 from beyond the arc on his way to a game-high 27 points in the 74-71 success.

24 hours later and it was to be an unprecedented second straight defeat for Worcester as Leicester delivered a knockout blow to progress to the semi-finals of the BBL Cup. Once again, their opponents got hot from downtown at a pivotal stage with Jorge Calvo nailing two triples to spark a 14-0 burst for the Riders.

Worcester had seized control early on and opened up a 12 point advantage in the third only to see the hosts hit back to win 74-62 and remain on course to defend one of three trophies.Â Having to turn their focus to the league proved a challenge early on for Leicester and a slow start in Durham saw them trail 37-29 at the break.

However, normal service for the champions was resumed in the second half as a dominant third quarter propelled the Riders to a 75-58 success as they recorded a sixth consecutive victory in all competitions. Rashad Hassan top scored with 23 points while fellow American Anthony Downing added 21 to the game-high 22 he had the night before.

Sheffield also enjoyed a double-winning weekend following up a convincing 90-73 cup win against London with a hard-fought 72-66 triumph in Cheshire to go joint-top in the league. The Sharks progressed to the quarter-finals of the BBL Cup after brushing aside a Lions side featuring their import trio for the first time.

Mike Tuck top scored once more with 21 points and repeated the feat with 19 against the Nix, who handed a debut to ex-Manchester Giants guard Devan Bailey. Coach John Lavery continues to make changes to his squad after seeing veteran Shawn Myers leave during the week. Recent signing Victor Moses continues to make an impression with an impressive 24 points and 17 rebounds double-double.

The final game of the weekend saw the Glasgow Rocks snap a four-game losing streak with a 100-86 win at home to Manchester. The Giants launched a late fightback but it was all too little, too late as they were left to rue falling behind 30-18 at the end of the first. As for the Rocks, it was a much needed victory to kick-start their campaign with their star trio of Chez Marks, EJ Harrison and Daniel Northern combining for 60 points.

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