GB Guard Nate Reinking hit the game winning shot at the last second to secure the Sheffield Sharks a 76-75 victory and end the impressive Worcester Wolves 8-game unbeaten run.
The match winner Reinking ended the night with the top scoring honours, claiming 25 points as he helped his team claw back from a 13 point deficit midway through the second half.
Reinking said he was relieved to bag the much needed result: ‘i don’t know how we pulled that one off. we played hard but we are not satisfied really and we didn’t like the way we played. But, hopefully this win will carry over and keep us focused to get the ball rolling in the right direction.’
The home crowd were on the edge of their seats as they saw the last shot rattle between the rim. the roof of the english institute of sport was then lifted as Sharks fans watched the ball finally fall through to seal an all important victory for Atiba Lyon’s men.
The Wolves went into the game full of confidence as they looked to extend their unbeaten run to nine. Anas Kazlauskas got them off to a great start sinking a three pointer to kickstart an amazing ten minutes of basketball.
Worcester ran into the lead with a 6-0 run spearheaded by Ritchie Gordon who finished the game with 23 points in total as his teams main contributor. he performed to the best of his ability with an amazing scoring display hitting 10/12 from the field. His singular offensive onslaught on the sharks gave them a benchmark 12-7 lead.
Olu Babalola’s put back dunk off a missed shot rocked the arena to cut the lead to three but Gordon replied with an even more thunderous dunk to extend the advantage at 13-18.
Jimmy Langhurst nailed a three pointer to cut the lead to two but Gordon bagged another basket to take his tally to 12. The wolves had their noses in front at 22-18 by the end of the first quarter.
The Wolves exploded in the second quarter running in a 9-3 surge with Gordon continuing his hot streak. He laid the ball off the glass to extend the lead to double digits at 21-31. Reinking and Coach Lyons gave their best efforts to trim the deficit but Kazlauskas hit his second three of the night to make sure the visitors stay comfortably ahead at 36-27. They continued the offensive pressure and kept their composure to head to the locker rooms with a 42-32 advantage.
The visitors looked in control in the second half but Reinking and the Sharks were determined to end their 5 game losing streak. Justin Dobbins, who collected 17 personal on the night, slam dunked a score to try and fire a comeback. Reinking followed suit by hitting a triple to the roar of the crowd to pull the score back to single digits at 39-46.
This did not worry the Worcestershire side as they fought back to regain a 13 point advantage at 47-60 heading into the final stanza.
The Sharks scored the first two buckets of the final period to begin a brilliant 14 point turnaround. Worcester coach Paul James
was handed a technical foul midway through and Reinking sunk both shots from the line to make it a five point game at 61-66.
after two quick sharks scores, Reinking laid a shot off the board to tie the game.
it was then a case of whose been practising their free-throws. Kaxzlauskas hit two form the stripe to take a slender 71-73 lead but Reinking was at it again sinking a shot on the foul and adding the extra to regain advantage.
Gordon thought he had the game won floating in a hook shot with seven seconds on the clock but the determination of Reinking was clear. He drove to the basket with every last bit of energy he had to steal victory and destroy the Wolves respectable record.
