Wolves sign-off with Trophy win

Worcester Wolves’ exit from the BBL Trophy was a positive one as they battled to an 82-75 victory over the Guildford Heat in Surrey on Wednesday night.

In a game where there was nothing to play for with both sides out of the competition, the two sides put on a great display of basketball.

Former Heat Head Coach, and current Worcester Head Coach, Paul James commented:

“We came here with a game plan and how we wanted to play our own style of basketball on the road which was all about executing and being consistent. We did that tonight.”

Tommy Freeman led the Wolves with 22 points in conjunction with a healthy contribution of 13 points and five assists from Sherrad Prezzie-Blue.

The Heats Mike Martin had the shooting performance of the night also collecting 22 points with a success rate of 58 percent from the field.

A punishing 13-0 run from the Wolves early on helped them gain a double-digit advantage at the end of the first quarter with a 22-12 lead.

But the hosts Guildford found their form in the second period with an impressive 12-2 burst to cut the deficit to just two at 26-28. A three pointer from Julius Joseph then gave Guildford the lead at 32-30.
From that point, the hosts continued to keep their opponents at arms length before going into the break seven points ahead at 47-40.

In the second half, the Wolves regained the lead with an 11-0 streak early in the third, pulling the score in their favour at 47-51. The teams battled basket after basket until a score from Martin gave the heat a slender one-point advantage.

That would be the last time the Heat were ahead as the Wolves sunk the final four points to lead by 63-60 going into the final stanza.

The Worcestershire side fought to keep their lead with the clock ticking down to the final buzzer. Another basket from Martin gave Heats fans hope to get them within two at 72-74, but baskets from Freeman and Prezzie-Blue in the final minute sealed the win for the Wolves.