Wildcats win on road at Worcester

Saturday 22 September 2012 – BBL Championship

Worcester Wolves 76 v Durham Wildcats 82

Starting Fives:

Worcester Wolves – Owumi, Masiulis, Ocitti, Fernandez and Kaslauskas.

Durham Wildcats – Bucci, Johnson, Page, Elderkin and Keister.

In a game that Worcester looked like they couldn’t lose for 25 minutes, Durham took the two points away thanks largely to consistent scoring from Mike Baldarelli.

The news was announced earlier today that star point guard Sherrad Prezzie-Blue wouldn’t make it on to court due to the fact that he is still waiting on a valid work permit. Another late piece of news was that the Wolves had another new guy on the roster in the form of New Zealander Karl Noyer who holds a British passport.

Worcester led at the first quarter and halfway stage, but as the third drew to a close Durham took back the lead and continued a nine point unanswered run in to the fourth (their biggest of the game) to put six points daylight between them and the Wolves. Even though Worcester held the lead for the majority of the contest, they were unable to defend well enough for any concerted spell to be able to put together their own tear to regain the advantage.

Baldarelli kept coming all game and drained six threes in a 25 point haul. Alex Owumi did his best for the home side to keep them in the game, and on several occasions he answered the Durham scoring on his way to a 24 point debut. Standing in at the one spot for Prezzie-Blue, Owumi was Worcester’s best player, but Worcester’s confused shape and inability to run sets for a lot of the game was clear for all to see.

Masiulis and Ocitti both looked positives for last year’s third placed team, but others need to play in more familiar positions, and have the assistance of their usual point guard before they can begin to play at their best. Another positive was the introduction of young point guard Mourant-Hudson who showed he could do a job off the bench and may well see more minutes even after the return of Prezzie-Blue.

Play of the game

It only earned him one point, but the 6′ 11″ Masiulis held out the ball with his back to the defence and turned his man to drive to the basket where he drew the foul after claiming his own rebound. He took just one from the line, but the crowd appreciated the skill shown by the big man.

Game MVP

Mike Baldarelli – The BBL rookie averaged 75% from the floor in an impressive debut performance. A natural shooter he looked relaxed and on his game throughout the forty, putting Worcester to the sword from 20 feet

Next up

Durham Wildcats v Glasgow Rocks, Sunday 23 September at Newton Aycliffe.

Newcastle Eagles v Worcester Wolves, Friday 28 September at Sport Central.