Wolves and Eagles bring out the best in each other

On a night when Charles Smith uncharacteristically struggled from outside, he broke Worcester hearts with two points in the final 10 seconds of the game to give Newcastle a 102-100 victory and possibly the Championship title.

The game opened fast and furious with a Freeman three-pointer getting us underway. Gordon was well marshalled by the Eagles at the low post early on until he registered with a put back after a missed Fernandez free throw. As Kaslauskas followed up with three points of his own, the Wolves coach would have been happy that the Eagles had been given food for thought with the home side providing a threat from all corners. Newcastle continued to chip away and as the Lithuanian put in Prezzie-Blue for a bucket the Wolves led by one with five minutes gone.

At that point the Wolves went on a mini run and stretched the lead to six through another Freeman triple. The league leaders were given several second chances around the basket but failed to convert. The Wolves defence enabled them to stretch the lead out to nine. Gause took two from the charity stripe as the quarter ran out and it was 28-21 to the hosts after ten.

Freeman was guarding Chapman well which had been noticeable in the first quarter too, and he had disrupted the Newcastle shooter at the basket on several occasions. It was Chapman however that would go on to do most of the damage for Newcastle on the night.

There was plenty going on off the ball too as Defoe got called for his second personal whilst trying to keep Gordon away from the basket. Both sides were working really hard in their defensive zones but the quality of the offensive play saw both sides finding a way through and Newcasle finding their way back in to the game in the second stanza.

As mentioned Smith had been off colour from outside but he finally hit one late in the first half to complement a Chapman two to level things at 47, but the Wolves had the stronger finish to the half.

One of several strange calls on the night saw Kaslauskas put his head in to Thomson’s chest for Thomson to get called for the foul. Kaslauskas took both points and as Newcastle turned the ball over Prezzie-Blue hit a three. But the Wolves weren’t done in an explosive final minute for them as quick transition saw Prezzie-Blue nail another long range basket at the buzzer but this time it was from more than 25 feet. The Wolves had ran away to an eight point lead at 55-47 at the half.

The first play of the second half saw Freeman take two from the charity stripe and stretch their lead to ten. Coach Flournoy was now at point whilst Gause rested and he was given a hard time up against the quick hands of Prezzie-Blue. Flournoy was far from Fabulous to watch with his distribution from point being somewhat ugly, but he worked hard and was effective.

Defoe got his third personal again off the ball and Chapman went to work reducing the lead to four. The Newcastle away support were making a lot of noise but Freeman was undeterred as he found himself at the free throw line again. The former Bobcat put himself on the line in defence and was in the wars and on the hardwood several times again. He ended the game 100 per cent from the line and with 22 points for the game.

Chapman hit two almost identical threes over Kasluaskas and we were tied again in the third. The Lithuanian had a big game from distance himself with four from eight from the perimeter.

Chapman continued to put up the points and took his tally to 26, but as Smith missed from distance again Freeman made no mistake to give Wolves a 71-69 lead.

Gordon continued to make life tough for Defoe who as Wolves edged out to a five point lead, drew his fourth personal for the Eagles.

Another foul was called shortly after but on this occasion it was a technical foul called against Arnas Kaslauskas for punching the air after a big three for his side. BBL officials don’t get a good press, but showing a lack of understanding for a player that is in the moment demonstrates a real lack of common sense.

A superb layup from Prezzie-Blue was followed by a score from the red hot Chapman. The Newcastle guard scored a massive 39 points on the night with Prezzie-Blue coming up big on several occasions to lead the Wolves scorers on 27. A Gordon double double and 18 from Kaslauskas aided the Wolves effort but with Chapman in uncontrollable form, Charles Smith was able to rack up 28 to support the win.

We said goodnight early to Defoe and Kasluaskas as they both fouled out in the fourth. With 5.42 left in the game Worcester held a seven point lead at 90-83. But every time they had stolen a march, Newcastle had wiped out the advantage quickly and they did so again on this occasion – mostly through Chapman.

Again the scores were level, this time at 93 and the Eagles were understandably looking for Chapman on every possession with Thomson also making a nuisance of himself. Smith was called for his fourth personal but with just 1.19 left he was staying on the court and was to eventually score the winning basket.

It was at this point that Chapman scored his biggest basket of the game as a shot from behind the arc gave the visitors a three point lead. On Worcester’s next possession Fernandez found Gordon for the deuce and with just one point in it and 35 seconds left the Eagles called the time out. As they came out of the huddle you wondered just who to watch as whilst Chapman was an obvious out, the talent Newcastle have at their disposal is frightening. The Eagles tried to run down the clock and drew the foul with Smith restoring the three point lead from the line.

Wolves called a time out and needed a three. The ton was up for Newcastle. As we returned to the action Freeman and Prezzie-Blue worked the ball between them until one of them got open and as Prezzie-Blue did, bam, he nailed the three to tie the game with ten seconds left.

That’s where we came in. It looked at one point as Smith had lost possession but he kept the ball under control and finished things off. Freeman fired a shot off when he perhaps had longer on the clock than he thought, but as the ball sailed past the hoop the Eagles celebrated like they had won the lot.

Whilst the Wolves will be hurting from this defeat, they showed again that they are a big threat to Fab Flournoy’s men. The title may be out of their grasp after tonight, but there is the small matter of the BBL playoffs to come.