Double loss for Worcester Wolves

Worcester Wolves suffered a double setback to their BBL play-off ambitions, being beaten by both Worthing Thunder and Cheshire Jets.

Wolves first slipped to a Friday night 81-71 home defeat against Worthing Thunder at the University.

They were then well off the pace against Cheshire Jets on Saturday night, going down 105-98.

The back-to-back defeats leave the Wolves four points adrift of the final BBL play-off spot.

Friday night's fixture did not get off to the best of starts as the Worthing team were late arriving due to a broken-down vehicle.

Thunder had to take to the court in a borrowed Wolves kit, but kept their focus to trail by only a single point at the end of the first quarter.

A three-pointer from Dan Wardrope instigated a 14-4 Thunder burst to lead 41-33 and the visitors also finished the half strongly, taking the final six points to lead 47-36 at the interval.

Wolves did respond with a 9-0 run at the start of the final quarter, but that was as good as it got as Worthing eased home, Ryan Patton top-scoring for the visitors with 29 points.

Skouson Harker and his Wolves coaching team were looking for an immediate response when the squad travelled to Chester on Saturday, but they again came away empty-handed.

Anthony Paez led the individual scoring stats with 26 points, but Wolves were chasing the game from the second quarter when Jets opened up a 26-point lead.

The loss of leading scorer Chez Marks with a suspected dislocated shoulder took some of the heat out of the Jets attack, allowing Wolves back into the game.

But they had left themselves too much to do and, although they got back to within five points early in the final quarter, Jets comfortably saw out the game to further cement their place in the play-off spots.

Wolves, down to 10th place in the BBL table, know they will now have to beat the Milton Keynes Lions at home this Sunday (8 March, 1500 GMT) if they are to give themselves any chance of a top-eight finish.