Paul James felt his Wolves side would learn from the Jets comeback

Worcester Wolves held off a late Cheshire Jets rally to secure a narrow win in their opening BBL Trophy match.

When David Watts added the bonus points following his two-point field goal, the Wolves had opened out an 18-point gap with only five minutes remaining.

But all the Wolves could contribute in that time was five single-point free-throws and the Jets stormed the home basket to add 19 points.

But Paul James' side managed to hold on to take the win.

It was a fantastic effort from Cheshire that made for a dramatic finale with visiting point guard Jeremy Bell contributing 23 points.

The Wolves head coach admitted the Jets fourth-quarter comeback had been a major concern.

"I was especially pleased with the first three-quarters but we nearly paid for a passive fourth-quarter," he told BBC Hereford and Worcester.

"There are plenty of things to work on but I was very pleased with our defence that kept them to 35 at half time and 68 at the buzzer," he added.

In the end it was really good performance against a team tipped to be one of the best around this season Wolves coach Paul James

James is still awaiting the arrival of their third American Justin Dobbins but he is expected to feature in the next home game against Mersey Tigers on Saturday, 25 September.

Coach James felt that despite the late scare, this had been an encouraging start to the season.

"In the end it was really good performance against a team tipped to be one of the best around this season," he said.

This was the first time since the Wolves joined the BBL that they had won their opening fixture at the top level of British basketball.

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