Worcester Wolves well beaten by the Mersey Tigers

James has seen his side slip to eighth in the BBL

Following Saturday's thrilling defeat of Guildford Heat, Worcester Wolves were well beaten by the league leaders Mersey Tigers 95-73 on Sunday.

It is the fifth time the two teams have clashed this season and Wolves have yet to come away victorious.

"It was a tired performance against the best team in the league," coach Paul James told BBC Hereford and Worcester

"We stayed in it for nearly three quarters of the game, but in the end Mersey had too much for us."

Tiger's started well and had a first-quarter advantage to 28-16.

In the second period Wolves' Justin Dobbins continued his run of fine play close to the basket, while Rod Middleton and Danny Gilbert found their range from the outside.

By half-time the deficit had reduced to 44-50 with the momentum swinging toward the Wolves.

Having picked up three fouls in the first half, Middleton was replaced by Kastytis Normantas in the line up that began the second half.

The disruption in Worcester's structure was sufficient to allow Mersey's veteran Great Britain duo of forward Andrew Sullivan, and point guard Nate Reinking to take charge of a 75-57 third-quarter lead.

By the time Middleton had returned the game was effectively over and Worcester were unable to close the gap against their big-spending opponents.

Leading scorers for Worcester were Dobbins with 19 points, followed by Gilbert with 18.