Surrey Scorchers defeats just keep coming as they lose to Worcester Wolves 84-79 in the BBL Championship.
The struggle continues as Friday night’s game was emblazoned with missed shots and turnovers for Creon Raftopoulos’ side.
The starting five signalled a different approach from Coach Raftopoulos this week, with Joe Mvuezolo starting for the first time.
However, Raftopoulos was forced to take an early time out as he watched the lead quickly disappear when the team fell 4 – 15 down within the first five minutes of the game.
But it wasn’t enough as Scorchers struggled to find the basket with miss after miss, including free throws, inevitably ending the first quarter 22 -12 and wishing to start again.
The second quarter saw a spark of hope for the Scorchers as they quickly managed to drag themselves back within a two-point game with the help of Caylin Raftopoulos coming off the bench to make a quick three-point.
But Wolves responded with an onslaught of dunks from Robert Crawford and Deshawn Freeman as they tore what little defence Scorchers had to pieces.
Scorchers ended the first half 51 – 31, with the real sting coming from Crawford who made a huge throw down at pace on the buzzer to finish the quarter.
Scorchers emerged from the locker room with much more intent in the second half, seemingly shifting up a gear, putting on a better defensive performance and finally scoring more consistently in the paint.
But it was the final ten that saw all the drama, as Scorchers looked as though they had a chance to make amends for the first 30 minutes.
The momentum shifted when Quincy Taylor made the three-point from the corner, and one with a foul from Freeman that saw him ejected from the game.
The conversion was good, and a flurry of Wolves players suddenly found themselves heading to the bench with Darell Combs and Alex Najavas also with five fouls each.
Scorchers were within seven points, but with only 30 seconds left of the clock, the Scorchers momentum just ran out of time.
The game ended 84 – 79 as Scorchers headed back to Surrey with heads in their hands at the missed opportunity.
Scorchers will next face the DBL Sheffield Sharks at Surrey Sports Park on Sunday (17th February) as they hope to make amends for Friday night’s mistakes. Buy your tickets here to support the team.
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