BBL Championship
Worcester Wolves 75 (27,45,54) (Gordon 18, Freeman 16, Kazlauskas 13)
Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders 99 (23,40,66) (Rundles 29, Wierzbicki 23, Hardy 15)

The Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders saw out 2011 with a crucial 99-75 defeat of top-four rivals Worcester Wolves.

In the process the Riders inflicted a first home league defeat of the season on the Wolves, halted a run of consecutive away losses for themselves and moved ahead of Glasgow Rocks into third place.

The Riders effectively won the game with a startling 18-point swing in the space of five minutes in the third quarter; they were inspired by Cameron Rundles who scored 16 of his 29 points in the third, adding 11 rebounds and 5 assists, while Bradd Wierzbicki scored 23.

The Riders had gone 18 days without seeing action, and it was 11 for the Wolves, but neither side showed much rust in a high-scoring encounter - one that the Wolves controlled in the first half.

Sherrad Prezzie-Blue got the scoring underway with a triple as Riders committed two early turnovers before Rundles got them going with their first score, two minutes in.

Burst

Richie Gordon added three points and a triple from Arnas Kazlauskas saw the Wolves up 11-6 with four minutes played.

Five straight points from Wierzbicki tied the game and, although the Riders couldn't get in front after Tommy Freeman's three-pointer, the teams remained close, tied at 13 and 20, before the hosts led 27-23 at the first quarter buzzer helped by another Prezzie-Blue triple.

And the Wolves pushed on steadily in the second stanza, edging their lead out to eight points at 37-29 on another Prezzie-Blue score after three minutes.

Despite the visitors narrowing the deficit to three points on Wierzbicki's triple midway through the period, the Wolves responded with an 8-0 burst, holding the Riders scoreless for four minutes while Kazlauskas made 6 points, for a double-digit lead at 45-34.

But a pair of late three-pointers from Wierzbicki kept the Riders in touch at 45-40 at the half.

The third quarter started in a slower fashion, providing few clues for what would come, as the Riders maintained their push and got back to within one at 47-46 on Ayron Hardy's dunk, only for the Wolves to respond with five points, including a Callum Jones triple.

From that point Rundles took over and gave the Riders their first lead of the game, and one that they would hold for the remainder.

His two three-pointers lit up a 12-0 burst to make the score 58-52, before he made three further scores soon after to give the Riders a double-figure lead of their own at 66-54 heading into the fourth quarter after a five-minute 18-point swing. Rundles had an amazing 16 points in the third, a quarter that his team won 26-9.

The Riders only pushed on in the fourth quarter, with Rundles scoring two more three-pointers in the early exchanges to dampen any hope of a comeback among the home fans. The lead peaked at the final score as the Riders scored 33 fourth quarter points.