BBL: Leicester Riders beat Worcester Wolves 74-62
A fourth quarter barrage saw BBL Cup holders Leicester Riders beat Worcester Wolves 74-62 and make the semis.
Last Updated: 02/11/13 10:53pm
The top two teams in the BBL Championship could barely be separated through three quarters but five threes by Riders in the last ten minutes proved too much for the league leaders.
Andrew Sullivan hit the first to tie the match at 52-52 and then four, two for Jorge Calvo, one by Jay Couisnard and another by Anthony Downing saw Riders leap out to a 66-57 lead.
Leicester tacked on another five points before Worcester scored again but by that time the home team were well in control.
Wolves had earlier shot out to a 9-0 lead and it took more than four minutes for the Riders to make a basket.
But when they did they had the better of the rest of the period with Jay Couisnard scoring five points.
And they could have leveled the match had Anthony Rowe completed his 'and-one'. As it was the Wolves held a narrow 14-13 advantage after ten minutes.
Couisnard gave Riders their first lead of the match at 15-14 but a 12-3 run by Wolves saw them hold the biggest margin of the half with the score at 26-18.
Riders responded to tie it at 29-29 on an Downing three before free throws from Zaire Taylor and Will Creekmore edged Wolves 34-31 ahead at the interval.
A three by Taylor capped an 8-0 start to the third quarter for Wolves which put them up 43-31 - their largest lead of the match.
Again the Riders fought back to gradually whittle away the Wolves advantage.
Two threes by Sullivan - one at the start of the 18-7 burst, and one at the end - ensured the Riders would be behind by just one (50-49) heading into the final stanza.