WORCESTER Wolves had to survive last second drama to edge past Plymouth Raiders 86-85 and maintain second place in the British Basketball League.

Wolves came into the match on the back of a comprehensive defeat of Sheffield Sharks but found themselves embroiled in a much tighter contest this time around.

In front at 85-80 with 28 seconds to go, it should have been sufficient, but baskets for Raiders’ Jordan Clarke and Brent Benson pulled their side back to 86-85 with just five seconds remaining.

Even then Worcester, who were without Dejan Radojevic through tonsillitis, had possession and should have seen out the clock. However, Jamal Williams was penalised for pushing off against Pierre Hampton, gifting the ball back.

From the inbound, a melee of players scrambled on the floor, harrying Hampton into hurling up a desperate shot that just fell short.

A relieved head coach Paul James said: “It shouldn’t have been that close at the end. We had a comfortable cushion with less than half-a-minute left, but somehow contrived to almost give away the win.

“Plymouth are a potential banana skin for any opponent, so I’m certainly relieved we managed to hold on.

“Overall, I am really delighted with the win. In the first-half I thought we were poor defensively, giving up 54 points, and one thing I didn’t want to do was get into a running game with them.

“We just didn’t stick to the game plan in the first-half and players weren’t disciplined and that’s why we went in nine points down.

“There were a few choice words at half-time and I thought we did a great job in the second-half and came away with what was a really good win.”

Hampton got five of his game high 27 points in the first two plays, before Wolves caught up with replies from Williams and Robert Thurman.

New guard Robertas Bitinas dazzled with a confident solo dribble and lay-up to leave the scores at 19-21 approaching the end of the first quarter.

The match remained tight at 45-48 with under a minute until half-time. Captain Alex Owumi incurred a technical foul for questioning an official’s decision, leading Raiders to notch the half’s last six points.

A different Worcester emerged from the locker rooms, with unanswered triples for Owumi and Paul Guede lighting up the scoreboard.

A 23-11 burst saw the hosts move ahead at 68-65 entering the last 10 minutes.

With Thurman and Williams asserting their dominance around both baskets, and Guede stroking home more outside successes, the sides drew apart until they were dramatically brought back together for the night’s thrilling finale.

Thurman registered a double-double of statistics with 22 points and 10 rebounds, as did Williams, with 15 points and 16 rebounds.

Chavis Holmes and Guede bolstered the scoring with 16 and 15 points respectively.

Bitinas impressed on his debut but his game ended early after picking up five fouls.

James said: “Point guard is the hardest position to pick up in a hurry.

“Robertas is a quick learner and is only going to get better over time.”