WORCESTER Wolves will begin the defence of their British Basketball League play-offs crown with a quarter-final tie against London Lions.

Wolves, who finished third in the table for the second season running, take on the sixth-placed Lions at the University Arena on Friday (7.30pm) before the second leg in the capital on Sunday (4pm).

The match will see Worcester go up against Zaire Taylor, the BBL's most valuable player last season who left Wolves following their play-off triumph at Wembley Arena.

In the other matches, champions Newcastle Eagles face Bristol Flyers, Sheffield Sharks take on Leicester Riders and Glasgow Rocks tackle Cheshire Phoenix, with all teams chasing a place in the final at the O2 Arena on Sunday, May 10.

Wolves completed the regular season with a 110-79 away thumping of Durham Wildcats, who came into the game less than 48 hours after their team bus was involved in an accident en route to their penultimate fixture at London, which saw them forfeit the match.

Once Worcester, who defeated Leicester 77-67 at the University Arena last Friday, had overtaken their hosts towards the end of the first quarter they never looked back.

For the second game in a row, Robert Thurman was the leading scorer, totalling 28 points, while Robertas Bitinas scored 21 points, hitting an incredible 18 of those in a seven-minute fourth quarter explosion.

Head coach Paul James said: “Before the match we talked in the changing rooms about making sure we maintained a high level of confidence for the play-offs.

"The players responded and didn’t just go through the motions to end the regular season. We played hard, we played with professionalism.

“Everyone in the squad contributed. It was a total team display but, on an individual level, Robert took advantage of his opportunity to dominate smaller opponents and Robertas was simply red-hot during the last quarter.”

There was a 23-17 lead for Wolves entering the second period, with Thurman already reaching double-figure points as it began.

Reserve guard Caylin Raftopoulos joined the fray to sink a double of three-pointers either side of a triple from Paul Guede.

Guede would connect from distance twice more before half-time, helping his side to a healthy 53-38 advantage.

By the close of the third period the advantage had nearly doubled to 82-53 as Wildcats struggled to fend off their much-slicker visitors.

Aside from Bitinas’ stunning burst of firepower, the final period was notable for more reliable output from Thurman. Fittingly, the game’s last play was a Bitinas pass for Thurman to slam through the Durham hoop.