Force suffer another loss at the hands of Wolves

Leeds Force suffered their second defeat to the Worcester Wolves in a week as they went down 99-80 at the Carnegie Sports Arena

It was a much-improved performance from coach Matt Newby’s men but they were outclassed by a strong Wolves team.

The Force traded blows with Worcester in the first as the game was played at an electric pace with both teams going on the attack.

After finding themselves 6-0 Leeds got going and levelled the game before taking the lead through what is becoming a signature basket for Jack Isenbarger, a deep triple.

The lead chopped and changed midway through the quarter as both sides took turns going on scoring runs.

Worcester were electric in transition as Danny Huffor and Jermel Kennedy profited from breakaways to dunk the ball home. Finding themselves six down going into the second the Force came out hard and turned a six- point deficit to a three-point lead.

Eddie Matthew hit 11 of 14 first-half points in the quarter as he found his range from the perimeter.

The Wolves responded with a 9-0 run of their own and started to assert their dominance as they opened an eight-point lead at half-time.

Jermaine Sanders single- handedly drove Leeds forward after the restart as he was involved in scoring or assisting the Force’s first 11 points of the quarter. That gave Leeds the impetus to level the game at 59-59 but it didn’t last long as Worcester responded with a 14-2 run.

Worcester hit seven unanswered baskets in that run that seemed to deflate Newby’s team.

With an 11-point lead going into the final 10 minutes the Wolves remained professional to see out the game.

The Force didn’t allow their heads to drop as they added another 14 points to their total but couldn’t stop Worcester at the other end.

Sanders top scored for the Force with 18 points with Matthew hitting 17 points with Force facing a quick turnaround to make the long trip down to Surrey tonight.