Basketball: Surrey Scorchers 99 Worcester Wolves 86

Wolves stepped up their rebounding, giving up a mere five offensive boards compared to 19 in Friday’s 92-86 loss to Manchester Giants.

But they were still unable to deter repeated fast-break drives to the basket by their opponents.

A promising 24-18 first-quarter lead for the visitors had evaporated by half-time.

Surrey built a double-digit cushion by early in the second half and from there were able to comfortably parry away any Worcester fightback.

Scorchers opened the afternoon with a 7-0 run before early spark from Darell Combs turned matters around.

Seven personal points edged Wolves 13-12 in front and the advantage widened to 23-18 when Combs drew defenders to him before swinging a pass for Jordan Whelan to convert.

The second quarter featured the hot hand of former Worcester man Caylin Raftopoulos as he sank a trio of three-pointers to regain a 31-30 lead for his team.

With just four seconds remaining in the first half Surrey’s lead had increased to 48-43.

Wolves called a time-out to draw up a final play but instead fumbled the inbound of the ball allowing an easy lay-in for Scorchers’ guard Quincy Taylor.

Terrel Martin-Garcia defied making only his second appearance in Wolves’ colours to punch home a series of third-quarter scores both from close to the hoop and from long-distance.

But this was not enough to draw back Surrey’s lead.

The final period began with the hosts in control at 75-65.

Worcester captain Adam Thoseby fought to set an example for his team-mates with several successful sweeps to the basket but Scorchers were able to reply in kind and sustain their hold on the contest.

Thoseby led the scoring with 21 points followed by Combs on 16 and Martin-Garcia with 14.

Whelan produced a double-double of statistics with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Second-from-bottom Wolves will be on the road again on Sunday as they travel to Scotland to meet basement boys Glasgow Rocks (5pm).