Heat maul Wolves 102-83

24 February 2011

In front of a noisy midweek crowd, the match between the Heat and the visiting Worcester Wolves swung one way and then the other as the two sides seemed evenly matched. In a game of runs, the Heat posted a 10-1 run on their way to a 24-19 first quarter lead. The lead ballooned to 11 early in the second at 32-21 behind an 8-2 run before the Wolves struck back with a 17-4 run of their own to take a 38-36 lead towards the end of the first half. However, behind four points from Oskar Ociepa, the Heat took a 40-38 lead into the second half.

The Heat carried on where they left off in the third quarter, stretching their run to nine unanswered points before an 11-0 run gave the lead back to the Wolves. From then on, until the end of the half, neither side could get more than a few points ahead, the Heat going into the final quarter up 68-63 after a Martelle McLemore three. The turning point came when the Heat were awarded six free-throws in a row and made them all, part of a 16-1 run which blew the game open at 84-66. The Wolves never recovered, the Heat leading by double digits the rest of the way as they cruised home for a comprehensive 102-83 win.

The Heat were led by Carlos Medlock's all-round game which saw him score 19 points, hand out 10 assists and grab seven rebounds. Martelle McLemore and Julius Joseph added 18 apiece and Mike Martin chipped in with 12 points, seven assists and six rebounds. Tayo Ogedengbe was the third player in double figures with 13 points and Tomas Janusauskas and Ralph Hegamin were both effective in limited minutes as they struggled with foul trouble trying to contain Justin Dobbins.

For the Wolves, Dobbins had 26 points and 10 rebounds, but Danny Gilbert was held to 17 points, while Rod Middleton had just 10 points, along with Sam Cricelli and Mike Creppy.

A full match report is now available.