HEAD coach Paul James was “not happy” after Worcester Wolves lost 77-66 at defending British Basketball League champions Leicester Riders.

After falling behind early on, Wolves turned up their intensity to take a double figure second quarter lead.

They kept their noses in front for a further 15 minutes until Leicester eventually regained control and powered to victory.

However, James felt the final score didn’t show how close the game was at the Leicester Sports Arena.

“We played hard and were still in the contest until the last few minutes,” he said.

“Leicester are a lot of peoples’ favourites for the title so this was a good test for us – we were more than competitive.”

James, whose side welcome Sheffield Sharks to the University of Worcester Arena on Friday night (7.30pm), continued: “We’re not happy losing, regardless of who might be the favourites.

“We’ll train hard this week, put right the things we could have done better today and look to put in a good performance against Sheffield.”

Jermel Kennedy and Danny Huffor led the scoring with 18 points apiece. Trevor Setty also chipped in with 11.

Marek Klassen supplied ten assists, but found his input hampered by early foul trouble, while. Deondre McWhorter made his first appearance for the club.

“Marek’s fourth foul meant he couldn’t play as aggressively as I’d have liked and Deondre only flew in on Saturday,” James added.

“He will be a powerful unit for us once he’s settled in.”

After the opening three minutes, Worcester trailed 10-3 with only Huffor on the scoresheet. After a further couple of minutes, Klassen had already committed two of his permitted five fouls and the deficit had increased to 17-9.

American centre McWhorter debuted in a Wolves vest midway through the first period but was unable to avoid being whistled for a quick trio of infractions.

As the second quarter commenced Wolves were behind 23-16, before consecutive three-pointers from Huffor and Setty, and then a two-pointer for the latter, closed the gap to 30-27.

A Leicester time-out did little to help their cause when Huffor snatched the ball from the hands of their guard Connor Washington and swept forward for the first of a rapid-fire four personal baskets before the interval.

It gave his side a stunning 42-32 lead, but 10-0 burst from Riders levelled matters at 42-42 by the initial minute of the second half.

Wolves held a slight edge at 58-55 entering the final quarter of the evening, but found their structure disrupted by Klassen, Setty and McWhorter all now hovering just a single foul call away from disqualification.

With three minutes remaining, Worcester still clung to their hosts’ coattails at 67-66.

However, consecutive scores for forward Pierre Hampton began another 10-0 Leicester surge that decided the outcome.