PIRATES couldn’t keep the Wolves from the door in a 70-75 defeat at home to Worcester Wolves on Saturday.
The Wolves had to work hard for their victory though as a seemingly comfortable fourth quarter lead was cut back to just two before a 5-2 run over the final 18 seconds clinched the points.
An uninspiring first quarter where neither team made a basket over the opening five minutes of play ended with Pirates trailing 11-12 thanks to a Daniel Gilbert three on the buzzer.
Pirates fell 17-23 down before an 8-2 run levelled the match and a 5-0 close to the half gave them a 30-28 interval lead.
Four successive threes by Wolves in the third quarter helped the visitors to lead 48-50 heading into the final stanza.
Even when Worcester had put together a 10-2 run to take the score to 50-60 and then to their biggest lead of the night at 54-65 it looked like a comeback was beyond Pirates.
A 9-2 burst brought Pirates within two points (68-70) with 18 seconds on the clock but a foul sent Wolves to the line where Rod Middleton and Gilbert kept their cool and secure the victory.
On Sunday Pirates look for a change of fortune when the travel to the Glasgow Rocks, tip off is at 5pm.