WORCESTER Wolves provided few sparks last night as they were knocked out of the British Basketball League Cup by a 77-70 home defeat to London Lions.

Wolves trailed for large periods of the match at the University of Worcester Arena, taking until three minutes from the end to edge 68-67 in front.

Just a solitary basket was scored by the hosts after that, while Lions were allowed to put up 10 points in reply, leading to the final outcome.

Perris Blackwell continued his fine run of form in accumulating 27 points and 14 rebounds but, aside from 13 points from fellow big man Ben Eaves, no other Wolves player was able to break into double figures.

The evening began brightly enough with Worcester guards Ashton Khan and Jay Couisnard connecting from the outside and Blackwell and Eaves beavering away close to the hoop.

Josh Cameron froze his defenders with a side-to-side dance before swishing the ball home for his first home points, aiding a 25-21 first-quarter lead.

Matters stayed tight until half-time approached and lapses in concentration permitted an outburst of scoring from former Worcester stalwart Jamal Williams.

After Blackwell had tipped in a Cameron miss to level the sides at 35-35, Williams was left open to sink a three-pointer.

A minute later, another triple found the target with Williams’ hat-trick of long-range successes finalising London’s 48-39 interval advantage.

A single Khan basket in each of the third and fourth quarters turned out to be Wolves’ only back-court production for the remainder of the game.

Blackwell continued to pound away inside, converting a high percentage of his possessions, but no other offensive threat surfaced.

Pavol Losonsky, on his return from injury, gave Worcester their late lead before their offence again stagnated.

Great Britain under 20s International Nick Lewis tallied seven points in the last minute-and-a-half to propel Lions into the semi-finals of the competition.

Wolves coach Paul James fumed: “It was a very poor team performance. It’s a game we could and should have won. If you don’t show up to play, you get beaten.”

When asked about Blackwell’s double-double display, James replied: “We can’t rely on one player.

"There has to be five or six players showing up at both the offensive and defensive ends or we lose.”

Wolves will have a chance to make amends with a double-header of action next weekend.

Cheshire Phoenix visit the arena on Friday followed by a Wolves trip to Plymouth Raiders the next day.