WORCESTER Wolves slumped to a disappointing 102-79 defeat at lowly Cheshire Phoenix in the British Basketball League.

Wolves started brightly but paid the price for defensive frailties which prevented them from backing up Friday's home victory against Surrey Scorchers.

It was Phoenix's first league win of the campaign, while Wolves are stuttering in seventh spot in the table.

Assistant coach Alex Radu admitted: “Our defence let us down. Against Surrey we had problems defensively, but our offense bailed us out. We misfired in both areas against Cheshire.”

Marek Klassen and Andrew Bachman initially carried over their fine form from the Surrey success, hitting a double of three-pointers apiece.

Danny Huffor opened his scoring account against his former club, and a 30-22 lead had been established with two minutes remaining in the first quarter.

But by now Klassen had picked up a couple of personal fouls, forcing him to a seat on the bench.

An 8-2 Cheshire run left Wolves clinging to a 32-30 edge at the close of the quarter.

Within a minute of Klassen returning to the court in the second period he was whistled for a third infraction that saw him once more out of the action.

A speculative triple on the half-time buzzer from Phoenix guard Marcel Mosley helped the hosts to a 55-49 advantage.

In Worcester’s opening two possessions of the second half, both Trevor Setty and Alex Navajas were called for travelling with the ball, aiding Cheshire to increase their lead.

Frequently, Wolves found their path to the Phoenix basket blocked.

Conversely, the home side encountered much less resistance.

As the third quarter wound down, the visitors shot early-on what could have been the last play of the period.

However, the miss allowed Cheshire’s Josh Wilcher a simply-executed success and firm control for his team at 80-63.

During the final 10 minutes of the afternoon centre Deondre McWhorter displayed strength close to the hoop to notch nine points, enabling a personal total of 17 points to lead the Worcester scorers alongside Jermel Kennedy.

Wolves face another stern test on Friday when they host much-fancied Newcastle Eagles at the University of Worcester Arena (7.30pm).