WORCESTER Wolves put forward a confident display to see off Glasgow Rocks 92-85 at the University of Worcester Arena in the British Basketball League.

Both teams were forced to juggle their resources during a closely-refereed contest but it was the Wolves who showed greater depth, with a couple of their squad, Ashton Khan and Javier Mugica, having breakout offensive performances.

Khan tallied his biggest numbers of the season with 14 points, while Mugica registered his first double-figure return with a highly-impressive 26 points.

Buoyed by his inclusion in the latest British Basketball League Team of the Week, Perris Blackwell set the Wolves’ side of the scoreboard ticking.

Two quick fouls committed by Pavol Losonsky allowed his replacement Ben Eaves an early entry on to the court and he responded with a trio of baskets in an opening quarter that ended 18-19.

A deuce of three-point successes for Glasgow guard Jonny Bunyan prompted Worcester head coach Paul James to call for a settling time-out with three minutes of the second period elapsed, and his team trailing 24-30. Blackwell increased his presence to grab several easy put-backs and Mugica stepped forward to sink a three-pointer, helping the hosts into a 43-40 interval lead.

The scores stayed close throughout the third quarter, with both teams affected by foul trouble. Losonsky, Eaves and guard Jay Couisnard found themselves all just one offence away from disqualification, with Rocks’ forwards Will Hall and Marcus Ware similarly hampered.

Ahead at 62-57 entering the final period, Wolves’ task got a little easier when Ware was the first retiree to the bench after a clumsy push on Losonsky. Mugica was on target from outside the arc, Khan dribbled coast-to-coast to place the ball home and Rocks' coach Sterling Davis had to leap to his feet to urgently call for a break in proceedings.

However, there was no respite. Recognising that Hall was teetering on the edge of exclusion, Mugica was able to repeatedly back his opponent down for uncontested lay-ups. A near-capacity crowd erupted in cheers when Eaves cheekily passed the ball to Blackwell for a thunderous two-handed slam to ice the victory.

James was thrilled by his team’s display. He said: “We traded buckets in the first-half but then we settled down and made it easier for ourselves. We are showing signs of becoming a really good basketball club.”

Alongside the contributions of Mugica and Khan, Blackwell had another standout performance with 21 points and 17 rebounds.

“Perris did well again, Ashton did good things at crucial points and Javi was terrific," said James. "He was already contributing with plenty of rebounds and assists but I asked him to be more aggressive with his own shots and he certainly responded."

Referring to this Friday, when Wolves will return to the University of Worcester Arena to greet Leeds Force, James said: “Leeds have had a couple of recent wins so we will need to be on our game. We will keep on continuing to improve.”

Meanwhile, Wolves head coach James is hoping to have a new American guard in place soon to replace the departed Malik Smith.

“The paperwork has been sent to the USA and the player now has to do what he needs to do and it could be a couple of weeks or three weeks,” explained James.

“We’re pushing to get it done as quickly as possible. We are very excited about having this player in and I think it will be an asset to the team and he will be very good in the BBL.”

James added: “Players want to play – and it means another person coming in who might take some of your minutes.

“It means there’s more competition for places which is a positive thing for the squad.”