A HARD-fought and eventually bloody clash in the Midlands saw the Cheshire Jets slip to their second successive defeat in the BBL Championship.
Having been found wanting in defence of the downtown area against the Eagles, the Jets focused their efforts on the outside in the first period and paid the penalty as the Wolves worked the ball into the paint to rack up an early lead.
But John Lavery's traveling Jets worked hard to keep themselves from being left behind, only trailing 26-20 at the end f the session.
Keith Page's introduction in the second period added the injection of energy that has been customary of his bench performances this season and he helped them close the gap but the execution of the Wolves ensured that by half-time the Jets had only reduced the deficit by a point as they trailed 44-39.
After the break the Jets refused to allow their hosts to pull away and an Adam Brown triple saw them a point down at one stage.
But again the Wolves had the shooting accuracy and the ball movement to stretch their lead back out. The frustration of the Cheshire side became apparent when the combative Matt Schneck, never one to duck a confrontation, went nose to nose with the Wolves' Arnas Kazluaskas.
Despite the referee's intervention was unsuccessful as Kazluaskas dropped a deuce and celebrated in Schneck's face, only for the Milwaukee centre to respond in kind.
With four minutes left the Jets were struggling to make up the deficit though, with the Wolves leading 84-67. When Bill Cole - the Jets' top scorer with 18 points - fouled out their hopes all but evaporated as the Wolves closed out for the victory.
