Worcester Wolves 67-68 City of Birmingham Rockets

Sunday 26 September 2021

Worcester Wolves were knocked out of the National Cup in the most agonising of circumstances at the University of Worcester Arena on Sunday.

After roaring back from a half-time deficit to take a 67-60 lead into the final two minutes of their tie against City of Birmingham Rockets, Wolves allowed their visitors to cling to their shirt-tails.

When the hosts failed to inbound the ball with just three seconds to go former Worcester guard Jordan Dawes grabbed the opportunity for a last-gasp hurl which fell through the hoop to finalise a 68-67 comeback success, leaving Wolves players dismayed and a raucous home crowd silenced.

“We had the game – we’ve not been beaten, we lost that game,” pronounced Wolves’ coach Dean Blake.

Birmingham compete in the National Basketball League in a division above Worcester, but Blake refused to acknowledge that his side had lost to a better opponent, saying: “Rockets may be higher-ranked in terms of the league that they’re playing in, but our team is as good as theirs. We had every opportunity to win today’s match.”

Birmingham’s seven-foot centre Gatluak Thiep made the most of his height to swat aside a Lucas McGregor shot and then produced a powerful dunk to close out a commanding 21-8 first quarter for his team.

McGregor opened his scoring account with a three-pointer as he fell backwards and racked up a quick-fire further nine points to keep Wolves in the contest.

Romanian forward Matei Balteanu twice jabbed the ball away from attackers and twice converted possession to reduce Rockets’ first-half advantage to 37-32.

Balteanu carried on his hard work after the interval. Shaun Parren-Rackley battled likewise, Wilfred Santhe popped up with a triple and a coast-to-coast dribble, and Birmingham were forced to call for a timeout after seeing their lead overturned three minutes into the second half.

Wolves’ effervescence continued with a dominant 26-13 third quarter, setting up what looked likely to be an upset victory until the drama of the final few seconds.

McGregor and Balteanu joint top-scored with 17 points, followed by a dozen points from Santhe. Wolves commence their league campaign next Saturday 02 October (7pm) when Warwickshire Warriors visit the University of Worcester Arena.

Tickets are available online via the link below and from the University Of Worcester Arena.

Buy Worcester Wolves 2nd October 2021 WNBL/NBL3 tickets for University of Worcester Arena on Saturday, 2nd October 2021 | Ticketline