Teesside Lions 65-56 Worcester Wolves

NBL Playoff Final – Saturday 23 April 2022

Worcester Wolves’ National Basketball League season ended in cruel fashion on Saturday as they were made to settle for second-best against Teesside Lions in the Division Three Playoff Final in Manchester.

After trailing for large parts of a bruising contest, Wolves fought back to level matters with just a couple of minutes remaining but were unable to fend off an overpowering  10-1 Teeside burst and a 65-56 final score-line.

Lucas McGregor opened the afternoon’s scoring, was quickly joined by a double of baskets for Ian Vivero-Rodriguez, and then got Matei Balteanu involved in a confident Worcester start.

However, the size of the task ahead soon became clear as Lions’ hulking seven-footer Theo Turner and fellow big men Ross Wilson and Siman Stewart pounded forwards.

At the close of the first quarter Wolves had already accumulated seven fouls as they battled to hold back Teesside attackers and contain a 17-11 lead.

By half-time the Worcester penalty count had expanded to fifteen and their opponents still held sway at 29-24.

Balteanu twice got the better of Stewart and benefited from the one-time Worcester forward being called for a technical foul after falling theatrically to the floor.

Despite Vivero-Rodriguez displaying red-hot form with a quick-fire trio of three-pointers, Lions held onto a 43-40 advantage entering the final quarter.

It was a Vivero-Rodriguez crossover dribble that tied the afternoon at 55-55 before Stewart spun around to re-take the lead for his side.

Instead of dropping in his next shot Stewart bulleted a cross-court pass for teammate Gregor Gray to sink a demoralising last-minute three. Stewart free throws finally put the match out of reach for the Midlanders.

Vivero-Rodriguez led the way in totalling 23 points, with Balteanu’s ten points making him Worcester’s only other double-digit scorer.

“The run of the game wasn’t going for us – even when we took the lead we didn’t take over the match,” said Wolves’ coach Dean Blake.

“Teesside had a number of players who were always going to keep scoring and obviously our fouls made things more challenging. But we were in the game until the last two minutes, we really were.”

After establishing themselves as one of the top two teams out of the fifty-four who started out the year in Division Three of the National Basketball League, Blake confirmed that Wolves are intent on promotion to the next level.

“We won our region, we had a great run to end the season and we made it through to the playoff final. It wasn’t our day today but I’m so proud of the players for making the season work and I’m so grateful to all our passionate supporters.

“We plan to be in Division Two next season. Lots of work has taken place at the club, on and off the court, to make it happen. We want to move up.”