Nottingham Trent Hoods 77-79 Worcester Wolves

Saturday 12 November 2022

By Colin Taylor

Worcester Wolves were forced into a dogfight in order to overcome Nottingham Trent Hoods 79-77 on Saturday.

Matters looked comfortable for second-placed Wolves as they built a 43-32 half-time lead in Nottingham against the cellar-dwellers of National Basketball League Division Two.

But by half-a-minute remaining the match stood tied at 75-75. Worcester went ahead through Matei Balteanu before Hoods once more drew level, with just seven seconds to go.

The final action of the afternoon saw Wilfrid Santhe emerge from a melee of bodies around the Nottingham basket to succeed with a desperate last-second shot that snatched victory.

“Nottingham have a lot to fight for and gave us their best,” reflected Wolves coach Dean Blake. “We had control for most of the game but became lax in the second half.

“When we rotated guys there were times when we lacked productivity and perhaps relied on certain players too much – that’s something we need to work on.”

Aryan Davoodi stole the ball at mid-court and fed Balteanu to begin the scoring. A double of Davoodi three-pointers and one for Ian Vivero-Rodriguez contributed to a 26-16 first quarter lead.

Tom Grayling profited from a pinpoint Lucas McGregor pass with McGregor later moving into double-digit points with a half-time buzzer-beater.

Grayling converted again after the interval when receiving a crowd-pleasing behind-the-back pass from Davoodi. Santhe repeatedly sliced past defenders before Hoods eventually got into gear led by their swaggering guard Malachi Nelson.

Nelson finalised a huge 31-point personal haul with his fifth triple to drag the sides together ahead of falling just short of an upset.

McGregor top-scored for the visitors on 17 points, while Santhe impressed with a 14 points/10 rebounds double-double display.

Next Saturday (7.30pm) will see Worcester take on the challenge of a trip to undefeated league-leading City of Birmingham Rockets.

“We didn’t give a forty-minute performance today,” added Blake. “I keep telling the players that this is not Division Three – we can’t make mistakes and expect to win. “We have to be ready for Birmingham next week.”