Leicester Warriors 77-90 Worcester Wolves

Saturday 28th January 2023

By Colin Taylor

Worcester Wolves emerged victorious from a helter-skelter encounter at Leicester Warriors on Saturday.

After spending the first thirty-five minutes of the match descending into several double-digit deficits and each time climbing back towards parity, Wolves finally edged 73-71 ahead in the last five minutes before pulling away to a 90-77 success.

“We struggled to get over the hump and take the lead,” confessed Worcester coach Dean Blake. “But I’m happy that the players were able to come back after being down and I’m really happy that we eventually pulled out the win.”

Leicester danced to a swift 10-2 lead before a double of Lucas McGregor three-pointers brought Wolves into the contest.

Ian Vivero-Rodriguez produced a stop-and-go assist for Evan Longman to get on the scoresheet and hit a buzzer-beating triple to restrict Warriors to a 24-19 first quarter advantage.

Elhiji Toure-Jabby used all of his 6 foot 10 inch frame to initially stymie Worcester attacks and extend the hosts’ lead to 44-31. However, McGregor delighted in employing his superior speed to sidestep the big man and hold the half-time arrears to 46-43.

By midway through the third period Wolves were once more in a hole, trailing 59-45.

Matei Balteanu scored either side of the quarter interval and blocked a Leicester attempt to send Humberto Ferreira off for a rampaging flying dunk.

With eight minutes remaining the gap had closed to 66-60. Longman hustled to a double of baskets, Vivero-Rodriguez connected with a three and McGregor did likewise to haul the visitors ahead for the first time in the afternoon.

The floodgates now opened with Isaiah Walker scoring, stealing and setting up one of many late Balteanu successes. McGregor was unable to miss the target from distance on the way to Worcester’s belated runaway victory.

McGregor led the scoring on 26 points, followed by 23 from Balteanu. Longman logged an impressive 16 point/11 rebound double-double performance.

Having now completed a mammoth five-game road trip, Wolves will make a welcome return to the University of Worcester Arena next Saturday 4 February (7pm) to meet the side directly above them in National Basketball League Division Two, third-placed Bristol Hurricanes.

“It’s going to be amazing to get back onto our own court in front of our own fans for the first time after two or three months away and I’m hoping to see a big crowd there,” enthused Blake.

“Bristol are a good team. We didn’t play well against them last time but now being at home will help us. Also the way we came back in today’s game will put us in good stead.”

Hurricanes blew Wolves away 74-58 last October, led by former BBL centre Daniel Edozie’s 15 point/16 rebound star showing.  Edozie currently leads the league in rebounding with 18 per game and is second in scoring on a 22 points average, leaving Blake with food for thought. 

”We’re going to use next week to get ready to meet Bristol and make sure we have a few things up our sleeve for Edozie,” confided Blake.