Worcester Wolves 53-63 Bristol Hurricanes

Saturday 4th February 2023

By Colin Taylor

Worcester Wolves were forced to give sway to Bristol Hurricanes in a grinding encounter at the University of Worcester Arena on Saturday.

A 31-25 half-time lead was not enough to hold off a doughty Bristol team who kept enough in their locker to pound back to a 63-53 victory.

Matei Balteanu drove around Daniel Edozie to open proceedings, with Bristol’s former BBL centre soon responding with a trio of baskets, setting the tone for a back-and-forth match.

Lucas McGregor sprinted coast-to-coast in the dying moments of the first quarter to give Wolves a 19-16 edge.

McGregor produced another strongman move as the second period began to bring a packed crowd to their feet.

Ian Vivero-Rodriguez pushed his personal score to a dozen points to keep the hosts in front entering the half-time break.

However, a dearth of home scoring after the interval gave Hurricanes their chance to grab control, finally nudging 39-38 ahead in the last couple of minutes of the third quarter.

Bristol’s livewire guard Sam Sanders connected with successive three-pointers to extend the visitors’ advantage to 45-39.

Replies from Vivero-Rodriguez and McGregor reduced the arrears to 52-48 with three minutes remaining, but the same pair then featured in an incident that ended their side’s comeback hopes.

After McGregor was adjudged to have barrelled into his defender Vivero-Rodriguez was also penalised for his support of his teammate. Subsequent Bristol free-throws and possession of the ball were sufficient to close out an away win.

McGregor with 18 points and Vivero-Rodriguez with 17 were the only Worcester players to reach double-digits. Edozie led the Hurricanes with 14 points.

Extra seating had to be urgently laid out as the evening began, contributing to an attendance officially declared at 960, one of the largest turnouts ever seen in National Basketball League Division Two.

“It was great to see such a big crowd here today but I’m sorry that we didn’t quite do enough over the full forty minutes to reward them,” said disappointed Wolves coach Dean Blake.

Wolves travel down the M5 next Saturday, 11 February, to Hurricanes neighbours Bristol Academy Flyers in a 5pm tip-off. The following weekend, 19 February, sees Nottingham Trent Hoods visit the University of Worcester Arena for a rare Sunday afternoon encounter.