Bristol Academy Flyers 67-71 Worcester Wolves

Saturday 11th February 2023

By Colin Taylor

Worcester Wolves celebrated a 71-67 success at Bristol Academy Flyers on Saturday after finally emerging on the high side of an up-and-down thriller.

As the third quarter of the contest came towards a close the combatants were locked together at 50-50 before Worcester were the team able to find enough to wrestle control.

With starters Matei Balteanu and Lucas McGregor having their minutes reduced by foul trouble, backups Aryan Davoodi and Umberto Ferreira grabbed their chance to step into the limelight. The former led the scoring with 16 points while the latter hauled down an impressive ten rebounds.

Wilfrid Santhe made a welcome return from injury to lay on early scores for Balteanu and McGregor, restricting Bristol to a 14-13 first quarter edge.

Isaiah Walker twice connected from distance in a 21-21 tie and Davoodi approached double-figure points for a 31-31 scoreboard as half-time neared.

A Davoodi three-pointer tipped his tally to a dozen before Flyers once more squared the evening at 34-34 entering the interval.

Late in the third period Ferreira dispossessed his attacker at midcourt and rumbled forward to break yet another stalemate. A Liam Langridge-Barker triple and a Balteanu basket nudged Wolves 55-50 in front.

McGregor froze defenders with a hesitation layup and sliced past the same players to establish 64-54 daylight with six minutes remaining.

Another perimeter score from Langridge-Barker, one from Santhe and a demoralising Walker rejection were sufficient to keep Bristol at bay.

Walker just missed out on a double-double performance after snatching nine rebounds to sit alongside his 15 points.

Now sitting in fourth place in National Basketball League Division Two, Wolves welcome last-placed Nottingham Trent Hoods to the University of Worcester Arena next Sunday 19 February (5pm).

Despite dwelling at the foot of the table, Nottingham will enter the match with optimism having run Wolves close earlier in the season, only losing out 79-77 after Santhe nailed a desperate last-second game winner.