Worcester Wolves 109-92 Doncaster Eagles

Saturday 27th January 2024

By Colin Taylor

Worcester Wolves racked up a century of points for the first time this season when seeing off Doncaster Eagles 109-92 in a high-flying encounter on Saturday.

After a back-and-forth first half Wolves swept into a comfortable 65-48 third quarter lead before the visiting Eagles had their own hot streak, closing the gap to just 75-71 as the period wound down, before a surge of outside shooting allowed Worcester to finally pull away to victory.

Coach Dean Blake summarised the contest, saying “I’m pleased that we were able to put so many points on the board – we needed a game like this for our confidence. On the other hand I’d have liked to have kept Doncaster to fewer points, but hey we got the win.”

An old face from Wolves’ British Basketball League days, David ‘Tin-Tin’ Watts, was recently persuaded out of retirement to boost Doncaster’s numbers and he immediately signalled the wisdom of his return by winning the tip-off, blocking a Worcester attack and bagging his team’s first six points.

Humberto Ferreira stepped up as a steadying influence for the hosts, driving confidently to the hoop and taking a double of assists from fellow forward Emmanuel Yeboah to aid a 26-24 advantage by the last seconds of the opening quarter.

But Watts displayed his veteran savvy in setting a hard screen to provide plenty of space for teammate Kieran Wright to sink a buzzer-beating three-pointer and put Eagles in front.

Ferreira provided an array of passes to set up baskets for Worcester big men Matei Balteanu and Tom Grayling, pushing the home side into a 53-45 half-time lead.

Aryan Davoodi wowed fans with a coast-to-coast thrust when maximising Wolves early third-period control before Doncaster commenced their fightback.

The final quarter saw the sides dragged apart after a sudden explosion of three-pointers. Wilfrid Santhe successes sandwiched rat-a-tat perimeter points from Yeboah and James Turner hopped off the bench to contribute towards a stunning eight triples in as many minutes.

Yeboah led the statistics with a 28 points/10 rebounds double-double while Ferreira stood not far behind with a 24 points/6 rebounds return.

Santhe and Balteanu supplied 18 and 13 points respectively.

Watts dominated Doncaster’s scoring with 41 points, coincidentally matching his shirt number when representing Worcester back in 2012.

“I’d love to say I scored that number of points on purpose but I honestly didn’t,” joked Watts.

“I was here when the University Arena was a building site, with my hard hat on and a hi-vis vest, but never actually played here in Wolves colours. It’s been great to come back, retracing my steps from when I was living in Worcester all those years back,” he continued.

“I’m thinking about maybe playing on into next season but I’ve got to see how my body can hold up at 40 years old.”

Blake added praise for Watts’ display, saying “He’s an amazing player, so skilled. I knew he’d be a handful – I spoke about him to our players all week, so what he did didn’t surprise me.”

Wolves travel to Bristol Academy Flyers next Saturday 3rd February (5pm) before returning to the University of Worcester Arena the following Saturday to welcome Leicester Warriors.

“Bristol are another competitive team They’ll be ready for us and we need to be ready for them,” added Blake.

Tickets for Wolves vs Warriors on Saturday February 10th are available online and from the Arena box office.