Worcester Wolves 81-62 Bristol Basketball United

Saturday 4th January 2025

Worcester Wolves opened 2025 in good style as they put away close rivals Bristol Basketball United at the University of Worcester Arena on Saturday.

The 81-62 final score-line gives Wolves their third win of the season and positions  them amongst a bunch of teams seeking to move away from the foot of National Basketball League Division Two.

After tight early exchanges, Worcester stepped on the gas with a 21-9 third quarter burst that effectively decided the contest.

“I’m really happy that we’ve started the New Year with a win,” declared Coach Dean Blake.

“The second-half showed what this team is capable of and we’ll be looking to use today as a springboard to move up the table.”

Wolves big man 6’10” Jeremy Lievin found himself in the rare position of looking upwards at an opponent as he engaged in battle against Bristol man-in-the-middle 7’4” Mike Lewis but came out on top to peg the opening score of the match.

A double of three-pointers from Fin Rennie helped the hosts to an 18-14 first quarter lead.

Dume Okibe snatched an offensive rebound to set up another Rennie basket and Lievin continued the aggression to block a Bristol attack before increasing his own point total.

Emmanuel Yeboah spun forward and accepted successive assists from Rennie and Wilfrid Santhe for a quick seven points before his purple patch was cruelly cut short when he was forced to the bench by injury.

A slender 36-34 half-time advantage transformed into Worcester dominance after the break.

James Davis donned his hard hat to repeatedly thrust his way past flailing defenders, shrugging off a desperate unsportsmanlike foul on his way to the hoop.

When Bristol gave up more free throws and further possession in similarly hacking at Santhe, the playmaker calmly responded with a burst of scoring.

Now trailing 57-43 entering the last period there was no way back for the visitors.

Davis carried on his assaults, wrestling the ball off his marker despite falling to the floor, providing a simple conversion for Lievin.

Zac Moody introduced himself to the action in the closing minutes with consecutive triples from the same spot on the court as Wolves celebrated their success.

Davis led the statistics with an 18 points/12 rebounds double-double performance.

Rennie notched 14 points while Lievin justified major minutes to pull down ten rebounds, swat away three Bristol shot attempts and drop in a useful six points.

“It was a really good team performance, everyone got on the floor and everyone contributed,” added Blake.

Pushed to comment on the individual displays of Davis and Lievin, Blake replied, “As I’ve said, today was about the whole team, but I have to say how pleased I am for James – he is a consistent hard-worker for us – and for Jeremy – he fought hard against the Bristol big guys and showed what he can do.”

Wolves travel to the North East next Saturday 11 January (6pm) to face Teesside Lions, before hosting unbeaten St Helens Saints at the University of Worcester Arena the following Saturday 18 January (7.30pm) as part of a Super Saturday with the Wolves BWB Women’s Premier League team who begin their league campaign against Loughborough Lightning, tip off 5pm. Tickets are available here and from the Arena box office.