Teesside Lions 69-70 Worcester Wolves

Saturday 11th January 2025

By Colin Taylor

Worcester Wolves produced their gutsiest performance of the season to upset the odds at Teesside Lions on Saturday.

An injury-ravaged roster meant that just six players took to the court against their full-strength North-East hosts, yet still managed to cling on for a 70-69 success.

Prior to last week’s 81-62 drubbing of Bristol Basketball United, Wolves had a mere couple of victories to their name but now find themselves only one win away from the top-half of National Basketball League Division Two.

A double of turnovers as the match began were placed to the side once Jeremy Lievin put back his own miss, Wilfrid Santhe twice drove to the hoop and Jacob Dearman sank consecutive three-pointers for an early 12-9 lead.

Akil Simpson and Kamari Steadman both flourished at the free-throw line to increase the advantage to 22-17 as the first quarter closed.

Teesside edged 29-28 in front by midway through the second period, before power- forward James Davis completed Wolves’ list of scorers and levelled matters at 34-34.

The momentum of carrying a 44-36 lead into half-time only continued after the interval as Davis and Steadman pushed the scoreboard to 50-37 in Worcester’s favour.

Lions fumbled the ball out of bounds, allowing Santhe to set up a long-range Dearman success as the third quarter expired and maintain a 59-52 cushion for the visitors.

By three minutes left in the evening Teesside had made the most of their superior numbers to haul the sides into a 67-67 tie on the back of successive baskets for their dangerous USA guard Brenden Patrick.

Patrick attacked twice more in attempts to break the deadlock but it was Dearman who hit the target with a triple.

Teesside’s American finally found the net to close the deficit to a single point at 70-69 but when a final Lions shot went astray it was the Wolves super-six who celebrated.

Santhe and Dearman both played the maximum forty minutes and both produced all-round displays, the former posting statistics of 22 points, seven rebounds and nine assists and the latter a similarly-impressive 15, six and four output.

Davis tallied 12 points as well as grabbing a dozen boards, with Steadman notching nine points while Lievin and Simpson contributed six points apiece.

Coach Dean Blake expressed his delight with the result, saying: “The guys worked really hard for the win.

“We had such a strong start, catching Teesside off guard. The guys maintained a strong level of focus throughout the full forty minutes.

“With a shortened roster we were able to hang on to our lead and secure the victory.”

Wolves return to the University of Worcester Arena next Saturday 18 January (7.30pm) to face St Helens Saints.

Doors open at 4 o’clock, ready for Wolves Wheelchair Basketball team tipping off against Loughborough Lightning at 5pm. Get your tickets here or from the Arena box office.