Worcester Wolves 88-67 Teesside Lions

Saturday 1st November 2025

By Colin Taylor

Worcester Wolves had to work hard to take the win against bottom-of-the-table Teesside Lions at the University of Worcester Arena on Saturday.

Although Wolves eventually secured a comfortable margin of victory at 88-67 to jump up to third spot in National Basketball League Division One, it was only in the last quarter of the match that they began to pull clear of their winless visitors.

Coach Dean Blake confirmed that his side should have killed off the contest at an earlier stage.

“Not to disrespect Teesside, but I felt it was like a cat playing with a mouse,” analogized Blake. “I feel we have a much better team here and we should have done what the cat ultimately needed to do.

“We have standards we’re working towards and our performances aren’t yet reflecting those standards.”

Worcester’s reliable playmaker Wilfrid Santhe set up Earl Burgess for the game’s opening score before kicking the ball out for Georgios Stergiopoulos to connect from distance.

Humberto Ferreira intercepted an errant Teesside pass and drove downhill to aid the hosts 17-12 first-quarter advantage.

Ferreira continued to annoy attackers in the second period with his busy hands and leave defenders standing as he swept forward for a quick quartet of baskets.

Emmanuel Yeboah and Fin Rennie took turns to convert three-pointers and contribute to the hosts 36-28 half-time lead.

Burgess became the go-to scorer after the interval while Rennie sank further triples, but scant offensive input from other players enabled Lions to force their way back into contention.

Speedy guard Zach Missouri now turned his attention away from distribution to instead focus on personal scoring, rattling in a swift ten points, dragging Teesside to just 55-51 in arrears entering the final quarter.

However, Ferreira’s fifth steal of the evening, Burgess’ powerful presence around both hoops and Santhe’s pocketful of passes were enough to finally wear down the visitors’ resistance and allow Wolves to take the spoils.

Burgess achieved his customary double-double honours with 23 points and 14 rebounds. Ferreira and Rennie were next-highest scorers adding 19 and 16 points respectively, while Santhe directed traffic with an impressive 14 assists.

Wolves are back at the University of Worcester Arena next Saturday 08 November, (7pm), welcoming Liverpool to the city.

“We’ll put in our preparation this week and look to get another win on the board,” added Blake.

Get your tickets for Wolves vs Liverpool on Saturday November 8th here or from the University of Worcester Arena Box Office. Doors open 6pm, tip off 8pm.