Worcester Wolves 74-69 Birmingham City University

Friday 9th January 2026

Worcester Wolves start 2026 sitting top of National Basketball League Division One after defeating previous leaders Birmingham City University in front of an excited crowd at the University of Worcester Arena on Friday.

In an up-and-down battle, Wolves hauled back a double-digit second-half deficit to eventually run out to a 74-69 success and leapfrog their West Midlands rivals in the standings.

“It wasn’t the prettiest of games,” admitted head coach Dean Blake. “But the guys dug deep, really deep and were able to pull it out in the end.”

The physical nature of the contest forced Blake to juggle minutes across his squad with nine players logging significant court-time.

“We had players in foul trouble, but our team is deep,” said Blake. “It’s important as the season goes on that different players are able to get good minutes and that they can be trusted to get the job done – all the little plays today made a real difference down the stretch.

“Birmingham are a very experienced team but our guys are developing experience as well.

“Getting the win today showed our players that they can compete with former professionals and people who have played at a higher level – we’re right there.”

Birmingham forward Sam Toluwase quickly showed how he earnt roster spots at several BBL teams, including Manchester Giants and Leeds Force, when he casually floated in a three-pointer to open the evening.

But it would be a further six minutes before he troubled the scoreboard again as Worcester electrified home supporters with a dozen points in reply, featuring Humberto Ferreira muscling his way to a trio of inside scores.

Dume Okibe and Harry Godwin were the first men to step up off the bench and contribute to an 18-13 first-quarter advantage.

The second period saw a reversal of fortunes as Birmingham chipped away at the lead to go into the half-time break 37-36 to the good.

Another of the visitors’ stalwarts, Ronald Oberia, punched his way to ten points in a two-minute spell that propelled his side 53-42 ahead by midway through the third quarter.

Wolves’ captain Wilfrid Santhe twice made the most of ball steals from Ferreira and from Georgios Stergiopoulos to begin the hosts’ fightback.

Birmingham entered the final period clinging to a 55-52 lead but now found their offensive output restricted by swarming defenders.

Okibe accepted hand-offs from Santhe and Ferreira to nudge Worcester 56-55 in front and Godwin danced past his markers to accelerate the advantage to 68-58 with four minutes remaining.

A nervy end to the contest saw Birmingham close matters to just 68-66 before Wolves once more hunkered down to take the spoils.

In a night of balanced home scoring, Ferreira and Godwin topped the numbers with 16 points apiece, with the former also notably grabbing an impressive nine steals.

Oberia and Toluwase dominated the Birmingham statistics with 28 and 21 points respectively.

Next Saturday 17 January, (5.30pm), sees Wolves set out on an extended road schedule of four matches with a trip to Myerscough Academy.

The team will not return to action at the University of Worcester Arena until Saturday 21 February when Oxford Hoops visit the city.

“This season will bring up different challenges,” added Blake. “We’re now at the top of the table, but we’re only in January.

“We’ve now got to rise to the challenge of four games in a row on the road and make sure we come back to Worcester in February with more wins on the board.”

The Wolves Wheelchair and Women’s teams return on Saturday January 17th, tickets are available for Super Saturday here and from the University of Worcester Arena Box Office.