Worcester Wolves 81-54 Northants Titans

Saturday 18 September 2021

Worcester Wolves’ coach Dean Blake declared his satisfaction after seeing his new National Basketball League squad overpower Northants Titans 81-54 in a pre-season encounter at the University of Worcester Arena on Saturday.

“With the inactivity of the last eighteen months for many of the players it was good for everyone to get back out on the floor,” said Blake.

“I’m very pleased with the result; the guys have worked hard over the last couple of weeks to get ready for the season.”

Wolves took an 18-15 edge into the second quarter of the match, with ten of the teams opening points coming from the two players remaining from last year’s roster, Lucas McGregor and Shaun Parren-Rackley.

New Worcester recruits came more to the fore as the evening continued. Wilfrid Sante stole the ball to set up a breakaway basket for Ian Vivero Rodriguez and, as the first half wound down, produced a solo dribble to aid a 35-26 advantage.

After the half-time interval McGregor grabbed possession from a Northants attacker and galloped the length of the court to entertain spectators with a two-handed dunk.

By the time McGregor had laid on a score for Parren-Rackley and bulleted a pass for John Lenton-Jinks to convert, the hosts’ lead had expanded to 62-41, confirming the victors.

Forward Matei Balteanu battled hard for a series of inside successes and David Ali introduced himself with a double of three-pointers, setting the seal on the win.

McGregor led the scoring with 19 points, followed by Lenton-Jinks with 14. Balteanu and Parren-Rackley totalled 13 and 12 points respectively.

Wolves open their regular-season fixtures with a NBL Cup tie on Sunday 26 September (5pm) when they welcome City of Birmingham Rockets to the University of Worcester Arena.   

“Once we get the right habits fully embedded into the team we’ll always give ourselves opportunities to win matches and next week against Birmingham will be no different,” added Blake.