Warwickshire Hawks 66-88 Worcester Wolves

Saturday 11 December 2021 – By Colin Taylor

Worcester Wolves’ perfect National Basketball League season continued on Saturday with a satisfying 88-66 victory at Warwickshire Hawks.

Wolves produced electrifying first and third quarters to overwhelm their opponents and log their eighth win of the year.

Ian Vivero-Rodriguez starred from the opening tip, slotting home a double of corner threes and twice driving to the hoop in a 24-9 blitz that left Hawks calling for a time-out just seven minutes into the afternoon.

Starters Austin Payne, Matei Balteanu and Lucas McGregor contributed the rest of Worcester’s early points before giving way to substitutes.

But there was little let-up in the visitors’ intensity, typified by the effort of one of those replacements John Lenton-Jinks as he brushed off a stinging foul to make his shot and finalise a 29-14 first quarter.

Payne showed no mercy on his return to the fray, tormenting Warwickshire with a trio of steals, and joining Vivero-Rodriguez in setting up a series of Balteanu baskets.

A 48-38 half-time score-line was the last juncture at which Hawks retained any prospect of success. Wolves soon dashed the hopes of the hosts by ruthlessly holding them scoreless for the following six minutes.

The same spell of time saw a feast of points at the other end of the court as Worcester guards skilfully distributed the ball.

David Lauzzana and Drew Clark both opened their accounts with three-pointers to aid a 76-52 lead entering the final ten minutes of the match.

Sergio Sanchez picked the pocket of his attacker to set up a two-handed dunk for Payne and moments later McGregor displayed similar spring in his shoes when rising up for a thundering slam to set the seal on the victory.

Balteanu and McGregor led the scoring with 20 and 19 points respectively, followed by 17 from Vivero-Rodriguez.

“Those three players certainly showed that they can put the ball in the basket,” confirmed coach Dean Blake. “But I’m even more pleased that we got contributions from across the squad to stand us in good stead for the rest of the season.”

Wolves remain in Warwickshire for their final outing of 2021, visiting the county’s Warriors on Sunday 19 December (2pm).

Wolves’ first match in the New Year will be on Saturday 08 January (7pm) when they welcome Coventry Flames to the University of Worcester Arena.

“We’ll take each game as it comes and, as always, we’ll work hard,” added Blake.