Bristol Hurricanes 74-58 Worcester Wolves

Saturday 29 October 2022

By Colin Taylor

Worcester Wolves unbeaten start to their debut season in National Basketball League Division Two came to an end on Saturday after a 74-58 defeat at Bristol Hurricanes.

Handicapped by the absence of their stalwart big man Matei Balteanu, Wolves had no answer for an overpowering 15 point and 16 rebound performance from 6 foot 8 inch former Bristol Flyers centre Daniel Edozie.

A disastrous opening quarter put Worcester on the back foot for the rest of the evening.

A full eight minutes had elapsed and more than a dozen shots had missed the target before Jacob Solvason finally got the ball through the hoop for Wolves’ first success from the field. In the meantime Bristol took advantage of a series of turnovers to race 19-4 ahead.

By midway through the second period Jacob Dearman sandwiched a steal with a double of scores but Hurricanes still maintained control at 37-16.

Consecutive Solvason three-pointers kept faint hope alive for the visitors as they trooped to the locker rooms looking up at a 49-27 half-time deficit.

The second half commenced in similar fashion to the first with Bristol repelling all attacks on their basket until six minutes had ticked by.

As the final quarter opened Hurricanes had stormed to a huge 69-38 lead. With the victory now firmly in the bag the hosts took their eye off the ball enough to allow their visitors to give some respectability to the margin of defeat.

Solvason with 18 points and Lucas McGregor with 12 were the only Worcester players to reach double-digits.

Wolves now ready themselves for what could be further fireworks, on Saturday 5 November (7pm), when they host Bristol Academy Flyers at the University of Worcester Arena.

3-1 win-loss records for Flyers, Hurricanes and Worcester mean all three teams share second place in the league table. City of Birmingham Rockets lead the way after a perfect four-match start to the year.