Worcester Wolves 102-43 Warwickshire Hawks

Friday 19th September 2025

By Colin Taylor

Worcester Wolves stretched their legs in preparation for the new National Basketball League season by comfortably taking care of Warwickshire Hawks 102-43 at the University of Worcester Arena on Friday.

Next weekend will see Division One Wolves commence their league campaign and head coach Dean Blake saw the National Cup first round meeting with Division Two Hawks as a valuable test for his new-look squad.

“Everyone got on the floor, everyone got a taste of the game – it was really good for everyone to get a runout,” said Blake.

“It was important to tell the guys not to take their foot off the gas because future opponents are not always going to be similar to Warwickshire so we need to always play at our level, which I think we did in some aspects today.”

A familiar face from two seasons ago, Humberto Ferreira, jabbed the ball away from a Hawks attacker before opening the scoring.

Returning players Dume Okibe and Daijaun Antonio combined for the next couple of scores while stalwart guard Wilfrid Santhe galloped up-court for a solo success.

An early 20-10 lead enabled Blake to soon rest his starting five and then delight in watching new blood Isaiah Dappah and Georgios Stergiopoulos produce a flurry of three-pointers.

A 31-12 first-quarter advantage grew to 56-26 by half-time as Christian Shaba asserted himself close to the basket and Fin Rennie displayed his capabilities.

A burst of points from Antonio and from reserve guard Harry Godwin were the feature of an overwhelming third quarter that ended with Worcester now 82-38 to the good.

Ferreira bookended his contribution with a neat hand-off for Shaba to convert and bring up a century of home points.

“Humberto is an amazing player”, said Blake. “We worked hard to get him back here and will reap the rewards of that work. The fans love him, we love him and he can be the x-factor on any team he plays for.”

Former Wolves captain Jacob Dearman was the man in charge of the Hawks bench and he was thrilled to be presented with one of his framed shirts in recognition of multiple years of service to the club.

“This shirt has a lot of memories for me,” said Dearman. “It represents a significant period of my life. A lot of my teammates are still here and to see them and the coaches and all the fans again has been amazing. Thank you Worcester, I’m really grateful.

“Wolves look really strong coming into this year. I wish them all the best and will definitely be back down to the University Arena to watch a few games.”

Worcester will host Sheffield Sharks next Saturday 27 September with a 7.30pm tip-off with the Worcester Wolves Women tipping off beforehand at 5pm when they open their league campaign against Cola Southwark Pride in WNBL1.

“There was a big crowd here today, but we want it to be even bigger next week. We’ve got two stands here, so let’s fill them both. I want all our players to experience what it’s like to be a member of the Wolves,” ended Blake.

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