Worcester Wolves 70-60 Sheffield Sharks

Saturday 27th September 2025

By Colin Taylor

Worcester Wolves opened their new National Basketball League Division One campaign with a hard-fought victory over Sheffield Sharks at the University of Worcester Arena on Saturday.

Wolves overturned a 36-33 half-time deficit to run out eventual 70-60 winners against a Sheffield side featuring several players with top-level British Basketball League experience.

Head coach Dean Blake was pleased to come out on top against a club he sees as a possible contender for honours.

“Sheffield have a long-standing programme of over thirty years and have put out a very good team,” said Blake.

“This is the minimum sort of level of opposition we are likely to face this year so it was important to get the win. I’m really glad we got it done.”

The first half-dozen points of the contest went the way of the Sharks while it would take a couple of minutes for Worcester to get on the scoreboard with a layup from Humberto Ferreira.

Ferreira was in the thick of the early going, stripping the ball from his opponent to provide a score for Wilfrid Santhe and rising upwards to swat away an attack from 6 foot 10 inch former Caledonia Gladiator Oscar Baldwin.

Baldwin dunked through the hoop to move his side 19-14 in front as the second quarter commenced.

Georgios Stergiopoulos stole the ball to set up Luan Ferreira, and Harry Godwin sank a three-pointer to draw the teams level at 19-19.

Another Baldwin slam and a triple again pushed Sheffield 28-21 ahead before more perimeter successes from Godwin and Edsen Neblett kept the pot boiling.

New American recruit Earl Burgess made his presence felt close to the basket, tipping in an offensive rebound to tie matters at 36-36.

Swarming defence repelled the Sharks, holding them scoreless from the field until the seventh minute of the second half.

Fin Rennie followed up his half-time buzzer-beating heave with another three to give Wolves a 46-43 edge entering the final period of the contest.

Daijaun Antonio now came to the fore with a burst of points while Christian Shaba showed persistence to nudge the ball through the net, before taking his turn to subdue further Baldwin aggression and aid a 57-49 home lead with five minutes remaining.

Luan Ferreira delighted in picking the pocket of former England Junior Sedale Hanson-Young and racing up the court for a two-handed jam to set a seal on the win.

A quartet of Worcester players achieved double-figure scoring. Antonio led the way with 13 points, followed in sequential fashion by Godwin with 12, Rennie with 11 and Burgess taking the honour of a 10 point-11 rebound double-double performance.

“Earl didn’t feature last week because he was fresh off the plane,” said Blake. “It was important to get him on the floor today and he showed what a really good player he is.”

Wolves now turn to the challenge of a doubleheader weekend. On Friday 03 October (7pm) they travel to Birmingham City University in the second round of the National Cup. The following day the team are back to league play, making the considerably longer trip up to Sheffield Arrows for a 6pm tip-off.

The next action at the University of Worcester Arena will take place on Friday 10 October when Cardiff Archers visit the city.

“We will have two tough games in two days next weekend,” added Blake. “But this is the level we have to expect. At any game anyone’s number could get called and all our players in the squad will need to be ready.”

Get your individual game tickets for our first ever Worcester Wolves Basketball Weekender from Friday October 10th to Sunday October 12th online or from the University of Worcester Arena Box Office.

Three days, three games, do not miss it!