Liverpool Basketball Club 63-70 Worcester Wolves

Saturday 7th February 2026

By Colin Taylor

Worcester Wolves were forced to dig deep to hold on to top-spot in National Basketball League Division One during a dramatic match at Liverpool Basketball Club on Saturday.

A remarkable encounter saw Wolves race into a 52-26 half-time lead only to then put forward a third-quarter performance that their coach, Dean Blake, labelled ‘abysmal’.

However, after being overtaken by their hosts, late-game Fin Rennie resilience and Wilfrid Santhe sharp-shooting helped Worcester to revive sufficiently to snatch a 70-63 success.

Birthday-boy Blake, while pleased to receive the gift of another win, was less enamoured with how his present was delivered.

“We started off really well and, in the end, got the win. But maybe we got ahead of ourselves in the half-time break and our third quarter display was abysmal,” lamented Blake.

“We only scored four points while it felt like Liverpool had scored thirty. It was perhaps a little bit of immaturity – we should have been in control of the game but we obviously weren’t.

“I said to the players that Liverpool were third in the table for a reason so don’t expect them to just lie down and of course the third quarter proved that.”

Santhe opened the afternoon with a confident drive forward and then grabbed a rebound to set up an Emmanuel Yeboah dunk. After pulling down a second rebound Santhe slotted home again for a 6-0 lead.

Defensive intensity was the feature of the first-half for the visitors as Liverpool were harassed into wayward shooting, multiple turnovers and repeated clock-violations.

Yeboah made the most of the hosts’ failure to inbound the ball in the permitted time to close out a comfortable 23-11 first-quarter cushion.

Earl Burgess hurled a long pass for Rennie to collect and convert and followed up with a double of baskets to increase the lead.

Successive three-pointers from Georgios Stergiopoulos and bully-ball plays from Burgess and from Humberto Ferreira contributed to providing a half-time chasm between the teams.

But matters turned south for Worcester after the interval. As shot after shot went astray, Liverpool’s confidence grew.

It would take until the third minute of the second-half for Wolves to impact the scoreboard while Liverpool now found their aim with ease.

The fourth quarter commenced with morale-sapped Worcester clinging to a vastly-reduced 56-49 advantage.

Only two more minutes had elapsed when Liverpool centre Torin Dubiel rose up for a thunderous slam that brought spectators to their feet and nudged his side 57-56 ahead.

Liverpool still held sway at 63-61 with three minutes of the afternoon remaining. Two made Rennie free-throws and a follow-up thrust to the hoop produced a 65-63 reversal entering the final minute.

With a half-minute to go Santhe found space in the left-corner of the court with defenders seemingly daring him to shoot. He calmly accepted the invitation and danced in celebration of the ball swishing through the net to confirm victory.

Santhe and Burgess top-scored with 16 and 14 points respectively.

Next Saturday, 14 February (7.30pm) sees Wolves conclude their marathon four-game road schedule with a trip to Manchester Magic.

After that, on Saturday 21 February, the team will finally return to the University of Worcester Arena to take on Oxford Hoops. Get your tickets for the game here, which is Sponsored by Edwards Motors and Edwards Kia PBV Commercial Vehicles.

“We’ve currently got the head-to-head record over all the teams around us at the top of the table,” added Blake. “So its important to get the win against Manchester to maintain this record.”