University of Worcester 74 – Northumbria 78

Eben Effah started things off for UW Men with a put back from Emanuel Yeboah missed 3. Emanuel hit 2 consecutive threes. Giving the home team an early lead (8-7). That lead would be short lived. With Northumbria coming back with some inside play from number 15 Kanwei. #5 Riley came next with a thunderous dunk. Poor defensive transition from our Men, saw Northumbria capitalise and close out the 1st quarter 18-15.

The second quarter began in the same way the first quarter ended. Worcester, struggling to find cohesion on the defensive end. #9 Kande (9pts) and #15 Kanwei (8pts) combining for 17pts in the second period, for the away team.

Eben again got things going in the 3rd, scoring on a Humberto Ferriera assist, from close range. Jacob Dearman was then fouled going drive to the basket and sank 1 of 2 from the line. #9 Sande and #15 Kanwei carried the load for the visitors scoring the teams first 16pts. Worcester found their own dynamic duo in Dearman and Yeboah. Who poured in a combined 18pts, to reduce the deficit to 11 going into the fourth.

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Worcester continued to build momentum with Dearman and Yeboah carrying in the scoring load. Some good defense allowed us to take the lead. However we were unable to find the basket in the last 2 minutes and Nortumbria we able to take the lead and secure the victory.

University of Worcester 47 – 85 Coventry Men’s 1

At a raucous University of Worcester Arena, our men’s 2nd team came out ‘hot’, playing some spell binding basketball in a 1st quarter that was fantastic to watch. UW were spearheaded by Bedgood & Garcia scoring from the perimeter, then Dunphy ignited the crowd with scores in transition. UW led 30-17. However in the 2nd quarter, injuries hampered the UW team, ruling out Garcia, Bastos and Langfield.

The team continued to fight hard, playing with a passion & energy, however the strength and size of the league leaders, Coventry University, proved a insurmountable challenge.

The final score at times doesn’t reflect the intensity of the game through the first 30 mins, said Coach Simon Fisher.

MVP: Keon Dunphy, 12pts & 11 rebs

In the second round of games in the Midlands Tier 1 of the Wheechair Basketball conference, our team secured two emphatic victories over Loughborough and Nottingham University. The win’s mean that our team have guaranteed themselves top spot in the conference before the 3rd round of games in the new year.

University of Worcester 97 – 42 Loughborough

University of Worcester 53 – 17 Nottingham University

University of Worcester Men’s 1st 88-76 Anglia Ruskin University Men’s 1st

Worcester started the game in style with a drive from Wifrid Santhe who dished it off to the cutting Thomas Grayling for the two handed flush. From that point on the team didn’t look back.

A strong effort from Anglia’s Ruskin’s guard Sam Horvath (35pts), wasn’t enough to stop an undermanned Worcester team. Another good performance from Evan Longman off the bench earned him Game Night MVP honours for his double double.

Coach Dean was happy with the win. “it’s always good to get a win, when you’re not at full strength. It show’s the depth in our squad. Which is important when we’re competing in two leagues.”

Matei Balteanu 21pts

Evan Longman 16pts

Wilfrid Santhe 14pts, Thomas Grayling 14pts

University of Worcester Women 68-41 Oxford Women’s 1st

After a long anticipated return, University of Worcester Womens basketball is back!

The Womens 1st team began there campaign with a strong performance over a valiant Oxford side. Strong scoring performance from , and allowed Worcester to to see out the entire game never trailing behind.

A BUCS debut for June Bolinaga however would steal the show, as she announced herself onto the main stage contributing 11pts and working tirelessly on defence.

Coach Kieran added

“I’m extremely happy with the girls today! Being low on numbers the ladies proved that it’s not about the size of the dog, but the fight in the dog that counts. We will take this win and look forward to next week to do it all over again.”

Carolina Marquez 16pts

Kacey Cox 14 pts

Charlotte Finn 12pts

University Worcester Men’s 2 76 vs 73 Nottingham Trent Men’s 2

Worcester Men’s 2nd team progressed in the Midlands Conference Cup after a pulsating game at the University of Worcester Arena.

Ben Bedgood ignited the game with back to back 3s that provided the fast start Coach Fisher had focused on after the initial series of games. This start meant Worcester had a 10+ pt lead for most of the game, with Thiago Bastos scoring inside showing we’ll on his season debut,  Bruno Garcia and Keon Dunphy produced energetic displays that allowed Worcester to stretch the lead to 16 as the game entered the final quarter.

Nottingham Trent continued to fight and there desire rattled the 2nds as they searched for their opening win of the season, however Ben Curran marshalled the team home in a frenetic final few minutes to leave the home crowd jubilant as the clock expired to welcome a home win.

Coach Fisher says “the game flow showed the strengths and development areas for the team. The control and team basketball we showed for large periods was excellent. We made good decisions, extra passes which enabled us to compete. The final quarter will provide learning, but also confidence that we learn how to win. The team spirit was excellent, the bench tremendous, but overall the desire to compete provided the winning effort.

Thiago Bastos – 20pts

Keen Dunphy – 16pts

Ben Bedgood – 15pts

Bruno Garcia – 10pts

University of Worcester Men’s 3 53-86 University of Wolverhampton Men’s 1

Going into the game the 3rds got of to a slow start leaving it to be 15-25 at the end of the 1st. Wolverhampton were a very tough team, and throughout the whole game continued to run and dominate in the paint.

Coach Shanice adjusted her defence but sadly Wolverhampton came back with 3 back to back 3s. As the game went on the lead got greater. The guys fought and continued to compete, holding Wolverhampton to 12 in the 4th. Unfortunately it was too little too late. Coach Shanice said ” Wolverhampton are a strong team and so they should be. I’m happy that we competed for all four quarters and didn’t give up. If we have that attitude, competitiveness and fight in the league then we will do well.”

Karvanni Spooner 12pts

Harvey Young 7pts

Oxford University 77 vs 66 University of Worcester

After a lack luster 1st quarter (11-25) from our men’s 1st team, the team struggled to find any rhythm on offense or defense to mount a comeback. Our guys played much better in the 2nd quarter, but it wasn’t enough to make a dent into Oxford’s lead of 13pts at the end of 20 minutes of play.

After the half time break, Oxford came out fighting with a flurry of baskets to cause an early time out by Coach Dean. We started to see more urgency from the team, as Coach Dean started to utilise the bench more to see if someone could ignite a spark.

The fourth quarter saw a team on a mission. Our Men’s 1st team started to play more like the team. Creating havoc on the defensive end, causing turnovers and creating fast break opportunities. However time wasn’t on our side and Oxford were strategic in slowing the game down to limit our chances of mounting a successful comback.

Top Scorers: Isaiah Walker 27, Humberto Ferreira 11, Jacob Dearman 10.

Coach Dean said, “due to the way we started the game, we gave ourselves too much work to do. The guys are naturally disappointed, however there’s no time to sulk and feel sorry for ourselves. So we have to prepare for our next game, taking the learnings from this evening.”

Wolves endured a slow start, as Wolverhampton found their shooting touch in the 1st quarter, ultimately the 16-32 score at the end of the 1st was to big a hill to climb.

However the 2nds showed immense heart and tenacity to battle and win the other quarters to end on the wrong end of a 80-89 score.

Wolves managed to close the game to 13 at the half, and made a real run in the 2nd half to provide the watching crowd belief the comeback was possible, closing the game to 4, with 5 mins to play.

Scorers: Bedgood-17, Garcia-14, Brine-13, Langfield-10, Curran-9

Coach Simon Fisher said “I am extremely proud of the effort, the desire to compete, especially facing a slow start, however the team collectively responded, playing some lovely team basketball. We need to find a way to avoid playing catch up in games, that is my responsibility, we will continue to learn and grow as a unit.”