Worcester Wolves celebrated a narrow 71-67 success at Bristol Academy Flyers on Saturday after eventually emerging on the winning side of an up-and-down thriller.

As the third quarter of the contest came towards a close the two sides were locked
at 50-50 before Worcester were the team able to find enough to wrestle
control.

With starters Matei Balteanu and Lucas McGregor having their minutes reduced by
foul trouble, backups Aryan Davoodi and Umberto Ferreira grabbed their chance to
step into the limelight.

The former led the scoring with 16 points while the latter hauled down an impressive ten rebounds.

Wilfrid Santhe made a welcome return from injury to lay on early scores for Balteanu
and McGregor, restricting Bristol to a 14-13 first quarter edge.

Isaiah Walker twice connected from distance in a 21-21 tie and Davoodi approached
double-figure points for a 31-31 scoreboard as half-time neared.

A Davoodi three-pointer tipped his tally to a dozen before Flyers once more squared
the evening at 34-34 entering the interval.

Late in the third period Ferreira dispossessed his attacker at midcourt and rumbled
forward to break yet another stalemate. A Liam Langridge-Barker triple and a
Balteanu basket nudged Wolves 55-50 in front.

McGregor froze defenders with a hesitation layup and sliced past the same players
to establish 64-54 daylight with six minutes remaining.

Another perimeter score from Langridge-Barker, one from Santhe and a demoralising
Walker rejection were sufficient to keep Bristol at bay.

Walker just missed out on a double-double performance after snatching nine
rebounds to sit alongside his 15 points.

Now sitting in fourth place in National Basketball League Division Two, Wolves
welcome last-placed Nottingham Trent Hoods to the University of Worcester Arena
next Sunday 19 February (5pm).

Wolves currently sit fourth in the table, but just two points separates them with second placed St Helens Saints in the chase for play-off places.