Worcester Wolves start 2026 sitting top of National Basketball League Division One after defeating previous leaders Birmingham City University at the University of Worcester Arena on Friday.
In an up-and-down battle, Wolves hauled back a double-digit second-half deficit to eventually run out to a 74-69 success and leapfrog their West Midlands rivals in the standings.
Head coach Dean Blake said: “It wasn’t the prettiest of games but the guys dug deep, really deep and were able to pull it out in the end.”
The physical nature of the contest forced Blake to juggle minutes across his squad with nine players logging significant court-time.
“Getting the win today showed our players that they can compete with former professionals and people who have played at a higher level – we’re right there," he said.
Birmingham forward Sam Toluwase quickly showed how he earned roster spots at several BBL teams when he casually floated in a three-pointer to open the evening.
But it would be a further six minutes before he troubled the scoreboard again as Worcester electrified home supporters with a dozen points in reply, featuring Humberto Ferreira muscling his way to a trio of inside scores.
Dume Okibe and Harry Godwin were the first men to step up off the bench and contribute to an 18-13 first-quarter advantage.
The second period saw a reversal of fortunes as Birmingham went into the half-time break 37-36 to the good. Another of the visitors’ stalwarts, Ronald Oberia, punched his way to 10 points in a two-minute spell that propelled his side 53-42 ahead by midway through the third quarter.
Wolves’ captain Wilfrid Santhe twice made the most of ball steals from Ferreira and from Georgios Stergiopoulos to begin the hosts’ fightback. Birmingham entered the final period clinging to a 55-52 lead but now found their offensive output restricted by swarming defenders.
Okibe accepted hand-offs from Santhe and Ferreira to nudge Worcester 56-55 in front and Godwin danced past his markers to accelerate the advantage to 68-58 with four minutes remaining.
A nervy end to the contest saw Birmingham close matters to just 68-66 before Wolves once more hunkered down.
In a night of balanced home scoring, Ferreira and Godwin topped the numbers with 16 points apiece, with the former also notably grabbing an impressive nine steals. Oberia and Toluwase dominated the Birmingham statistics with 28 and 21 points respectively.
Next Saturday, January 17 (5.30pm), sees Wolves set out on an extended road schedule of four matches with a trip to Myerscough Academy.
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