Featured Image Credit: Luke Garland
The University of Gloucestershire’ basketball team, the UoG Raiders, suffered an 88-45 defeat to Worcester in this year’s Varsity, and captain Toby McLuskie admitted that the team “kind of expected it [to lose].”
Raiders were outclassed by a talented Worcester team, many of whom play at a higher level than the UoG players, according to McLuskie, who spoke exclusively to Park Life Sport following the result.
“Coming into the game we knew the level they play at, a lot of them are NBL and BBL players so they are set up as a franchise. I saw they train from 7am to 9am whereas we get a 9pm-10pm slot so that sums things up.
“At the end of the day we did the best we could. We could’ve done better offensively, but defensively we met our goals.”
Varsity is the annual sports competition between the Gloucestershire and Worcester universities and sees athletes from all sports go head-to-head in a bid to win the Varsity trophy.
After holding a 2-0 lead in the competition following equestrian and volleyball, UoG’s loss in basketball ensured Worcester drew level midway through Worcester Wednesday, with all events held at the university’s arena.
UoG have since stretched their lead to 4-2, but that will come as no consolation to McLuskie, who plays as a small forward on the court.
Our reporter @_CameronSmith10 spoke to @UniofGlos Basketball Varsity captain @TobyMcluskie9 about their 88-45 defeat to Worcester yesterday afternoon.
— Park Life Sport (@ParkLife_Sport) March 31, 2022
McLuskie admits the team “expected” to lose against such a high calibre of players 👇#UoG #UoGRaiders #Basketball pic.twitter.com/dK3vjlR6C0
“I think the only thing we could’ve done better is close out the three-point line, they managed to move the ball quite well so they had a lot of open shots,” he added. “Like I said, coming out against that calibre of players we did the best we could.”
The Raiders’ campaign has been hampered this year due to their non-participation in BUCS, the national university sports league. Following a year of low attendance in 2020/21, Raiders made the decision to play in local leagues rather than BUCS due to fears of similar numbers this year.
But, an influx of new players this year has meant competing in BUCS next year is on the cards, and McLuskie is looking forward to next season. However, he is wary of Varsity 2023 given the talent Worcester possess.
When asked if UoG will have a better chance of victory next year, McLuskie replied: “We’ll have a lot of the squad returning so we’ll be in a better position. We’ll have a new bunch of first-years coming in to replace the third-years so it’ll be important for our senior players to step up.
“I think we can close the gap a bit, but we’ll have a lot to work on to try and get a win next year.”
Varsity continues this week, with athletics and football taking place over the next 48 hours.
