WIN NUMBER 12

EBL Division 2.
Durham Wildcats       (21, 44, 71) 93             Team Northumbria   (19, 40, 52) 70  

Durham Wildcats broke the game open in the third quarter, on Saturday night, to record their third victory of the season over local rivals Northumbria, and remain unbeaten at the top of EBL Division 2.
In a closely contested first quarter neither side could establish a grip on the game, and, with Chris Pearce exploiting the “back door” cut too frequently for coach Dave Elderkin’s liking, the lead changed hands nine times.
With four seconds remaining, two from the line by Nils Steuber appeared to have given the visitors the advantage for the first break. Scott Morton, who had scored the Wildcats’ previous seven points, had other ideas however, and ran the ball down court from the inbounds, to drain a buzzer-beating “3” that put Durham ahead by two.
The opening minutes of the second period were equally closely contested, with the lead changing hands three more times, but a third “trey” of the game from Morton, followed by another basket and bonus by the same player, gave the Wildcats a lead they were not to relinquish.
The advantage peaked at eight points, 34-26, but a determined fightback by Northumbria, with Pearce again prominent, kept the visitors in contention, and at the half the margin was just four points.
The third quarter was a very different story, as the Wildcats adjusted and intensified their defence, restricting Pearce to just four points, and their opponents as a whole to twelve. A 12-2 spurt early in the quarter, including Mark Elderkin’s third and fourth “3”s of the game, put Durham 61-46 ahead, and, with Michael Davies [pictured left shooting] contributing ten points (including a couple of “treys”) they had opened a 19 point advantage going into the final stanza.
The surge was not without a price, however, as, two minutes from the break, an accidental clash of knees with an opponent left Paul Elderkin prostrate on the floor, clutching his knee in agony, and he watched the remainder of the game from the bench, in considerable discomfort.
When Northumbria failed to make an impression on the margin early in the final quarter, the result became pretty much a formality, and with both teams giving extended court time to their bench players the game became scrappy.
There were two stand-out performances by Durham players in that final period, however, as Stephen Graham hit a trio of “treys”, while Anthony Trigg rattled in eight points, including a mammoth “dunk”, while taking his blocked-shot tally for the game to five.
The final 23 point victory, which extended Durham’s winning start to the season to a dozen matches, was well deserved, but coach Dave Elderkin observed “That’s the third time we’ve played them, and they’ve improved more than we have … and we still have to play them one more time, in the reverse league fixture.”. 
Wildcats’ Scorers: Scott Morton 22; Mark Elderkin 16; Michael Davis 15; Anthony Trigg 14; Paul Elderkin 10; Stephen Graham 9; Notis Chalkidis 5; Stephen Jones 2; Tolis Apostolidis.
Northumbria leading Scorers: Nils Steuber 20; Chris Pearce 19; Ian Berry 14

Team Mascots

Spennymoor and Ferryhill Community Clubs