HARD FOUGHT VICTORY KEEPS WILDCATS ON TOP    

The Durham Wildcats stayed unbeaten at the top of EBL Division Two, but not before more than a few scares at Edmonton, as they came from behind to snatch victory in the final quarter.

Edmonton Storm       (19, 35, 48) 62             Durham Wildcats       (17, 32, 44) 67  

Edmonton, unbeaten on their home court this season, began the game with a flourish, as they held their visitors scoreless for a full four minutes and raced into a 10-0 lead, with Leon Bernard contributing seven.
It took just one minute, though, for the Wildcats to respond, as captain Mark Elderkin found room to launch two “3”s, brother Paul hit two from the line, and Scott Morton added a basket, to tie the scores at ten apiece.
Neither side could break away during the remainder of the quarter, as they traded baskets, and at the first break the home side held a slender two point advantage.
Durham began the second quarter more positively, as another Elderkin “trey”, plus one of two from the stripe by Anthony Trigg, gave them the lead for the first time, 19-21.
It proved short lived, however, as Tayo Odulaja contributed five points (a 3 and a 2) in a burst that put the home side back ahead by five at the mid point of the period. The Storm continued to edge away, and, with the Wildcats struggling with basics, Bernard contributed another seven points as the hosts pulled out a 35-26 advantage.
With the signs looking ominous, the Wildcats recovered to score the last six points of the half, to reduce the margin to just three, but Edmonton went into the locker room as clearly the better team thus far.
Durham struck first on the restart, through Scott Morton, but the Storm re-established their grasp on the game with seven unanswered, to lead 42-34. Again the Wildcats refused to let them break away, but the home side continued to look the better team as they held a four point advantage, 48-44 going into the final period.
In particular, the home side were doing an excellent job of keeping the visitors’ more prolific scorers quiet, and Paul Elderkin had just seven points - a “3” and four from the line, all in the first quarter.
Notis Chalkidis opened the scoring in the final stanza, pulling the Wildcats to within two, and a “trey” plus a basket for Paul Elderkin gave the visitors the lead for the first time since the second minute of the second quarter, 48-51.
Still neither side could establish total dominance, and they traded baskets to 57-all in the 8th minute, to set up a thrilling finale.
Increased defensive pressure by Durham led to a classic breakaway for Paul Elderkin, and when that was followed by a tough baseline move by the ever-dependable Michael Davies, they had their biggest lead yet, at  57-61. 
The Wildcats were relying on their defence to turn the game, and they had succeeded in keeping Bernard relatively quite, but suddenly he struck, and it was still anybody’s game at 59-61 going into the final minute.
Edmonton knew that, with time ticking away, they must prevent the Wildcats from scoring, but, with their defence smothering Mark, Paul and Scott, Davies was left free, and he obliged with a huge “3” to give the league leaders a breathing space at 59-64.
Still the home side kept coming, and Odulaja kept them in touch, 61-64. They knew, however, that they must foul to stop the clock, and when they did so Paul kept calm at the stripe to sink both foul shots to restore the two-score cushion.
Odulaja pulled one back from the line, but time was now running out, and Paul iced the win with 1 from 2 of his own, to take his tally for the match to a game-high 21.
Though pleased with the victory, and the determination of his team down the stretch, coach Dave Elderkin was less than impressed with their overall performance. “Edmonton played well, and were well worth their lead for most of the game” he said. “However, we were flat, and didn’t play consistently enough. It certainly wasn’t our best offensive performance.
“We really must make sure that we raise our game every time we take the court, because every team wants to be the first to beat us in this division.
“We’ve got a weekend off next week, but then we finish 2009 with the toughest double-header imaginable – away games at our two closest challengers, Westminster and Brixton, on successive days.
“That’s two games we really do need to step up for.”  
Wildcats’ Scorers: Paul Elderkin 21; Scott Morton 14; Mark Elderkin 11; Michael Davis 11; Anthony Trigg 5; Stephen Jones 3; Notis Chalkidis 2; Tolis Apostolidis; Rafa Vilar-Franca.
Edmonton Scorers: Leon Bernard 18; Tayo Odulaja 16; Pierre Henry-Fontaine 13; Sahr Komba 4; Ben Wallis 4; Jo Perera 4; Leigh Cascoe 3.