WILDCATS STAY ON COURSE

It was another good weekend for Durham Wildcats, as they won at Team Northumbria, and saw one of their title-rivals, Westminster, slip to a surprise defeat to fall further off the pace.
The Wildcats succeeded in completing the league “double” over their near-neighbours, despite not being at their fluent best, and were made to fight all the way by a much improved Northumbria team.
The Durham players showed their strong team spirit, however, to take their fourth victory of the season, in all competitions, over their local rivals, and to stay clear at the top of EBL Division 2.
Team Northumbria   (22, 35, 49) 70
Durham Wildcats       (22, 40, 54) 77
An even first quarter opened with the hosts hitting the first four points, but the scores were soon level at 6-all, on the back of a pair of “3”s from Scott Morton. Neither side could establish their superiority, and it was still all-square at the end of the first period, with Morton boasting 13 of Durham’s 22 points, backed up by Paul Elderkin and Anthony Trigg. 
Defences dominated the opening of the second quarter, and neither side could find the basket for the first four minutes, and with 4 to play in the half it was Northumbria who held a slight edge, 32-31.
Durham responded by raising their game as the interval approached, and they took a slender five point cushion into the locker room.
Early fouls on the restart presented Northumbria with opportunities from the line, but they could convert only 1 of 4, but a spurt by Durham, with Paul Elderkin and Stephen Jones prominent, brought up the first double-digit lead of the game at 41-51.
The hosts responded immediately, to finish the quarter well, and at the final break it was “as you were”, with the margin back to five.
This stung the Wildcats into action, and they dominated the opening of the final stanza, and Morton, Jones and Trigg all contributed to the 2-10 blitz that gave them the biggest lead of the game at 51-64.
With Durham seemingly in control, Northumbria produced their best spell of the game, with some great outside shooting from Josh Merrington. His three “treys” and a foul shot contributed to twelve unanswered points as the home side pulled back to within a point.
An upset appeared to be on the cards, but Mark Elderkin, Paul & Scott stepped up again, and the league leaders ensured secured the outcome with a 5 -13 spurt in the final 4 minutes. Chris Pearce’s two from the stripe, for Northumbria, with seconds remaining were mere consolation, as the Wildcats extended their lead in the table over Brixton, whose game against Mansfield was snowed off.  
It wasn't a comfortable win, and there were signs of tiredness in the Wildcats performance, with only 10 points coming off the usually reliable fast break, but all credit was due to a much improved Northumbria performance. Chris Pearce led the hosts with 22 points, and was well supported by 35 points from the bench (including Merrington with four “3”), while former Wildcat Dave Wintersgill had ten.