WILDCATS STILL ON COURSE

At Birchwood, on Saturday night, the Durham Wildcats extended their post-Christmas winning run in EBL Division 2 to ten games, but were given a searching examination on the way by a big and strong team from Glyndwr.
The victory keeps the Wildcats clear at the top of the table, but still needing to win one of their two remaining games if they are to clinch the title, as rivals Brixton Topcats also won to keep up the pressure.

Glyndwr Nets               (25, 32, 58) 75
Durham Wildcats       (17, 46, 66) 96

This was a Jekyl and Hyde performance from the Wildcats, as they displayed the best and worst of their game, against determined mid-table opposition.
A sloppy start by Durham saw them fall 6-2 behind, as Usman Baba showed his team-mates how easy it was to work under the Wildcats’ basket. Still stuttering offensively and defensively, Durham did keep in touch, and edged 8-9 ahead with a trademark play, as Paul Elderkin took a mid-court steal, fed brother Mark, received the return, drew a foul as he scored, and sank the bonus.
For the next two minutes, however, it was Glyndwr who dominated, with a 13-4 spurt that put them eight points ahead, and that was the margin at the first break.
There were further worrying signs at the start of the second quarter, as neither side could find the basket for the first two minutes, and then Glyndwr took two offensive rebounds before Baba drew a foul and hit one of two from the stripe.
Suddenly, however, it was as though someone had tripped a light switch, and the Wildcats’ play began to flow. Two of two from the line by Scott Morton was followed by a Morton jump-shot and then he stole the ball to feed Paul Elderkin for a magnificent fast-break dunk.
Pete Arden put the lead back to five, but then Durham reeled off the next seventeen points in a spell which included thee steal-induced fast breaks (one resulting in a rare Morton dunk) and culminated in Paul’s (and Wildcats’) first “3” of the game.
Leading 28-40, Durham succeeded in restricting their hosts to just seven points in the quarter, as they took a 14 point advantage into the locker room.
Two baskets from Mike Davies, and two steal-and-scores from Elderkin, to open the third period appeared to have killed off the game, as Durham led by 22, and the margin was still nineteen going into the final three minutes of the quarter.
Then the Wildcats fell asleep, at both ends of the court, and Glyndwr took full advantage, especially ex-England International Delme Herriman. Restricted to just six points up to this stage, Herriman rattled in seven, including a long-buzzer-beating “3” in an 11-0 Nets’ run that cut the margin to just eight.
When Arden hit a “trey” on the restart, Durham’s victory began to look far from secure, but they refocused yet again, to put together another spurt, this time 2-14, to restore a seventeen point cushion by the mid-point of the final stanza.
Glyndwr continued to try to force themselves back into the game, but in truth they knew they had lost their chance, and a beautifully executed Anthony Trigg fast break “dunk” left the Wildcats 70-89 ahead, with three minutes to play.
Durham held on for a comfortable looking 21 point victory, but the players knew that it had been far from easy.

The Wildcats now have a rare weekend off, but there will be no rest for the majority of the players, as they will be joining up with Durham University for the British Universities’ and Colleges’ “Final Eight” in Sheffield from 12th to 14th March.
They then return for the key “double-header” weekend, at Plymouth and at home to Westminster, which will decide the destination of the title.