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Match Report - Plymouth Marjon

Coach Elderkins Comment:

“It’s a great feeling to have the title in the bag, with a game in hand” commented coach Dave Elderkin, “and it’s a tribute to the way these guys have responded throughout the season.
“However” he added, “we did ourselves no favours in the first half, and I’m not quite sure how we led by ten at the interval. It was only when we started to play proper defence off the ball that we were able to play our usual game, though the final scoreline made it look far easier than it was.”

 

CHAMPIONS!

 

Durham Wildcats clinched the EBL Division Two title on Saturday afternoon, as they made good use of their longest trip of the season to beat Plymouth Marjon by a healthy margin.

 

 

EBL Division 2 Men.
Plymouth Marjon       (22, 33, 42) 58
Durham Wildcats       (22, 43, 70) 96


Despite having broken the long journey to Plymouth with an overnight stop at Bristol, the Wildcats made a lacklustre start to the game, and though they led 4-7 after the opening exchanges, they soon found themselves trailing 14-9 as Sean Porter took full advantage of poor Durham defence to drain a pair of “3”s.
The pattern continued throughout the first quarter, as the Wildcats kept pace with their hosts, despite erratic execution in front of the basket, and at the first break the teams were level at 22.
Things looked more promising on the restart, as Paul Elderkin drained a pair of “treys”, but the usual defensive intensity was still lacking, and Marjon were soon back in touch at 31-32.
Suddenly, though, the whole complexion of the game changed, as Durham put together a 2-13 run in the six minutes up to the interval, to take a ten point advantage into the locker room.
Plymouth struck first in the third quarter, with a “3” that owed not a little to a shot-clock malfunction, but the Wildcats had finally woken up, and their pressure defence restricted their opponents to just six more points before the next break.
Meanwhile, that defence was setting up numerous attacking chances, and a spurt of 12 unanswered points included scores from five different players, and the blitz continued as Durham established a commanding 28 point lead by the end of the period.
In the final stanza, coach Dave Elderkin took the opportunity to rest three of the starting five, in rotation, with an eye clearly on the next day’s game, and the support players did not disappoint, as they continued to extend the lead against a now dispirited Marjon.
The margin peaked at 43 points, two minutes from the final buzzer, and as the Wildcats began to relax, Plymouth’s captain Matt Peard hit the last five points of the game, before the buzzer signalled on-court celebrations by the new Division 2 Champions.
Wildcats: Paul Elderkin 29; Mark Elderkin 15; Scott Morton 14; Stephen Jones 12 [+10 reb.]; Michael Davies 10; Notis Chalkidis 10; Tolis Apostolidis 4; Anthony Trigg 2.
Nets: Mark Gillbard 12; Sean Porter 11; Matt Peard 10; Oscar Wilkins 9; Russell Martin 7; John Peake 5; David Hickson 4; Sam Ottoway; Thomas Woods; Henry Spring.