Durham Wildcats Weather the Storm to Reach Final

EBL Division 2 Men Semi-final Play-off
Durham Wildcats       (21, 42, 65) 87
Edmonton Storm       (24, 35, 58) 71

Durham Wildcats kept up their push for the Division Two clean sweep as they won 87-71 against a battling Edmonton Storm team, on Saturday.
Dave Elderkin’s side will now meet neighbours Team Northumbria in the play-off final on Sunday April 25 at the Amaechi Centre in Manchester, the sixth meeting between the sides this season.
The home side opened strongly, racing into a 21-15 lead after eight minutes before Storm closed out the period with nine straight points to lead 24-21.

The turning point came when Wildcats’ Scott Morton was subbed out after collecting his second personal, and Storm’s  Dami Fakanle got down to some serious work on the offensive boards.
Despite Paul Elderkin and Steve Jones joining Morton on bench due to foul trouble, Wildcats led 34-33 with four minutes remaining in the half, and then finished strongly to lead 42-35 going into the locker room at half-time.
Pierre-Henry Fontaine, who had a poor shooting night as, despite making both attempts from beyond the arc, hit only one of his nine field goal attempts, picked up his third personal in the sixth minute. He then picked up a technical foul, but his side fought back to lead 49-47 at the midway stage of the period – their first lead since the 12 minute mark.
Wildcats fought back to lead 65-58 at the end of the third period, despite missing six straight shots from the Free Throw line -  they gradually increased their lead in the final quarter to win by 16; a score that did not reflect the tough game played by the visitors.

Wildcats Head Coach Dave Elderkin praised the efforts from his team, and in particular the strong finish in the final quarter. ‘Playoffs are never easy for the top seed and Edmonton gave us a hard game’ said Dave. ‘We are really looking forward to meeting Team Northumbria in what should be fascinating final – you really have to respect a team with Northumbria’s play off record, and a team who can eliminate both Brixton and Mansfield.’

Paul Elderkin led all scorers with 28 points, with Morton adding 18 point and seven rebounds. Fakanle led the north London side with 20 points and eight rebounds, with Mansour Mbye the only other visiting player in double figures with 17 points.

Wildcats: Paul Elderkin 28; Scott Morton 18; Michael Davies 14; Stephen Jones 13; Mark Elderkin 11; Anthony Trigg 3; Tolis Apostolisis; Rafael Vilar Franca; Notis Chalkidis; John Morgan
Edmonton: ‘Dami Fakanle 20; Monsour Mybe 17;Leon Bernard 9; Joe Matthews 9; Pierre-Henry Fontaine 8; Lee Cascoe 6; John MacCauley 2; Joe Perea; Kywan Henry