By Ryan Gillha
Durham Wildcats found the positives from this weekend’s home game against Plymouth Raiders even though they fell short and were defeated 70-92 at Newton Aycliffe Leisure Centre.
It was Wildcats’ fifth-straight defeat and they remain rooted to the bottom of the BBL table, but head coach Dave Elderkin was satisfied with his team’s performance against a very strong Plymouth side.
“I’m pleased with the performance, especially from the English guys in our team”, he said. “The Raiders did a very good job on Mario but I expected that with the height they have in their team. I thought we executed well tonight, put up some good shots but they just didn’t fall for us.
“We have a lot of positives to take away from the game, especially from the second half after the Raiders dominated the first but overall I am happy with the performance but wish we could have kept the score under 20.”
In the opening quarter the Raiders set the bar high with Jeremy Bell last season’s BBL Most Valuable Player (MVP) showing why he claimed that award. Jones also caused damage to the Wildcats taking the game to an 11 point gap. It was a poor opening quarter for the Wildcats but they managed to end the quarter only 8 points behind the visitors.
Paul Elderkin came out strong for the Wildcats at the start of the second quarter, draining two from downtown and Ralph Bucci also looked like his usual self with a high intense and positive reaction from the home side but Plymouth’s James Jones really showed some class ending the quarter with 11 points to his name. Quick transition by the Raiders saw them extend the lead by as much as 23 points after a Paul Williams AND 1. Michael Ojo finished the second quarter with a buzzer beater dunk as the score stood at 25-52 at the half.
The Wildcats showed that they should never be taken lightly after Paul Elderkin once again scoring from behind the arc with Mike Capocci also getting in on the act hitting a three of his own and scoring a lay-up bringing the score down to a 22 point ball game, but even though Durham showed some good hustle they failed to keep the scoring up as they saw very little fall for them as the third quarter ended 46-71 to the Raiders.
The Raiders raised the bar even higher in the final quarter as they showed some phenomenal offensive play. Jeremy Bell started pulling the strings creating real problems for the home side but the Wildcats outside game narrowed the gap momentarily with Stephen Jones making and entrance with two big three’s but it was too little too late as the game ended comfortably for the visitors 70-92 keeping their league hopes alive.
The half time entertainment was performed by local dance school KDANZ putting on a fantastic show for the fans. KDANZ use all different types of dance from breaking dancing to cheerleading. Anyone interested in joining KDANZ contact Kay on 07900365892.
MVP – Paul Elderkin 22 pts, 3 rebounds, 3 assists.
Durham Wildcats – Mario Flaherty 13pts, 7 rebounds, 6 assists;
Plymouth Raiders – Paul Williams 20 pts, 20 rebounds, 1 assist; Jeremy Bell 19 pts, 4 assists, 2 steals; James Jones 19 pts, 4 assists, 2 steals.
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