By Ryan Gillham
Durham Wildcats secured their third win of the season with a 96-85 triumph over play-off hopefuls Guildford Heat.
Before the game Mario Flaherty and Michael Davies were both ruled out possibly for the remainder of the season and it looked like the Wildcats would have an even tougher game on their hands but the team rallied through with one of the performances of the season to defeat a strong Guildford side.
Head coach of the Wildcats, Dave Elderkin, spoke of his teams’ brilliant performance and how his team came together despite the loss of big man Mario.
He said: “Mario is a big loss to the side. He took a knock against Plymouth and had to be substituted and then played against Sheffield when he wasn’t fit enough to play so we knew that he wouldn’t be available for this game.
“But the team really stepped up tonight and I think they really worked for each other. I can’t praise my players enough for their team performance.”
M.V.P Mike Capocci had an impressive game against the Heat but he put the win down to his team.
“Tonight’s game was an all-round great game for us,” he said.
“The players and coach have really encouraged me this season and tonight it has paid off but it was a team win and we all stuck together to gain the win.”
Durham Wildcats point guard, DJ Glavan spoke about how the loss of Mario had a positive effect on their teams’ performance.
He said: “It’s tough when you lose one of your star players and your captain but it’s on the team to rally around and to pick up the slack but our big men on the bench did a great job and although they got into some foul trouble it was only because they were competing and battling inside.
“We knew it was going to be tough but everybody rose up to the challenge and we got the win and it’s a great feeling.”
The Wildcats lead from the second quarter and kept the Heat at bay with some well executed shooting. Durham took the first significant lead after an 11-4 run to take the score to 24-17 when they broke open a tied ball game on 13-13. Guildford responded with a 7-2 run to end the first quarter trailing 27-24.
The Heat brought the game to a tie on 27-27 early in the second quarter just before Martelle McLemore put them into the lead with a three-pointer.
Guildford couldn’t take advantage of their lead as the Wildcats hit back with a three of their own as Paul Elderkin levelled the score and then gradually built up their lead over the last five minutes. DJ Glavan gave the Wildcats a lead of nine at the end of the second quarter when he connected from downtown on the buzzer as the score stood 53-44.
Durham didn’t let up in the third with some brilliant shooting as DJ once again drained it from three giving them their largest lead at 71-58 but the Heat finally when on a run of their own bringing the score back to within seven as the score showed on the buzzer 73-66.
At the start of the fourth two Albert Margai free throws gave the visitors hope at 73-68 but the Wildcats kept their cool and built their lead up once again to a game high of 15 points. Ralph Bucci’s jump shot for two killed the game as the score stood at 96-85 on the final buzzer.
M.V.P Mike Capocci – 28pts, 6 Rebounds, 4 Assists.
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.