Durham Wildcats made the perfect start to their home BBL campaign with an exciting 83-73 victory over London Lions. Coach Davie’s new look roster approached the game full of confidence following an encouraging performance at rivals Newcastle the previous weekend.
Saturday’s opponents were always going to provide a tough home debut but it was the Wildcats that picked up the victory following an exhilarating final quarter. It was the home side that made a solid start scoring 8 points without reply in the opening minutes.
London, however soon got their game going and a 13 point run half way through the first quarter brought the teams level at 16-16. The teams traded baskets for the final few minutes of the opening quarter with the Wildcats taking a 1 point lead.
Quarter two was controlled by the defence of both teams; RJ Evans and Mike Allison dominated the boards for the Wildcats, while Lions Forward Adrian Sturt was causing problems at both ends of the court. The Lions got ahead for the first time in the contest 5 minutes before the half time buzzer, but a combination of baskets from Allison, Evans and Huffor saw the Wildcats take a slim 1 point lead into the locker room at the half.
Durham finally got a hold of the game in the third quarter as they extended their lead to 20 points with baskets from Allison and Evans supported by a big 3 from Odiba Attah. The Lions looked all but beaten going into the final quarter, but they rallied in the break and came out flying at the start of the 4th.
Durham failed to make a basket in the opening 3 minutes allowing the Lions to come back within 8 points of the home team. Baskets by Attah and Evans calmed the nerves of home fans before Adrian Sturt converted a string of chances to make it a 2 point ball game with just 60 seconds remaining. Captain Ralph Bucci made a huge 3 pointer followed by a successful pair of free throws from Mike Allison. Danny Huffor sealed victory for the Wildcats with a slam dunk on the buzzer to bring the home fans to their feet. Allison picked up the game MVP with an impressive 22 points and 11 rebounds.
Coach Davie was delighted with the Wildcats performance: “It was a good test, we got some important stops down the stretch and made key baskets at crucial times. Despite having quite a young side, we showed some maturity in the final quarter and this will be vital moving forward.” Davie was quick to praise new signing and game MVP Mike Allison. “The big man was very solid at both ends of the court tonight, London are a physical outfit and we relied on Mike to be a presence under the basket and he certainly delivered. Not only did he pick up a valuable 22 points, but his 11 rebounds went a long way to securing us the victory.”
The Wildcats will be hoping to make it back to back victories next Sunday on the long trip south to take on Surrey Heat. Wildcats fans can see their team in action in Durham the following weekend as Cheshire Phoenix provide the opposition in the first round of the BBL Cup. Tip-off at Newton Aycliffe Leisure Centre on Saturday 19th of October is 7pm. Tickets are available online now at www.godurhamwildcats.com.
