Down 54-38 early in the third quarter, the match was looking like a night of basketball the Wildcats would want to completely forget. Lee Davie’s squad, however, managed to fight their way back over the course of the second half, given them the great chance of winning their third match on the road and earning themselves a 4-4 record.
The second half comeback would not be enough however as the Wildcats would lose the nail biter 83-79 away at Cheshire Phoenix on 9th November. The Wildcats are now 3-5 on the season.
The fight back started when Odiba Attah’s scoring habits of late would kick in. After a slow start of four first half points, Attah scored eight of his 17 points in the third quarter that surged the Wildcats forward. He would finish what he started by drilling a three-pointer with just under three minutes left in the match to tie the game at 75-75. Seconds later, Chris Jones made a bucket to give Durham the 77-75 lead, their first since in the first quarter.
Wildcats again could not find the way to hold on or extend that small lead until the final buzzer. Two Phoenix free throws levelled the game at 77-77. Demond Watt of Cheshire would moments later make 1-2 free throws, giving his side the 78-77 lead with 1:29 left to play.
On the following Durham possession, John Puk netted a jump shot, capping off his 12 points and seven rebounds performance before fouling out, to bring the score to 79-78 in the Wildcats’ favour.
This would be the final moment Durham controlled the lead as Taylor King of the Phoenix scored two points with just over 30 seconds of regulation to play. Then, Cheshire and Great Britain guard Devan Bailey was fouled on his made shot and he converted the free throw to finalise the match at 83-79.
The Wildcats were led in scoring by Fran Urli, who had a season-best of 22 points and was 8-15 shooting from the field. It was Urli’s ability to draw fouls to get him to the bonus line that would help keep Durham in the match. He was 8-10 shooting from the free throw line. Apart from Urli, Durham was very limited in getting to the free throw line, with Ralph Bucci going 2-2 and Joel Madourie missing his one attempt. Cheshire got to the line 25 times, converting 19 of those shots.
The big man duo of Puk and Urli was very proficient in the early stages of the match and they kept the Wildcats alive as they combined for 23 of Durham’s 38 first half points. Together they had 18 of the team’s 22 first quarter points. Urli made his two three-pointers of the match during the first half.
Jones finished the game with 10 points, five assists and one steal. Panos Mayindombe led the team in steals with two.
Bucci again led the Wildcats in rebounding with eight, all from the defensive end of the court finishing the game with 7 points and 3 assists. Madourie had seven rebounds with his eight points. The Wildcats edged Cheshire in rebounding, the leading team in the BBL in this category, 39-35.
The Wildcats will again host Manchester Giants on 16th November at a 4:00pm tipoff for their next match. The Giants visited back on 26th October and came away with the 92-84 win behind a strong shooting performance. Jones and Attah both had 17 points in that match.
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The big man duo of John Puk and Fran Urli combined for 18 of Durham’s 22 first quarter points. Urli finished with 22 points and Puk with 12 points. (Photo: Dave Stock / Dave Moore)
