Road wins over Bristol Flyers and Plymouth University Raiders improve the Durham Wildcats to a 3-2 record and a 5th place on the BBL table. The weekend also saw captain Ralph Bucci reach major milestones in games played (100), points scored (1,000) and assists (500) in BBL Championship competition.
On 18th October, the Wildcats defeated the Flyers 72-61. Panos Mayindombe led the charge for Durham with his team-leading 16 points. Returners Bucci and Odiba Attah added 15 and 14 points, respectively to help Durham edge out Bristol who fell to 3-3 after losing to Esh Group Eagles Newcastle the evening prior.
Fran Urli, signed last week, made his debut as a Wildcat with 11 points and five rebounds. The Wildcats enjoyed a 36-19 first half lead that was capped off by a Bucci three-pointer at the buzzer. It was this shot that gave the fourth-year captain his 1,000th point in BBL matches. Bucci led the team in rebounds with nine in this contest. Chris Jones had five assists.
Bristol would fight back and cut the score to 47-44 in Durham’s favour by end of the third period. Starting from the final quarter, the Wildcats used an 11-2 run to pull themselves away from Bristol and earn the win.
Durham carried the momentum with them in the match at Plymouth the next day. Jones produced a double-double for his side with 15 points and 11 assists on the evening to help the Wildcats defeat the Raiders 101-88. Jones was 7-9 shooting from the field and also had six rebounds. Mayindombe led the Wildcats in scoring again with 19 whilst collecting six rebounds.
Bucci reached two more milestones against Plymouth, first by stepping onto the court for his 100th Championship match. Bucci was six assists away from reaching 100 in league competition, and he would finish the game with those six assists along with 12 points. He also led the team in rebounds against Plymouth with nine.
Attah repeated his scoring effort from the night before by again adding 14 points to the Wildcats’ total. He shot 5-7 from the field, including 2-2 from beyond the three-point line.
Newcomer Urli added 15 points in his second match with the Wildcats. Sam Martin had nine points from three three-pointers as he faced his former club from last season. David Buchberger returned to action for the Wildcats and scored six points.
After two weekends on the road, the Wildcats will return home on 26th October to host Manchester Giants (3-3). Tipoff is set for 4:00pm at the Newton Aycliffe Leisure Centre and tickets are available online through godurhamwildcats.com.
Tickets are also available for the 2nd November home matchup versus Glasgow Rocks at the Newton Aycliffe Leisure Centre. The match starts at 4:00pm.
Ralph Bucci (photo by Dave Moore)
