The Durham Wildcats staved off a Bristol comeback bid to win 77-72 at Newton Aycliffe Leisure Centre. The win puts the Wildcats back up to 8th place with a 7-11 record.
Head Coach Lee Davie said this was one of his squad’s best team offensive performance of the season. Durham led throughout the match and at one point had a 18 point lead early in the third quarter.
“We saw a lot of improvement in our ball movement that resulted in plenty of good open shots for our team,” Davie said.
The top benefactors of Durham’s offensive flow were Chris Jones, John Puk and Fran Urli. Jones led the Wildcats with 23 points from 9-12 shooting and four free throws. Puk also shot 9-12 overall from the field and favoured the short corner spot of the floor to score 18 points. Urli added 16 points and had two three-pointers.
Durham had a 66-49 lead going into the fourth quarter before Bristol began to claw back to within five. The Wildcats benefited from 12 Bristol turnovers and had 36 points from the paint to help them secure the victory.
Ralph Bucci led all rebounders with 15 boards and was the top distributor in the game with five assists to go along with his nine points. Other Wildcats scorers were Joel Madourie with six points, Sam Martin with three and David Buchberger with two.
Puk’s performance was recognised by the league as he was named to the BBL Team of the Week, his first appearance on the team this season. Once again Jones earned an Off the Bench honour.
The Wildcats travel South next weekend to take on the leagues bottom team Surrey United on Saturday evening. Worcester Wolves provide Durham’s next home opposition on Sunday 18th January in the 1st round of the BBL Trophy, tip-off at Newton Aycliffe Leisure Centre is 4pm.