The Wildcats suffered two straight defeats over the weekend, first on the road against Leicester Riders then at home against the Glasgow rocks. The two losses drop the Wildcats to 10th place in the BBL Championship with a 7-14 record.
Durham faced Leicester on 24th January on BBL TV and found the going tough from the start. After trailing 19-13 to start the second quarter, the Wildcats would be outscored 66-32 throughout the rest of the match. Chris Jones led the squad with 10 points and three assists.
Durham’s shooting overall was 28.8 percent, the lowest single-game average of the season. The 45 points scored is the lowest game total in club history.
Returning to Newton Aycliffe Leisure Centre the next day, Durham were looking to bounce back strongly against the Rocks. Though again trailing 19-13 after the first quarter, the Wildcats found their rhythm behind Fran Urli’s three-point shooting and worked their way to a 33-28 halftime lead.
After stealing the momentum in the second quarter, Durham continued to extend the lead after the break. Captain Ralph Bucci contributed two three-pointers to help extend the Wildcats’ lead to 44-37, their largest advantage in the game.
But Bucci’s double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds, his second double-double of the season, was not enough to hold down the Rocks, who chipped away at Durham’s lead in the early minutes of the fourth quarter. Glasgow, who lead the BBL in three-pointers made per game, began to connect on their deep shots in the final stages of the match to give them a 79-70 lead.
Durham fought back to within three with two minutes left, but Glasgow maintained their edge by converting late free throws, cementing their 81-75 victory.
Urli led the Wildcats with 19 points, shooting 6-11 overall including three three-pointers. Jones repeated with 10 points and was the game leader with six assists. He also had six rebounds and two steals.
John Puk scored eight points in both matches over the weekend along with six and eight rebounds versus Leicester and Glasgow, respectively.
Against Glasgow, Sam Martin, Joel Madourie and David Buchberger all scored seven points. Martin and Madourie were both 3-4 shooting overall and Buchberger was 5-5 at the free throw line.
The Wildcats will return to action on 1st February when they host Surrey United. With the series against Surrey tied at 1-1, a win would give the Wildcats the tie-breaker advantage. Tip-off is set for 4:00pm on Sunday 1st February at the Newton Aycliffe Leisure Centre. Tickets are now available for purchase on our website.