By Dave Ryan

 

Brixton Topcats and Durham Wildcats remain joint top of Division Two after double-digit victories on Saturday.

 

The Wildcats won 74-51 at home against Birmingham A's while Brixton returned from Plymouth Marjon with an 83-71 (stats) victory.

 

In the north east, Birmingham opened brightly with Josh Rolls-Tyson hitting four of their points as they led 6-3, but Durham adjusted their defence while Paul Elderkin contributed ten points, including two threes in a 15-4 surge culminating in a Michael Davies dunk.

 

From 18-10, the A's edged back to within four, but the last three points of the quarter ensured a seven point lead for the Wildcats at the first break.

 

Miles Hesson and Piotr Stankewicz helped the visitors close to 26-22 early in the second before a Davies trey sparked a 15-2 run which appeared to put the home side in control at 41-24. Still Birmingham showed their mettle, as Sebastian Sobzcack's three-pointer and a basket from Hesson took them into the locker room trailing by just 12.

 

As so often this season, the third quarter proved decisive, as the Wildcats once again cranked up the defensive pressure and put together ten unanswered points to break the game open at 56-32. Birmingham's play became more disjointed as their confidence drained, and they were held to just nine points in the quarter as Durham held a winning 27 point lead at the final break.

 

With the prospect of a crucial game to come the next day, coach Dave Elderkin took the opportunity to run the majority of the final stanza with just one starting player at a time on court and the supporting players relished the extended court time.

 

This inevitably reduced the offensive potency of the Wildcats' play, but with Anthony Trigg and Notis Chalkidis working well inside they still stretched the lead to thirty points before easing up in the final two minutes for a comfortable 23 point victory.

 

Rolls-Tyson and Hesson showed up well for Birmingham, with 16 and 15 points respectively, but the usually influential veteran Robin Hall was restricted to just a single point.

 

Paul Elderkin led all scorers with 25, all scored in the first three quarters, and Michael Davies showed a welcome return of confidence with 13. Scott Morton's 12 included three treys, and his usual defensive hussle and range of passing skills were well in evidence.  

 

Wildcats coach Dave Elderkin was pleased by the result, but still had some concerns over aspects of the game.

 

"We played far too much as individuals before half-time," he commented, "And I had to remind them at the interval that teamwork is what we're about.

 

"They took heed in the third quarter, and it showed in a much better performance that clinched the result, and meant that we were able to rest key players ready for tomorrow's cup game.

 

"Next week, against our main title rivals, we'll have to concentrate on that teamwork consistently for four quarters, and not just for one."

 

Meanwhile, at the other end of the country, Brixton started in a pressure man-to-man defence and raced out to an 11-6 lead on the back of three assists and a deep three pointer from Paul Mundy-Castle. 

 

Plymouth responded, led by Mark Gillbard and went on a 9-0 run to lead 15-11. Some strong inside baskets from Armand Anebo late in the quarter finished off a tight first period at 19-18 to Plymouth. 

 

Anebo continued this form at the start of the second period with seven early points as Brixton re-took the lead 31-21. This was a lead Brixton never relinquished and whilst Plymouth were always within touching distance the closest they got was 51-50 in the third quarter. 

 

Topcats coach Andy Powlesland was pleased with the effort, but conceded that it was too tight at times and the team would need to be more focussed on doing the simple stuff well:

 

"On the positive side we got into foul trouble today and the bench came through and gave a good account of itself. 

 

"Omirin came in and added to the scoring as did Avelino. But we shot 46 percent from the foul line and had 22 turnovers and this just is not good enough. Anebo was the stand-out guy today and we go forward to next week's game with some momentum for the long trip up to Durham on Valentines Day."

 

Topcats were led by Anebo (18), Antonio (16) and Mundy-Castle with 15 points. Plymouth's Sean Porter hit 16 points for the home team, with Peake (15) and Peard (13) completing their leading scorers.

 

Westminster Warriors remain in third place after a comfortable 93-69 home win against Team Northumbria.

 

The hosts shaded a tight first period 19-17, but took control in the second period to lead 46-36 going into the locker room at half-time. A 24-12 third stanza saw the hosts led by 22 going into the final break, and they outscored the visitors 23-19 in the fourth period to wrap things up.

 

Fourth placed Mansfield Giants also picked up a win, but were made to come from behind to defeat Medway Park Crusaders 74-72.

 

Led by 23 points apiece from Brad Smith and Harris, Crusaders were 20-17 up at the first break and extended that lead to 42-34 at half-time. Giants started their comeback with a 16-13 third period, and wrapped up their eighth league win of the season with a 24-17 final quarter.

 

Dan Watts led all scorers with 26 for the Giants, with David Passmore scoring 15 and Michal Ciesla ten.

 

Tayo Odulja and Mansour Mbye each scored 22 points as Emonton Stom kept up their promotion push with a 78-65 win at sixth placed Glyndwr Nets.

 

Nets led 19-16 at the first break and extended that advantage to 47-34 at half-time. However a 15-8 third period cut Storm’s deficit to six going into the final stanza, and they outscored the home team 29-10 to improve their record to 7-4.

 

Delme Herriman led the Nets with 20, while Baba added 15 for the home side.

 

 

Feb 6 2010	Durham Wildcats	74	v	51	Birmingham A's
Feb 6 2010	Plymouth Marjon	71	v	83	Brixton Topcats Stats
Feb 6 2010	Glyndwr Nets	65	v	78	Edmonton Storm
Feb 6 2010	Westminster Warriors	93	v	69	Team Northumbria
Feb 6 2010	Mansfield Giants	74	v	72	Medway Park Crusaders