DURHAM WILDCATS suffered a thrashing against the Plymouth Raiders at the Newton Aycliffe Leisure Centre.

Dave Elderkin’s side were beaten 113-68 as the visitors total domination capped a disappointing weekend for Wildcat fans.

The eagerly-anticipated clash of mid-table sides started slowly with both teams failing to score with early attempts.

Durham went ahead with a good basket from BBL rookie Brad Guinane, to which Plymouth instantly replied with some smart play.

The Wildcat camp had seemed to put behind them the poor shooting display against the London Lions on Friday.

They seemed more organised and Keith Page struck from the three point line to give them the lead again.

Both teams continued to trade baskets with ease, a twopoint gap giving the Wildcats the advantage at the end of a high intensity first quarter.

The Raiders came out in the second quarter looking to take the game to the Wildcats with centre Matt Schneck adding useful points on the board to place Plymouth in control, with Durham struggling to build on their promising start.

The Wildcats defence seemed unable to cope with a sudden onslaught unleashed by Plymouth in the second ten.

Point guard Jeremy Bell moved up the scorers’ board with a total of 17 points to his name at the end of the second quarter.

Elderkin’s side felt relieved when the half-time buzzer went as the Raiders thrashed Durham 36-13 in the second ten.

The Wildcats needed to chase down a 21-point deficit to grab anything out of the game, which looked to be swiftly moving out of reach.

Durham came out in the third determined to give the Newton Aycliffe faithful something to shout about as they began to chip away at the deficit.

But the Raiders began to add the points necessary to make life for the Wildcats even tougher, Bell again sinking easy baskets with the visitors looking to put the game to bed.

Durham were unable to kick start any sort of comeback as their shooting woes returned with the Wildcats only managing three baskets from the three-point line.

The Raiders piled the points on the board to leave dismal Durham with no chance of a comeback after another dispiriting quarter left Durham 40 points behind going into the last.

They played out the last session knowing that the game was over after two shocking quarters left them needing a miracle to get anything from the game.

Elderkin will be disappointed with a field goal percentage of just 38.

It was a frustrating weekend for the boss with Durham looking to turn their fortunes around next week away to the Leicester Riders.