DURHAM WILDCATS suffered a fifth BBL defeat of the season as they were thrashed on the road by the London Lions.

London won all four quarters and ran out 101-74 winners in a game which saw the Lions fire on all cylinders.

The London Lions got the scoring under way with a good basket from forward Tayo Ogedengbe to which Durham rookie Mike Baldarelli sank a stunning reply from the three-point line.

Dave Elderkin’s side found themselves quickly behind with the Lions playing some high intensity offensive basketball, Durham once again finding it difficult to score points early on.

Vince Macaulay’s side ran out convincing winners last time the two sides met in the BBL Cup and the Lions began to entertain the Crystal Palace crowd, sinking baskets with ease to establish a ten-point lead halfway through the first quarter.

This slow start from the Wildcats seemed to spark the young vibrant squad into life as the former BBL rookies began to find the basket on a more regular basis – London leading by seven at the end of the first quarter.

Durham came out in the second quarter and began their revival with their young roster looking to play their own system of basketball which has seen Elderkin’s side make good progress so far in this BBL campaign.

And the Wildcats began to slow the high intense basketball from the Lions with Baldarelli continuing his good form in the first, Durham trying to reproduce their good form from last week’s game against the Manchester Giants.

But with the Wildcats looking to try and force their way back into the game the Lions class and experience began to come through as they kept adding to their total, leaving Elderkin’s side with a 14- point gap to chase down at the half.

Durham came out after the interval with the intention of pulling off another comeback like they did last weekend, Andrew Keister sinking a smart two-pointer to get the Wildcats up and running again.

Baldarelli continued to put points on the board for his side as Durham’s young roster began to compete more with the Lions dominate offensive front line.

But as the Wildcats began to chip away at London’s lead the host’s stepped up their play to another gear and began to widen the gap even further – the scores 75-58 at the end of the third quarter.

Adrien Sturt continued his sensational scoring game with yet another basket for the Lions at the start of the fourth to take the game even further away from the Wildcats.

And the Lions saw out the game in style, breaking the 100 mark winning the final quarter to leave Durham disappointed in a game which seen the shooting woes return to Elderkin’s roster – the Wildcats only managing to score four out of 20 from the three-point line.

Baldarelli topped the scoring for the Wildcats with 17 while Ogedengbe topped the host’s scoring with a sensational 27 points to give London their third BBL win of the season.