HAVING opened their BBL account with a win over London Lions last weekend, Durham Wildcats will attempt to secure a first away success when they travel to Surrey United tomorrow.

And while the Wildcats attack has been in sparkling form in the opening two games of the season, head coach Lee Davie feels his side’s defence will hold the key to their fortunes this term.

After a narrow opening-game defeat to local rivals Esh Group Eagles Newcastle, Wildcats conceded just 73 points as they resisted a late London surge to run out ten-point winners seven days ago.

Their starting five remains a work in progress after a summer of considerable change, but Davie has been delighted with his side’s resilience in their early outings.

“In our first two games, I think we’ve done a great job on the offensive boards,” said the Wildcats play caller. “Last Saturday saw us being very assertive and getting to the free-throw line too, but the most pleasing stat that we’re working on right now in order to become more consistent is keeping opposing teams to below 80 points with our defence.

“We had some very good spells in the game on Saturday night against the Lions at both ends of the floor. We just need to continue building upon what we did and become more consistent with it heading into this next game.”

Davie will be hoping summer signing Mike Allison maintains the form that saw him named as the leader of the BBL’s team of the week from the last round of fixtures.

Allison, a Canadian who played college basketball at Maine before moving to England, has made an instant impact in the BBL, and will be looking to exert his authority over a Surrey side that have suffered heavy defeats at the hands of Worcester and Glasgow so far.