DURHAM Wildcats suffered back-to-back defeats against the Sheffield Sharks and Newcastle Eagles.

Dave Elderkin’s side were well beaten on the road against the Sharks before suffering a 106-65 thrashing in the North East derby against BBL leaders Newcastle.

Durham travelled to Sheffield Sharks on Friday, looking for another victory after last week’s sensational wins against the Plymouth Raiders and Cheshire Phoenix, which gave Wildcats fans hopes of a play-off place.

But Sheffield disrupted the flowing offensive plays of the Wildcats, winning 88-70.

Micah Williams dominated for the hosts, scoring 26 points with good support from Mike Tuck who recorded a double-double.

Keith Page topped the scoring the Wildcats with 19, but Durham were not good enough.

Durham were hoping for their good form to return in yesterday’s fixture against the Newcastle Eagles, but the Wildcats got off to a poor start with the Eagles sinking baskets with ease in the first quarter.

The Eagles demolished Durham in the first quarter, with Charles Smith sinking 17 points as the Eagles cruised into the lead, winning the quarter 40-13.

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Durham, shell-shocked by the onslaught, looked to regroup in the second stanza with Brad Guinane putting points on the board.

But despite the Wildcats coming out and winning the second they were simply no match. The Eagles had already done the damage in the first half to give themselves a lead of 16 points at the halftime buzzer.

Eagles came out strong in the third quarter, once again dominating Durham all over the court, Darius Defoe and Smith continuing to pile up the points for Newcastle, sending Durham into disarray, leading 88-55 at the end of the third.