Durham Wildcats 74 One Health Sharks Sheffield 84

A LATE surge from Durham Wildcats was not enough to see off One Health Sharks Sheffield as Durham slipped to a home defeat.

Durham, who saw RJ Evans lead all scorers with 24 points, actually won three of the quarters but were blown away in the second period as the visiting Sharks racked up a 45-29 half time lead.

Sharks led by 16 with less than three minutes to play but allowed the Wildcats to get within six (74-68) with 90 seconds on the clock before keeping their nerve from the free throw line via BJ Holmes and Nick Lewis.

Olu Babalola led the Sharks scoring with 20 points while Lewis had three triples in his 17 points.

Earlier in the match two free throws from Sharks skipper Mike Tuck made it 11-7 but the Wildcats responded with an 11-2 burst, their best run of the first quarter, to lead 18-13.

Sharks scored the final four points of the period to trail 18-17 at the first break. And the visitors continued where they'd left off in the second quarter.

Tuck's three tied the match at 22-22 and it began a 16-2 run for Sheffield, which took the score to 38-24. Wildcats point guard Ralph Bucci stemmed the onslaught with a three but Sharks responded with a 7-4 burst, capped by Lewis' triple, to make it 45-29 at half time.

Sharks briefly pushed their advantage to 20 points (49-29) but Wildcats rediscovered their form to trim the gap back to 57-43. Patrick Horstmann looked like he'd given Sheffield an 18 point margin going into the final stanza but a Bucci three ensured Durham could still hope for a comeback as they trailed 63-48.