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| Chris Stevens hits 19 as Wildcats struggled against Stoke |
Wildcats were looking
to find out how much they had improved on last season and stoke was the
first opportunity to gauge that progress.
Last season Wildcats had lost both games to Stoke 24-102 and 29-106 and
Charlie Frost got Wildcats off to a good start with a 3-pointer but they
had no answer to Stokes big Phil Aston who hit his sides first seven points
to give Stoke a 3-7 advantage after two minutes.
Despite scores from Chris Stevens and John Brackett, Wildcats found themselves
further behind after 7 minutes of the first quarter 23-7.
A late flurry, including a brace from Ed Parry, saw Wildcats outscore
the visitors 6-4 to end the quarter on a high but still well behind 13-27
The opening seven minutes of th e second quarter followed the same pattern
as the first as Stoke hit15 points and the only response came from a Chris
Stevens 3-pointer. Wildcats finished the half strongly as Ben Head, Parry,
Stevens and Brackett all found the target to outscore the visitors 10-4
to reduce the deficit and lose the quarter 13-19 and see Stoke lead 26-46.
Stoke rattled up 12 points at the start of the third quarter with only
Stevens sole basket for Wildcats in response. This Quarter saw Wildcats
miss five foul shots and despite Stevens five points all from the line
fell further behind as the finished what proved to be their worst ten
minute spell of the game 35-78
With Stoke now only 22 points from recording a third consecutive 100 points against Wildcats they came out at the start of the fourth and final quarter in a determined mood but Danny Tolgyessi dealt a couple of body blows with two driving layups, but this did not stop Stoke coming to with in 12 points of their target with five minutes remaining 88-39.
Superb defence over the last five minutes couple with Phil Chamberlain finally finding the target Wildcats started scoring as the outscored Stoke over the closing five minutes 12-8 to foil Stokes attempts by four points to reach their target, whilst Wildcats posted 50 points in a game for the first time in a NBL fixture beating the 37 against Gateshead.