ALTHOUGH injuries and absences reduced the WildCats down to only seven available players they almost conquered the Crusaders in this end of the season shoot-out.

Mike Nichols threw down the gauntlet with a three pointer that touched nothing but net. The Crusaders took up the challenge led by the Donaldson brothers.

Matt Donaldson led the Coventry crusade with 13 first quarter points that proved unlucky for the WildCats as they trailed 18-27.

Bury's shots rattled around the rim while Donaldson's clipped the ring and bounced high up towards the ceiling before dropping back through the basket for another score.

Dip Donaldson matched his brother's shooting with two big 3's that gave Coventry a 20-point lead just before the half-time interval.

After the break Dip Donaldson completed his hat trick of long range shots before brother Matt continued his high scoring exploits with another ten third quarter points.

Mike Nichols and Scott Summersgill began to unlock the Crusaders defence with some sharp incisive passes around the key and by the start of the final quarter as a Keith Howard ten foot jump shot reduced the arrears to single figures.

With the WildCats attacking on all fronts the Crusaders were beginning to show signings of crumbling and a Scott Summersgill three from deep in the corner brought the score back to 82-86 with less than three minutes left.

Driven on by their fanatical fans Coventry's Jimmy Smith responded with a crucial three pointer that pierced the Bury basket and swung the momentum back to the Crusaders.

Although they fought valiantly right to the end the WildCats could not cut back the Crusaders lead any more and an enormous collective sigh of relief filled the arena as Coventry won 85-91.

Mike Nichols led the Bury scoring with 22 points, closely followed by Scott Summersgill with 17 and 12 assists. On his return after injury Keith Howard collected 16 points while Martin Eaton, Ian Howard, Chris McCormick and Dave Kingsley all made good contributions in the WildCats best team performance of the season. This Sunday the WildCats face their third tough trip in two weeks as they travel to Brixton to take on the TopCats in a game that will go a long way in determining both teams play off places.

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