DURHAM consigned John Lavery's Cheshire Jets to their sixth consecutive defeat and crucially claimed the head-to-head for the season with this victory at Newton Aycliffe Leisure Centre.

The defeat means if both teams finish level on points in eighth place in the BBL Championship, the Wildcats will go into the play-offs having beaten the Jets in two out of three encounters.

The injury-plagued Jets sent their crocked stars Colin O'Reilly (thigh), Adam Brown (nerve damage) and Matt Schneck (ankle) and the players did all they could to put the Jets in the driving seat, building a 12-point lead in the first quarter.

But the Wildcats began eating into the deficit and by half time it stood at 39-38 in the Jets favour.

Mike Capocci led the Wildcats charge, scoring 25 points and Chris Pearce put up 24 for the game, but Jets captain Colin O'Reilly led by example, supplying 23 of the Jets points.By the end of the third the Jets trailed 69-64 but in the final session the game swung back and forth as both sides realised what was on the line.

An O'Reilly three-pointer made the score 71-69 early in the fourth, only for Raph Bucci to respond in kind to settle the home nerves.

But the game was teetering on a knife-edge as a nervy period ensued before the Jets held their hosts scoreless for two minutes and took the lead at 76-77 on Schneck's basket.

Pearce tied the game with a free-throw inside the final four minutes, before a Capocci 'and-one' play was matched by Brown's triple for the Jets, for a tie at 80 with three minutes to play.

From there, the game saw four lead changes and two further ties. Cole put the Jets in front before a Capocci three-pointer made the score 83-82.

The Jets took the lead inside the final minute on a pair of Cole free-throws but Paul Elderkin responded immediately and, after Brown missed, DJ Galvin made two from two at the free-throw line to put the Wildcats up 89-86 with 11 seconds to play. Cole missed the three-pointer to tie the game with four seconds left, before Elderkin sealed it at the line.