Leopards Hope For Win Against Tigers in Div 1
London Leopards coach Jon Burnell is looking for an improved
performance when his side host Taunton Tigers on Sunday.
The Big Cats saw their hold on the final home playoff spot
loosened by their 87-77 home loss against Sheffield Arrows,
and Burnell was far from pleased with the display:
"We were poor against Sheffield," he admitted. "We
struggled without Errol and Leigh, but we really should have
done better. We never clicked offensively, and we can’t
afford another slip-up this week."
The teams met at Wodson Park back in October, and Tigers picked
up their first victory in the top flight with a 90-83 victory
in Pool Two of the National Trophy. Richard Anderson led the
way with 20 points for the visiting Tigers, with Carl Henry-Latham
leading Leopards with 23 points.
Leopards started well, with Gareth Laws and Sam Salter both
draining treys in an 8-2 opening run, but that was as good
as it got for the home side. Tigers leveled the score at eight,
and although the Big Cats hit back through Latham-Henry and
a second Laws’ three, the visitors slowly took control
and only some good foul shooting from Latham-Henry, Laws and
Deng Deng kept Leopards in touch as they went into the first
break trailing 23-20. A Dan Howe basket put the visitors ahead
by 12 with four first half minutes remaining before a Salter
trey launched an 8-2 run to close the half out with Tigers
leading 40-34.
Leopards started the second half well, and a pair of Latham-Henry
baskets gave them a 48-46 lead at the midway stage of the
game. The home side seemed to take their foot off the pedal
having regained the lead, and Tigers hit back with an 11-2
run, and never trailed again – reaching the final break
with a 61-56 lead. Although a Laws three gave Leopards’
fans some hope in the final minute, the visitors closed the
game out from the foul line.
When the sides met in Taunton in January, Latham-Henry led
all scorers as the Big Cats won a high-scoring game 101-96.
Laws added 21 and Matt Collins scored a season-high 14 as
the visitors led for 39 of the 40 minutes. Richard Anderson
led the Tigers with 21 points, while veteran Graham Jones
stepped up in the second half to add 18, and Kevin Anderson
chipped in with 17.
The Big Cats won a high-scoring first period 36-26, but Tigers
increased the pressure at the start of the second and a Jones
basket following successive threes from Bird and Andrews saw
them take the lead for the first time (45-44). However, a
critical four minutes followed when Leopards went on a 12-0
run to go into the locker room 61-50 ahead.
After such a high scoring first half, the third period proved
to be more of a defensive slog. Laws scored the visitors'
only field goal of the quarter, but despite being forced to
sit Salter down for the final seven minutes of the period,
they reached the final break with a five point lead.
The fourth quarter saw the Tigers clawing back to level the
score at 77 apiece after four minutes and from then on it
was nip and tuck to the end. Adeleke and Kevin Anderson exchanged
baskets before a Salter trey gave Leopards a lead they were
to never lose. A Latham-Henry three point play added to that
advantage, and Salter stretched it to six with another score
from down-town.
Back-to-back Latham-Henry scores kept Leopards ahead, and
as Tigers were forced to foul to stop the clock, they lost
three of their starters leaving Adeleke and Collins to wrap
things up from the line before McCarthy dunked the ball home
to give Leopards their fifth win in six league games.
Leopards remain in fourth spot, with an 8-6 record, despite
the loss against Sheffield, and they were boosted by Derby’s
home loss against Manchester Magic.
Taunton go into the weekend in eighth place with four wins
from 14 games, and looking good for a play-off place in their
first season in the top flight. It’s part of a tough
weekend for the Tigers, with a trip to Reading on Saturday
evening before the stay in the Berkshire town and travel on
to Ware the following day.
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