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Leopards continue fine form

8:50am Tuesday 10th March 2009


Leopards are expecting their biggest crowd of the season at Brentwood on Sunday when they look to complete a clean-sweep of regular season victories against Cardiff Celts.

The Big Cats have already pre-sold 300 tickets for the game, and are hopeful of a 500+ crowd for a game they need to win if they are to remain in the hunt for the EBL Division One runners-up spot. Sunday’s game tips off at 4pm, with tickets available on the day.

Jon Burnell’s side have certainly enjoyed their games against the Celts, winning all three. When the sides met in the National Trophy in Wales in October, a season-high 32 points from Gareth Laws helped Leopards overcome a stubborn Celts side 93-79. A strong fourth period proved to be key as Jon Burnell's team outscored the home side 25-16. THrvoje Pervan added 29 points for the Big Cats.

The Big Cats also travelled to Cardiff for a league game in December, and once again a strong finish saw Leopards 89-69 as the home side were outscored 29-14 in the final period. Nineteen-year-old point guard Lukas Volskis came off the bench to score 13 points in the final quarter on his way to a team-high 20 points.

They took care of things a little earlier at Wodson Park in the return game in January on the way to a 73-54 victory. After sharing 32 first period points, Leopards went into the locker room 36-25 ahead at half-time, and never looked back. Ronnie Baker led the hosts scoring with 15 points.

Burnell’s team continued their fine form with a 103-100 victory at Coventry Crusaders on Saturday.

That win sealed home court advantage in the play-off quarter-finals for the Big Cats, and a win on Sunday will ensure that they finish in the top three for the first time, and they still have a real chance of clinching the runners-up spot.

Pervan had another big night against Coventry, following up his 38 points in January’s win with a game-high 31.

Baker scored 13 of his 16 points in the second half, while Russell Jordan had an excellent night rebounding and added 14 points.

The Big Cats were without centre Lee McCarthy, and Carl Latham-Henry injured his knee in the warm-up but still added 13 points in limited minutes.

The visitors blitzed Crusaders in the opening minutes, with Pervan draining back-to-back treys to open the scoring before Gareth Laws also drained from long range to put them 9-0 ahead.

The lead grew to 29-18 at the first break and 58-43 at half-time before Crusaders pegged them back to 76-65 going into the fourth period.

The home side managed to get the lead down to a single point with three minutes remaining, but Baker converted a pair of free-throws to send Leopards into the final minute with a 100-93 lead.

Hall scored before a turnover allowed Lay an easy basket before Baker was fouled to stop the clock. England’s most capped international scored one of the two free-throws, only to see Twierdinski drain a three with two seconds remaining.

But Pervan was fouled as he caught the inbound, and he sunk both shots from charity stripe to give Leopards their ninth win in ten games.


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