Leopards completed a season sweep over old rivals Reading Rockets as they moved up to sixth place in Division One with a comfortable 93-78 win at Essex Sports Arena, on Sunday.
The Big Cats blew the game open in a strong second period, outscoring the visitors 25-14 to take control, and they never looked back as they wrapped up their tenth league win of the campaign.
Asante Sandiford missed out on a rare triple-double by a single assist, with 13 rebounds and 29 points – 22 of which came in the first half. Sam Newman dished out another eight assists to go with his 16 points, while Lee Hodges and Findlay Wood each had eight rebounds to go with 15 and ten points respectively.
The visitors suffered foul trouble all afternoon, finishing with only four players on the court for the final 35 seconds after seeing five players foul trouble. British guard Sydney Donaldson led the Rockets with 19 points while American AJ Carr added 18 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
Scores from Sandiford and Hodges saw Leopards take an early lead, but the first quarter proved to be tight, and despite a pair of Chuck Duru three-pointers the visitors went into the first break with a 27-25 lead

That proved to be as good as it got for the visiting side as Wood opened the second period with back-to-back treys, and the Big Cats held the lead for the rest of the game. Sandiford scored nine of the hosts’ points in the quarter while Hodges started and ended the 5-0 run which took the Big Cats into the locker room with a 48-39 lead.
That run was extended to 9-0 as Wood and Duru added to the lead at the start of the second half and, although Rockets cut the lead to nine, Newman hit five points in a quick-fire 13-0 run to make it a 22-point game. before Adrian Nosa Castillo hit six straight points to close the period and cut Leopards’ lead to 73-60 at the final break.
Hodges broke the 8-0 Reading run before the visitors cut the lead to 75-64 with seven minutes remaining but six unanswered points ended the game as a contest, and Leopards spent most of the remaining time at the foul line as they wrapped up the victory.

A strong finish saw Levett Leopards make it eight wins from nine as Team Birmingham Elite were beaten 73-63, on Saturday. The visitors produced a fighting – though at times over-physical – performance that belied their lowly league but 20 points and seven rebounds from Korey Callum helped Thomas Baker’s side continue their promotion push.
Captain Dougie Bennett finished with 16 points and four assists despite playing only 27 minutes after a clattering challenge late in the first half that not only went unpunished but saw coach Thomas Baker receive a technical foul for complaining.Jamie Hayes and Jerrell Laine added eight points apiece, while Antonio Deogratias marked his debut with 11 rebounds, six points and two assists for a Leopards’ team who were without Will Ashby, Caleb Taberner and Jamie Rodwell.
Shaq Lewis opened the scoring, and with Jamie Hayes, Kevin Moyo and Bennett also getting on the scoreboard the home side rushed into an early 8-2 lead. But despite five straight points from youngster Jordan George, the visitors fought back and the teams were tied at 19 going into the first break before the midlands side opened the second period with a 10-0 run. Back-to-back Bennett three pointers pulled Leopards back into the game and a trey from Callum tied the game at 33 with three first half minutes remaining..

Two foul shots from Moyo gave the hosts the lead again and a pair of Jamie Hayes free-throws sent the hosts into the locker room with a 40-38 half-time lead.
Hayes opened the second half scoring and low scoring third period saw three-point plays from Callum, Bennett and Layne kept Leopards ahead. Lewis converted two foul shots to send his side into the final break with a 55-50 lead, and Callum hit another trey to open the fourth period..
Callum continued to torment the visitors as Leopards’ lead was stretched to ten points early in the fourth period. Although the visitors narrowed the gap to two points with three minutes remaining but foul trouble eventually caught up with them and Deogratias launched an 8-0 run to close out the win.

Leopards completed a perfect weekend as they defeated second placed Team Northumbria in front of a packed crowd at Brentwood on Sunday. Greg Hernandez led the way for a Leopards team without injured player-coach Robert Youngblood, finishing with 19 points, nine rebounds and four assists as Leopards never trailed after the opening stages.

Taner Adu added 18 points, while Simon Cummings took his tally to 52 for the weekend had 14 points, six assists and five boards.  Rowell Graham added nine points and ten rebounds while Ish Fontaine (below) grabbed eight rebounds in just nine and half minutes of action.

Hernandez opened the scoring after Graham had won the tip, and although American guard Jason Washington hit a three and Siman Stewart put his side 5-2 ahead, a dunk from Graham with three minutes gone gave Leopards a lead they would never lose. Back-to-back scores from Cummings kept the Big Cats ahead and Hernandez’s score off Dan Dunscome’s assist sent them into the first break with a 22-11 lead.

Scores from Stewart and Frenchman Ivan Emanuely saw Northumbria cut the lead to seven, but Hernandez drained a three to stop the run. A Washington three cut the lead to four with 4:43 on the clock, but Adu replied from downtown, and Graham grabbed Hernandez’s missed shot to score and put Leopards up by ten heading into the final 30 seconds before Kenneth Wiser scored to cut Leopards’ lead to 35-27 going into the locker room at half-time.

Washington cut the lead to six with a pair of free-throws to open the second half, but that was as close as the visitors came in the rest of the game, as Carl Josey and Adu quickly made it a double-digit lead.

Leopards’ lead was eight heading into the final three minutes of the third period before Cummings launched a 7-0 run capped by a Tom Martin basket as the Big Cats closed out the third period with a 53-38 lead.

Wiser opened the final quarter scoring but Adu replied and the visitors never got closer than 12 points in the fourth period as the Big Cats collected their eighth league win of the campaign.

Northumbria were led by 17 points from Washington, although he only shot 4/13 from the floor, while Steart added nine rebounds to his 12 points as the only other visitor in double figures.

1996 – Budweiser British Basketball League

Worthing Bears 86 Leopards 80

2002 – BBL Championship

DG Kool Kat Leopards 96 London Towers 98

Leopards (17,40,66) Mo Robinson 21pts Towers (24,42,72)

2002 – Late heartbreak for Leopards

Kinder London Towers 98 (24,42,72)
Terrell Myers 37, John White 17, Brett Eppehimer 12
DG London Leopards Kool Kats 96 (17,40,66)
Mo Robinson 21, Jason Kimbrough 19, Martin Henlan 15
BBL Championship @ Crystal Palace NSC
Kinder London Towers snatched a dramatic two point win over arch-rivals DG London Leopards Kool Kats in a thrilling London derby.
A packed house saw Towers lead for much of the first half but they could never get away from their visitors. Things were very tight in the third and fourth quarters as the lead and momentum swung back and forth. Mo Robinson levelled the game at 96 with 21s left and Towers held for the last shot. Silas Cheung’s effort, though, didn’t drop, but Ted Allen dunked in the rebound with 0.1s left to seal the thrilling win.
Terrell Myers put on another good show with 37 points, whilst Mo Robinson led the Leopards with 21 points.

2001 – Leopards beaten in Manchester