2019 – Leopards win thriller at Storm
Leopards fought back from 13 points down at the final break to win a thriller 101-99 at Hemel Storm, on Saturday. The victory was the Big Cat’s 11th league win in the last 14 games and saw them gain revenge for a heart-breaking one-point National Trophy loss at the same venue in January.
Thomas Baker’s team trailed by two heading into the final 12 seconds but Findlay Wood hit a big three pointer to put Leopards up by one. Some great defence from the visitors saw Hemel turn the ball over and they sent Asante Sandiford to the foul line where he hit both free-throws to make it a three point game.
After Sandiford was adjudged to have fouled Treyvonn Wright, Hemel had the ball under Leopards’ basket. Darrell Bethune was then called for a foul before the inbound, resulting in his ejection, and Blaine Feckleton hit the first free-throw before missing the second to leave his team down by two, with the ball and 2.3 seconds on the clock.
The hosts got the ball to Leome Francis but some great defence meant his shot was short, and Leopards held on for victory.
The Big Cats had started well, putting up 24 points in the first five minutes, but the home side led by as many as 13 in the second half before the visitors staged their comeback.
Sandiford led the visitors with 27 points and five rebounds, while captain Sam Newman had an impressive 26 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Lee Hodges finished with a 20 point, 14 rebound double-double and Wood had six boards to go with his 12 points.
Recent signing Wright led Storm with a 30 point, 12 rebound double-double in a 40 minute performance, with Tom Adorian adding 15 points and seven boards in just over 16 minutes.
The Big Cats certainly started well as Newman hit a pair of treys and Hodges got open in the paint on several occasions. Sandiford and Wood both go in on the act from downtown and Newman hit his third trey as Leopards led 23-13 after just five minutes.
The scoring inevitably slowed after that manic start but Daniel Wagener’s lay-up with a second on the clock sent the Big Cats into the first break with a 33-25 lead. The second period proved to be a slog for the visitors, Hodges getting them off the mark after 95 seconds but although they were ahead by ten following a Sandiford free-throw with four minutes gone, a trey from former Leopard Will Ashby sparked a run from the hosts and they took a one point lead off a Wright dunk with 92 second on the clock.
Hodges restored the Leopards’ lead by Freckleton wrapped up a high-scoring first half to give his side a 49-48 advantage as they headed into the locker room.
It took three second half minutes for Newman to get Leopards off the mark but despite another two triples from the visitors’ captain, Storm finished the period strongly and Levi Noel sent them into the final break 74-61 ahead.
Back-to-back Sandiford baskets from the Land of Plenty saw that lead quickly trimmed to seven early in the fourth period and Wood kept his side in touch with a basket from outside the arc.
But it was a quick-fire 11-0 run sparked by Sandiford and finished with back-to-back baskets from Hodges that saw Leopards regain the lead with four minutes remaining.
Wood hit another treble as the teams exchanged baskets down the stretch before the game reached its climax in the final minute and Leopards held on for revenge.
2014 – Big Cats strengthen title bid
Leopards made it a winning weekend as six players finished in double figures as a big crowd at Southend saw them defeat Tees Valley Mohawks 93-81.
Coach Robert Youngblood was delighted with his side’s fourth straight win: “we’re moving the ball much better, and Andre [Lockhart] had made a real difference. We had six players in double figures, and Shaun [Durant] and Howard [Crawford] work really well together. I was also really pleased with the energy Courtney [Van Beest] gave us off the bench The league title is still there for the taking, we just have to keep playing good team ‘ball.”
Crawford led the Big Cats for the third successive game and the fifth time in six, finishing with a 22 point, 12 rebound double-double. Durant also recorded a double-double, hitting 18 points and pulling down as many boards. Kris Clark had seven assists and five steals to go with his 18 points, with Lockhart adding 12 points, while Carl Josey and Courtney Van Beest finished with ten points apiece, the latter pulling down nine boards as the hosts out-rebounded Mohawks 49-31.
J
orge Ebanks – who led the visitors with 27 points – opened the scoring for the visitors, but with Crawford hitting the first six points for Leopards, the home side led 6-5 with just under four minutes gone. That proved to be the Big Cats’ last lead of the quart as Mohawks answered with a 6-0 run, before Crawford took his tally to eight for the period and Ebanks answered at the other end to send the visitors into the first break with a 21-18 lead.
Free-throws from Jerome Narcisse and Ebanks saw Mohawks’ lead grow to seven two minutes into the second period. But that proved to be as good as it got for the visitors as Leopards went on a 17-0 run lead, holding the Middlesbrough side scoreless for over five minutes, to take a lead they would never lose .
Van Beest sparked the run with four straight points before Crawford also scored four points to give the hosts the lead . Seven consecutive Durant points put Leopards in charge before Crawford wrapped the run off a Clark assist. 
Ebanks finally broke the tear with a trey, but Crawford answered with a dunk, and a Josey trey sent the Big Cats into the locker room with a 41-30 lead.
Durant scored the first four Leopards’ points of the third period, and although Alex Greven – who finished with 21 points, eight rebounds and five assists – briefly took the lead down to single digits with a trey, a Josey trey launched a 13-2 run which was capped by a three point play by Clark as Leopards’ lead grew to 20 at the five minute mark.
A Van Beest jump shot saw the lead peak at 22, and Leopards went into the final break 73-55 ahead. Clark drained from the Land of Plenty to keep the lead at 18 early in the fourth period, and a Lockhart basket put Leopards 84-67 with five minutes to play.
The visitors chipped away at the lead with Greven briefly making it a nine point game with three minutes remaining, with Lockhart replying off a Durant assist. A Ryan Nelson and-one brought Mohawks within eight points with 71 seconds on the clock, but Lockhart hit two from four at the foul line and Clark converted four free-throws as Leopards wrapped up the win.
1997 – Budweiser British Basketball League
Leicester Riders 96 Playboy TV Leopards 97
2013 – Third quarter woe for Big Cats
A poor third period cost Leopards as they went down 101-92 at Leicester Warriors on Saturday. On the court where they will face Tees Valley in this week’s National Trophy final the Big Cats were outscored 23-12 in third quarter as they suffered their sixth league loss of the season.
With player-coach Robert Youngblood sitting out the action with Tonsillitis, his team started well as Taner Adu, Greg Hernandez and Simon Cummings all drained from three-point territory to give them a 9-6 lead. There was little defence on show in the opening stages, but an and-one from Lawrence Brown and a Tom Martin basket kept Leopards on touch before Hernandez sent them into the first break tied on 26 as scored off Adu’s miss.
Warriors’ Emile Hopkins and Rowell Graham exchanged baskets to open the second period, and both Adu and Cummings scored from downtown before the former scored on the break with to put the visitors 44-43 ahead with 3:13 on the clock and force a timeout from Leicester coach Karl Brown. A Graham dunk kept Leopards ahead before a technical foul helped Cummings score seven of Leopards’ final eight points as they went into the locker room with a 55-50 lead.
Elliot Sentance opened the second half scoring for the hosts, but Lawrence Brown replied and Leopards looked in control until an unsportsmanlike foul call on Cummings saw the hosts Mansour Mbeye take advantage
Although two Martin free-throws and an Adu drive to the basket kept the Big Cats in tough, they trailed 73-67 at the final break.
The lead quickly hit double figures, with Youngblood calling a timeout when a Mbye dunked to put his side 83-69 ahead with 7:36 remaining.
Three pointers from Adu and Cummings took the margin into single figures, and scores from Rowell Graham and Cummings made it a five point game with three minutes remaining .Hernandez fouled out as Eugene Pettaway converted a three point play, and with Cummings and Adu both being called for offensive fouls down the stretch, the home side closed out the win.
Cummings and Hernandez each scored 25 points for the Big Cats with Adu adding 20, while Pettaway had 34 for Warriors.
2002 – Mo shoots down Bullets
Pertemps Bullets Birmingham 71 (14,39,57)
Brant Bailey 20, Rob Paternostro 19, Rashod Johnson 16
DG London Leopards Kool Kats 88 (31,49,67)
Maurice Robinson 23, Ravonte Dantzler 16, Jason Kimbrough 14
BBL Championship @ Birmingham Basketball Centre
DG London Leopards Kool Kats close the gap on Milton Keynes Lions in fourth place of the Southern Conference with a 88-71 victory over the Pertemps Bullets Birmingham.
Chris Pullem’s took control from the start and closed out the first quarter with a 20-4 run to take the score to 31-14, and never relinquished the lead. Birmingham got to within five points in the third period, but could not reverse the deposit. Leopards closed out the game with a 10-4 run to secure the victory. Maurice Robinson led all scorers with 23 points for the Leopards, while Brant Bailey scored a team-high 20 for the Bullets.
It wasn’t all good news for Pullem. as he emerged from the place formerly known as Aston Villa Lesiure Centre to find someone had smashed his car window. Mine also got done. It was a long, cold trip home.
Leopards' history 