“We’d put a lot of time and effort into promoting the game and, as I don’t hold out much hope of getting proper compensation, we stand to lose  a lot of money we can’t afford. “We spent a lot of time on Sunday morning trying to ensure everyone knew the game was off, but people still turned up at Leisurezone on Sunday afternoon and if they think the whole sport is Micky Mouse and don’t bother coming again it’s hard to blame them. We’re through to the next round, but that isn’t much consolation, we wanted to see our team play but instead we all wasted our time.

“Basketball England revamped the competition in the summer in an attempt to cut down on blowouts and stop teams from lower divisions crying off because they believed they’d get hammered. But I really thought better of Ipswich, they’re an established club who know the repercussions for the home side when you call a game off. They have a decent under-18 side who didn’t have a game, so they should’ve been able to raise a team We’ve all gone to games short-handed knowing that we’d probably get beaten, but the important thing is to get the game played.”

The Big Cats will travel to Kent Crusaders in the last 16 after the Division Two side hammered an understrength London Lituanica team by 51 points on Sunday. The game is scheduled for Sunday October 30.

2011 – Lions win battle of the cats

Milton Keynes Lions 113 (28,56,95) Leopards 72(14,38,60)

LEOPARDS found high-flying MK Lions too tough as their weekend action in the BBL Trophy ended with a heavy defeat. With Ousman Krubally missing due to an ankle injury, Leopards had no answer against a side who had been without a game the previous day.

Vernon Teel completed a massive weekend against two of the country’s top sides by pouring in 43 points, but tiredness clearly showed for the Big Cats, with only Lister joining him in double figures with 11.

Daniel Northern opened the scoring for the Lions before Howard Crawford had three scores in a row as the Lions leapt out of the blocks. Teel was the only scorer for the Leopards in the early stages with seven points in as many minutes, but the closing stages of the period saw Lister add five points as Leopards went into the first break trailing 28-14.

Teel hit an incredible 19 points in the second quarter as Leopars had their best spell of the game, forcing two timeouts from the home side before they went into the locker room with Lions winning 56-38.

A high-scoring third period saw Lions put the game beyond doubt as they went into the final break 95-60 ahead and although the Big Cats continued to fight until the end, the home side ran out comfortable winners.

Demarius Bolds led the hosts with 36, with Howard Crawford adding 19 and Lister’s former team-mate in Australia Adrien Sturt chipping in with 15.

Lions’ coach Mike New had praise for the Leopards: “”I went to see Leopards on Saturday night and I was really impressed against them. They came out with a lot of energy and they are really well coached. They have two super players in Teel and Krubally, but they found it hard going when it got physical in the second half which is probably why Krubally didn’t play against us.

“I wanted my guys to come out and set the tone with our speed, athleticism and effort. We did that, and I was really pleased with how we played.”