Sheffield Arrows 76 (22,47,54)
Leopards 61 (13,25,46)

A poor first half performance saw Leopards lose their second group game in the National Trophy, on Sunday.

At a venue they have traditionally struggled at, the Big Cats were without point guard Carl Latham-Henry and their failure to put enough points on enough point on the board in the opening 20 minutes proved to be their undoing.

“We know what we need to get, someone who can consistently score 20 points per game, and a big man” said coach Jon Burnell.

“When we decided to go with youngsters we knew there would be night like this, and no doubt there will other similar nights. The kids are doing fine, but we need to give them some help from senior players.”

The Big Cats only two players aged over 20, Gareth Laws and Sam Salter, led the scoring with 15 and 14 points respectively, with point guard Lucas Volskis adding ten points.

American centre Dustin Bevard opened the scoring for the hosts, but a Salter three and five straight Laws points saw the Big Cats open an 8-2 lead. That proved to be as good as it got for the visitors, and Arrows scored the next 15 points as they opened a 17-8 advantage. Although Deng Deng ended the run with a lay-up and a single free-throw, Arrows captain Andre Rankine sent his side into the first break with a 22-13 lead thanks to a shot from the Land of Plenty.

Sheffield continued to dominate in the opening stages of the second period, Martin draining a pair of treys as they opened with 11 straight points, and although it was again Deng who broke the run with a free-throw, the home side led 40-20 with two minutes of the half remaining.

Steve Jeffries became the fourth Arrows player on the scoresheet, and despite Salter draining another three, it was Bevard who wrapped up the first half scoring to send his side into the locker room with a commanding 47-23 lead.

Whatever Leopards coach Jon Burnell said at half-time clearly had the desired effect for the visitors as they started strongly, and eight straight Volskis points saw their deficit cut to 49-39 after four minutes play. With the visitors defence noticeably much tighter, the home side were restricted to seven points in the third period, and three point plays from Salter and Laws meant that the Sheffield lead was pegged back to 54-46 going into the final break.

Rankine opened the four period scoring, but a single Leigh Greenan free-throw and three-from-four from Deng kept the margin at eight points.

Laws and Rankine exchanged baskets, but the latter put his side back into a double figure lead with a three-pointer. Leopards continued to battle, and a pair of Volskis charity shots together with a jump shot from Nathan Wilson kept them in touch.

With 90 seconds remaining Salter had a three-point effort rim out. Had it gone in, the margin would have shrunk to six points, but Bevard grabbed the rebound – one 11 to go with four blocks – and scored on the break to effectively wrap things up, and Sheffield put the game to bed from the free-throw line.

Leopards: G Laws 15, S Salter 14, L Volskis 10, D Deng 9, N Wilson 8, L Greenan 3, F Adeleke 2, M Jarvis, A Scotland-Williamson.