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11 March 2009
Leopards expect big crowd

Sunday March 15 – Tip-off 4.00pm

London Leopards v’s Cardiff Celts

Brentwood Centre

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.

Leopards enter the weekend in joint second place with Manchester Magic, and with three games on the road wrapping up their regular season campaign they know a win is a must on Sunday.

The Big Cats have a 10-3 record, while Celts are in ninth spot with three wins from 13 games. Leopards win at Coventry last week ensured home court advantage in the play-offs, but Cardiff are still looking for a place in post-season play, with their game against Derby on March 21 looking key to both club’s hopes of clinching eighth spot.

Leopards coach Jon Burnell is aware just how vital the game is to his side: “It’s a very important game us, as it’s vital that we win out until the last weekend of the season to keep the pressure on Magic for second place. We want to turn up at Manchester knowing that a win will get us the runners-up spot. Our pre-season aim was to finish in the top four, and by the mid-season it had become second place. We’re on course for that, but we have to win on Sunday to give ourselves the opportunity.”

Burnell isn’t expecting an easy game on Sunday, despite Celts going into the weekend with nine straight losses under their belts: “They are a tough team. They’ve been without any overseas or full-time players all season, but they’ve got a decent group of players who play really hard. Only the game at Wodson Park was comfortable, we’ve had to play hard in other games and I don’t expect it to be any different on Sunday.”

Leopards 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. The hosts led 25-22 at the first break and extended their lead to 43-40 going into the locker room at half-time. A 28-23 third period put Leopards in control before they closed the game out in the final stanza. Hrvoje Pervan added 29 points for the Big Cats, while Mike Gregory led the Celts with 23.

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. Leopards were 20-18 ahead at the first break before sharing 40 second period points. That lead grew to 60-55 at the final break before the Big Cats again took control.

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. That lead was extended to 56-43 before a 17-11 fourth period wrapped things up. Ronnie Baker led the hosts scoring with 15 points.

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