Essex & Herts Leopards 82 (19,33,50)
Coventry Crusaders 72 (24,43,57)

Game statistics.pdf

Game Photos from www.tgsphotos.co.uk

Brandon Kephart (pictured) marked his Leopards debut with a 27 point haul as the Big Cats came from behind to defeat Coventry Crusaders. Kephart drained half of his total in the final period as Leopards outscored the visitors 32-15 to record their fourth EBL Division One victory of the season.

Jon Burnell’s team had trailed for much of the, but 11 unanswered points in the three minute stretch around the final break put Leopards in control, and they never looked back. Kephart opened the scoring with a trey, and Mark Quashie also scored as the two sides shared the opening 10 points. Laurent Irish missed a pair of free-throws as the impressive Troy Selvey scored back-to-back baskets, and his misses from the charity stripe set the tone for the evening, with Leopards converting just nine of their 24 efforts. It was Scoop Wicker who kept Leopards in the game as they struggled with Selvey, hitting the final points of the period, and finishing with 14 in the quarter as Crusaders reached the first break with a 24-19 lead.

The second quarter proved to be a turgid affair, especially for the home side as they scored just nine points, with the flow of the game not helped by a ten-minute break due to the Wodson Park lights. Selvey went on a personal 7-1 run, with Brian Moore’s free-throw proving the only relief for the hosts as Crusaders opened a 31-22 lead. A time-out called by Burnell did nothing to halt the run, as Coventry extended their lead to 13 before a Kephart three halted the run. Leopards’ woes from the free-throw line continued as Roger Lloyd hit just one from four, and although Kephart scored with 40 seconds of the half remaining, Selwyn Reed converted in the dying seconds to send the visitors into the locker room with a double-digit lead.

Although Mark Quashie opened the third period with a successful and-one for the hosts, three was little sign of any recovery for the Leopards. Crusaders led 55-43 when Moore rejoined the action, and his tough defence proved to be a major part of the Big Cats’ comeback. Moore quickly dropped a trey, and although David Jones restored Coventry’s double-digit lead, back-to-back scores from Kephart saw Leopards cut the deficit to seven points at the final break. Kephart opened the fourth period scoring before assisting Moore on a trey, and with Coventry committing three successive offensive fouls, four points from Kephart and two from Lloyd gave Leopards their first lead since the opening minutes.

Ed Baynes-Clarke restored the visitors’ lead, but that proved to be Coventry’s last lead as Kephart drained a three and Moore stole the ball at half-court before converting a lay-up. A pair of Lloyd put-backs and a Quashie jump shot saw Leopards open a 72-68 lead with 3:35 remaining when Coventry called a time-out. The defensive pressure Leopards were piling on continued to pay off as Lloyd forced veteran Dip Donaldson into a time-out, and a pair of scores from Laurent Irish effectively sealed the victory for Leopards. A Moore free-throw and a two from Wicker rounded off the scoring as Leopards moved into a play-off spot for the first this season.

Leopards: B Kephart 27, S Wicker 22, R Lloyd 8, L Irish 8, B Moore 7, M Quashie 7, R Alexander 2, M Eames 1.

Brandon Kephart receives his MVP trophy from
Subway - Hertford & Welwyn Garden City's Iain Thompson

Juniors
The U18s also won by 10 beating Kingston Wildcats 80-70 before the Senior game at Wodson but the U16 Boys lost 62-41 on their tough road trip to Taunton.

Full Match Reports to follow