Coventry Crusaders 78 (23,35,61)
Leopards 91 (13,46,67)

A season-high 20 points from Fola Adeleke helped Leopards maintain their prefect start to the EBL Division One season with a hard fought victory at Coventry, on Saturday.

19-year-old Adeleke scored ten second period points to almost single handedly drag Leopards back into the game after an error-strewn first quarter had seen them fall 10 point behind.

Gareth Laws added 15 points for the Big Cats, while a clearly injured Carl Latham-Henry chipped in with 13 as Leopards made it three wins from three.

Lee McCarthy opened the scoring from close range, but generally the first period proved to be a sluggish one for the visitors, and after four points from Latham-Henry had seem the trail 9-8 at the midway stage of the period, the home side hit 11 straight points to lead 20-9 going into the final period of the quarter.

An “and-one” from Stix Bright finally broke the run, and although Ben Clarke replied with a trey, McCarthy wrapped up the first period scoring to send Leopards into the first break trailing 23-13.

The second period proved to be a complete contrast as Leopards started strongly, with Adeleke opened with back-to-back baskets before sinking a three-pointer to cu the deficit to 25-20.

A basket from the game’s leading scorer – Ryan Leuthy, who finished with 30 points – kept Crusaders ahead, before treys from Sam Salter and Adeleke saw the deficit reduced to 28-27.

Leuthy again drained an effort from long range, but six straight points from Laws saw Leopards take the lead for the first time at 33-31 with three second period minutes remaining.

A good spell from Lukas Volskis saw him take over from where Adeleke and Laws had left off, scoring eight straight points including two three-point plays before Salter wrapped up a 33-12 second quarter with a trey to send Leopards into the locker room with a 46-35 lead.

If Leopards thought that the game was in the bag, they were to be mistaken as the opening minutes of the third period bore a strong similarity to the first.

Five straight Leuthy points saw the lead cut to 46-40, and only two treys from Adeleke and one from Salter kept Leopards ahead, reach the our minute mark with a slender 56-54 lead.

Some woeful foul shooting did not help their cause as they scored just three points from eight attempts, but after Hall had leveled the score going into the final minute, three-pointers from Laws and Volskis sent Leopards into the final break with a 67-61 lead.

An “and-one” from Laws opened the fourth period scoring, but the home side refused to give in, and a 6-2 run saw the gap closed to 72-69 at the midway point in the quarter.

Leopards finally stepped up at that stage, and scores from McCarthy and Latham-Henry together with a Laws’ three saw the lead grow to ten.

Two-from-four Bright foul shooting followed before Latham-Henry wrapped up an 11-0 run to put Leopards 83-69 ahead.

A pair of Clarke treys kept Crusaders in with a shout, but despite Leopards poor foul shooting continued (they finished with 17 from 32), the visitors finished strongly to score the final five points of the game and maintain their best ever start to the league season.

Leopards: F Adeleke 20, G Laws 15, C Latham-Henry 13, S Bright 12, L Volskis 12, S Salter 9, L McCarthy 8, M Eames 2, M Collins.