Essex & Herts Leopards 68 (21,34,47)
Kingston Wildcats 74 (22,47,65)

Game statistics.pdf

Leopards completed a miserable weekend as they slumped to basement side Kingston at the Brentwood Centre on Sunday. The Wildcats arrived at Brentwood with just one win from their opening 11 games, but led by 19 points from Sam Salter they picked up a valuable win to dent the hosts’ play-off chances.

Brandon Kephart, playing his third game since joining Leopards after Christmas, again led all scoring with 25 points, but as the Big Cats still wait international clearance for Scoop Wicker’s replacement, they struggled offensively all evening. Kephart was in dominant early form, scoring seven points as Leopards built a 9-6 lead, but Salter also chipped in with seven as the scores were tied at 11 with 3:31 remaining in the first half. Five points from both Mark Quashie and Rodney Alexander kept the Big Cats in front at 19-18, but Chris Jeramiah and Dwayne Martin put Kingston ahead, before Alexander narrowed the game to a point at the first break.

Scores from Quashie, Kephart and Roger Lloyd saw Leopards regain the lead at 26-25, before an 18-4 run gave Wildcats a 43-30 advantage. Kingston were literally shooting the lights out as the threes reigned down, with Shaun Gray and Jeramiah leading the way with a pair each, as the visitors scored five times from the Land of Plenty. With Quashie, Kephart and Lloyd the old Leopards to get on the scoresheet in the second period, the half-time interval came as a relief, with Kingston 47-34 ahead.Kephart and Laurent Irish both scored for Leopards during the opening stage of the second half but a successful and-one from Keith Phillip saw the visitors take the lead out to 55-38 at the midway point in the half.

Brain Moore opened his scoring for the night, and Kephart continued to look dangerous offensively, as well as appearing to be the only home player capable of stealing the ball, but back-to-back scores from Kaam Sahely saw the visiting side’s lead extended to 60-44 as the game gradually slipped away from the Big Cats. An almost unbelievable travelling call on Brian Moore were he was nearly knocked off his feet by the diving Gray – showing the kind of defensive intensity the hosts lacked – and a technical foul on Rodney Alexander added to the Big Cats’ frustrations, and although Moore drained a late two, Wildcats went into the final break with a 65-47 lead.

Lloyd opened the final period scoring, but Kephart missing a pair of free-throws and Quashie only managing one-from-two, the home side failed to make any impression on the deficit. After Jeramiah had drained shots from the charity line to leave his side 16 ahead with five minutes remaining, Leopards finally managed to put a run together. Four points from both Kephart and Alexander saw the lead cut to ten with 2:50 on the clock, prompting a time-out from visiting coach Adrian Jones. It made little difference as two Quashie free-throws and a Kephart two saw Leopards move within six at 71-65 with 1:04 on the clock. With a major fight-back now on the cards, Gray shot one of two foul shots before Alexander cut the lead to five with a long-range two. Gray missed a pair of free-throws, and Quashie converted one-from-two, but with 40 seconds remaining Kephart shot when he should have driven to the basket, the rebound was collected by Kingston and the visitors sealed their best victory of the season from the charity stripe.

Leopards: B Kephart 25, M Quashie 15, R Alexander 13, R Lloyd 7, L Irish 4, B Moore 4, M Eames, B Stacey (DNP),