Essex & Herts Leopards 88 (26,49,63)
Kingston Wildcats 75 (25,40,57)

The Big Cats kept up their chase for a top four spot with an 88-75 victory against Kingston Wildcats at Goresbrook on Saturday evening. Demetrice Williams agait led the scoring for Jon Burnell’s side with 19 points in a game they led from late in the first quarter, but never managed to seal until the final period.

Troy Selvey added 17 for the home side, but it was captain Matt Eames (pictured) who made the biggest impression as his hit a season-high 16 points to lead the Big Cats to their 13th league victory of the season.

Selvey opened the scoring with a put-back, and went on to score nine in the quarter, but the two teams were neck-and-neck for all the first period.
Seven straight points from Mike Williams helped Kinston open up a three point lead, but despite Selvey being forced to sit down on two foul with 93 seconds of the period remaining, four points in the final minute from Eames sent his team into the first break 26-25 ahead.

The visitors scored the first four points of the second period, and although former Kingston player Sam Salter levelled the score with his second three pointer of the night, it took until the sixth minute of the quarter for Leopards to regain the lead with a James Warwick basket off Demetrice Williams assists for Leopards to regain a slender lead.

That was the start of a seven point burst for Warwick, and he added an assist Dave Jones before Errol Seaman scored from close range to send the Big Cats into half-time on the back of a 9-1 run with a 49-40 lead Warwick opened the second half scoring to take his tally to 13 points, but the third period saw neither side able to put together any kind of run. The defences remaining on top as Leopards saw their lead cut by three to 63-57 at the final break.

Leopards noticeably stepped up at the start of the fourth period, and four points from Eames helped the Big Cats take that lead out to 12 by the midway point in the fourth period. However a silly foul from Williams on Wildcats’ Mike Williamson in the act of shooting a three, gave the visitors a way back. With coach Burnell picking up a technical foul for shouting at his own players, the visitors cut the lead to nine with a six-point play.

That proved to be as close as the visitors got, as Selvey scored four points, and as the visitors were forced to foul to stop the clock, the Big Cats wrapped up the victory from the charity stripe.

Kingston Wildcats 92 ( 18,41,63)
Essex & Herts Leopards 90 (20,44,72)

Leopards were unable to seal their play-off spot as Kingston gained revenge for Saturday’s defeat at Goresbrook with a tight victory. The Big Cats led for long periods in the game, but with Demetrice Williams missing due to injury, they eventually ran out of steam during the closing stages of the game.

In a erratically refereed game the depleted Leopards team, who were missing all three recognised point guards on their roster, were further hurt by the second half ejection of Roger Lloyd. The 6’ 7” power forward picked up two intentional fouls, both of which were extremely harsh, and was forced to leave the game with three minutes of the third period remaining. Troy Selvey led the Big Cats with a 23 point haul, but he provided the assists for the first two buckets of the game, with Brian Moore and Errol Seaman scoring off his passes.

Captain Matt Eames scored one of two foul shots to put the Leopards 5-0 up before Selvey opened his account to give Leopards the perfect start. Predictably, Wildcats fought back, though they were not aided by a coach technical, and three treys from Nathan Selsby helped them take a 15-13 lead before a pair of Sam Salter free-throws levelled things, and with Mike Williamson missing both foul shots after Lloyd’s first intentional foul, a trey from Salter sent Leopards into the first break 20-18 ahead.

A trey from Dave Jones opened the second half for the visitors, and with youngster James Warwick adding six points in a fine display, Leopards led for all of the second period except for a 20 second spell. Coach Jon Burnell emulated his Kingston counterpart by collecting a technical foul, and Eames also picked one up for saying “Jesus” after being called for his third foul, but despite a buzzer-beating three from Junior Sudler, the visitors went into the locker room with a three-point lead.

An 11-2 run to start the third period looked to have put Leopards in charge with a 55-43 lead, with Warwick scoring back-to-back baskets on the fast break. Even after Lloyd’s ejection, Leopards looked in control, with a Jones three keeping them 13 ahead, and despite six straight points from Sudler, a pair of Salter free-throws sent Leopards into the final break with a 72-63 lead.

With Salter continuing to cause his old club problems, his five points kept Leopards ahead by ten with 6:17 on the clock, but as the visitors noticeably tired, successive three point playes from Sudler saw the lead cut to just two with 2:31 remaining. A Selsby trey gave Kingston their first lead since the opening period, and their advantage was increased to three with a basket from James Miller. With Errol Seaman twice being called for three-second violations in the final few minutes, Leopards struggled to get back on level terms, but a Selvey free-throw following by a put-back off Salter’s assist levelled the score with 1:13 remaining.

A harsh call on Seaman saw Sudler drain both free-throws, and with Moore’s last second shot rimming out, the Big Cats will have to wait another week to be mathematically certain of post season play.

Leopards: T Selvey 23, S Salter 21, J Warwick 18, E Seaman 12, D Jones 6, B Moore 5, M Eames 3, R Lloyd 2, E Gregory (DNP)