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31 March 2009
Leopards fall to Magic

A fine second half fight-back could not prevent Leopards slipping to defeat at Manchester as their slim hopes of the EBL Division One runners-up spot finally ended.

The Big Cats trailed by 18 at half-time but fought back to level the score late in the game, and only two controversial offensive foul calls on Carl Latham-Henry denied them a genuine chance to complete the league double over the Magic.

Hrvoje Pervan led the visitors for the fourth successive game, hitting 25 points, while Latham-Henry marked his return from injury with 20 points.

Russell Jordan finished with a 12-rebound, 11-point double-double, while Gareth Laws added 11 points for a short-handed Leopards team who were forced to name coach Jon Burnell in order to meet the minimum requirement of eight players.

While the Big Cats can justifiably complain about the calls on Latham-Henry late in the game, they were also architects of their own downfall as they missed 11 of their 26 free-throws.

Jordan opened the scoring for the Big Cats, but although Pervan drained the first of three three-pointers, the home side took control and four points from American guard Brandon Kimbrough helped them to a 11-5 lead at the midway stage of the period.

A single Ronnie Baker free-throw broke a 7-0 run, but that was only a brief respite as Magic added another six points to lead 18-6.

Pervan ended the tear, only to see Tanner Adu sink a trey before Leopards finally got into some kind of rhythm and four points apiece from Latham-Henry and Pervan cut the deficit to 23-16 at the first break.

A Laws free-throw and a three from Pervan opened the second period as Leopards extended their run to 11-2 before Magic answered with six straight points.

Three-points from Latham-Henry and Laws kept the deficit at four points going into the final three minutes of the half, but it was the home side who finished strongly. Magic scored 11 of the 13 points  immediately before half-time with Kimbrough scoring six and Stefan Gill five as the home side went into the locker room with a 54-36 lead.

That lead grew to 22 as John Linsley and Adu opened the second half scoring, but a Pervan basket launched a 9-0 run for the visitors, which also saw a Pervan three-point play.

Leopards continued to control the game, and with the big men – Jordan, Leigh Greenan and Lee McCarthy – all scoring, an 8-2 run saw the deficit cut to 65-54 going into the final three minutes of the period.

Kimbrough broke the run with a pair from the charity stripe – Magic having an almost perfect night from the foul line with 11 from 12 – but it was the visitors who finished the quarter strongly as four straight Latham-Henry points helped them cut the hosts’ lead to 69-61 at the final break.

The Big Cats opened the fourth period with a 5-2 run – all seven points coming from the foul line – and a Laws trey slashed the lead to 73-69 with four minutes remaining.

Latham-Henry was denied the first of his two baskets for offensive fouls, but McCarthy and Adu exchanged baskets to keep Leopards in the game.

The Leopards guard was again called for a charge as he looked to have halved the lead before Pervan converted one of two free-throws with two minutes remaining, but he made amends by sinking a three to level the score with 106 seconds led in the game.

That was as good as it got for the visitors, though, with Kimbrough draining a three, and although Jordan converted from close range to keep Leopards in the game, Magic collected the runners-up spot from the foul line.

Leopards: H Pervan 25, C Latham-Henry 20, R Jordan 11, G Laws 11, L McCarthy 6, L Greenan 4, R Baker 1, J Burnell (DNP)

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