Manchester Magic 103 (22,40,72)
Leopards 73 (19,39,57)

Leopards found Manchester Magic’s strength in depth just too much on Sunday as they collapsed during the final 13 minutes of the game. The Big Cats matched the league leaders and National Cup holders for the first two thirds of the game, and led 51-50 with three minutes of the third period remaining.

However, against a Magic side who had outscored Sheffield 30-3 in the previous week’s comeback victory, Leopards were then given a torrid time by the home side who proceeded to outscore them 53-22 in just 13 minutes, Carl Henry-Latham led the Big Cats with 24 points, but it was the performance of the two of the Leopards’ junior players which stood out. 17-year-old Leigh Greenan scored 14 points and collected six rebounds in just 20 minutes while Fola Adeleke finished with the 14 points and five boards. Seven foot centre Greenan gave the home side a torrid time in the first half, collecting 12 of his points in his best display of the season.

Steve Boonham opened the scoring for Magic, but Leopards controlled much of the first period, with Latham-Henry proving unstoppable as he scored ten points. Sam Salter also scored five points, including a trey, but as the fouls mounted up, the home side scored the final seven points to go into the first break with a 23-19 lead.

Former Arrow Andre Rankine opened the second period scoring with a trey Magic led throughout the stanza, but with Greenan causing them problems inside, the visitors stayed in touch. A Patrick Dwyer trey took Magic’s lead out to eight with four minutes gone, but and eight straight points – including four from Greenan - cut Manchester’s lead to two points going into the final minute. Stefan Gill made it 40-37 with a single free throw, but it was Greenan who had the final word of the first half with a buzzer-beating tip-in the cut Magic’s lead to 40-39 at half-time.

Five points from Laws saw Leopards take an early lead in the third period, and scores from Adeleke and Latham-Henry kept them in front. A three-pointer from former Leopard Duncan Ogilvie – who led his team with 21 points – put Magic into the lead, but scores from Latham-Henry and Matt Eames saw the Big Cats hold a one point advantage going into the last three minutes of the period. That was as good as it got for the visitors, however, and with Latham-Henry missing three from four free-throws, the hosts closed out the period with a 22-6 run to lead by 15.

There never looked any way back for the visitors as the clearly tired against a side who had the day off on Saturday, and Magic opened the final quarter with a 9-0 run to wrap up the win.

Leopards: C Latham-Henry 24, L Greenan 14, F Adeleke 14, G Laws 13, S Salter 5, M Eames 2, M Collins 1, R Lloyd, E Seaman.