Essex & Herts Leopards 77 (21,39,58)
Manchester Magic 81 (14,33,60)

A poor final 15 minutes saw Leopards slip to their first defeat at Goresbrook since September, on Saturday. The Big Cats had looked set for victory against a Magic side lying one place behind them in the EBL Division One as they led by eight points at the midway stage of the third period before being outscore 33-21 in the final stages.

Troy Selvey led the Big Cats with 28 points, but it was the performance of England international Delme Herriman who kept the visitors in the game with 20 first half points before being restricted to two after the break.

A tight first period saw “and-ones” from Selvey and Brian Moore plus an Errol Seaman basket helped keep them level after six minutes. Four straight points from Selvey followed by as many from Seaman saw Leopards open a six point lead, and a three-pointer from Dave Jones sent the Big Cats into the first break with a 21-14 lead.

Herriman continued to be Magic’s only real offensive threat in the second period as he doubled the ten points he had scored in the first quarter. However, seven points from Demetrice Williams kept Leopards ahead, and although a Herriman basket briefly put the visitors into a one-point lead, four points from Selvey plus scores from Williams and Seaman sent the Big Cats into the locker room with a six point lead.

Magic opened the third period strongly, with American Troy Sledge scoring five points in a 7-2 run to cut the Big Cats lead to a single point. Sledge scored 12 of Magic’s first 14 points of the period, but another trey from Moore and a Selvey put-back kept the hosts’ lead at eight at the midway point in the quarter.

Despite Williams picking up his fourth foul, the home side remained in control, and a long-range jump shot from Seaman saw the lead by five with two minutes of the period remaining, only to be hit by seven unanswered Magic points to give the visitors a 69-58 lead at the final break.

Things got worse for the home side as Gavin Smith and Matt Hogarth extended that run to 11-0, and although Selvey broke the run off a Williams’ assist, Magic’s lead was extended to seven following a Hogarth trey. Sam Salter’s second basket of the game plus five points from Williams saw Leopards reduce the arrears to two with 5:40 on the clock. The teams exchanged baskets until scores from Williams and Selvey saw Leopards draw level at 73-73 with two minutes remaining.

A trey from Kenny Roberts restored a lead Magic were to never lose, but despite another three-pointer from Hogarth, the Big Cats kept in touch with successful pairs of free-throws from Williams and Seaman. However Selvey missed both shots from the charity stripe with 1:18 remaining, and with Moore fouling out, Gergely Major sealed Manchester’s win from the free-throw line.

Leopards: T Selvey 28, D Williams 23, E Seaman 10, B Moore 9, S Salter 4, D Jones 3, R Lloyd, M Eames, J Warwick, E Gregory (DNP)