Tees Valley Mohawks 78 (23,51,61)
Leopards 87 (29,45,66)

A strong third period performance paved the way for Leopards to continue their unbeaten start to the EBL Division One season, on Saturday.

The Big Cats upped their defensive intensity in the second half, and held the home side to 11 points in third period – adding 21 of their own – and once they took the lead with two minutes of third quarter remaining they never trailed again.

Hrvoje Pervan led the Leopards’ scoring for the fifth time this season with 26 points while Carl Latham-Henry and Gareth Laws each added 15.

The Big Cats made a good start as Pervan poured in the first seven points of the game, but the home side hit back with an 8-2 run to leave the Leopards’ lead at just one.

A Laws trey launched another 7-0 run, and a further 8-0 tear left the visitors 29-19 ahead going into the final 90 seconds of the period, but Mohawks gave a hint of what was to follow in the second quarter as they closed out the stanza with four straight points to cut Leopards’ lead to 29-23 going into the first break.

Pervan sunk a shot from the Land of Plenty to put Leopards nine up at the start of the second period, but with American guard Matt Morley scoring freely for the hosts on his way to a game high 27 points, Mohawks replied with a 9-0 run to level the score.

That set the tone for the rest of the period, and Mohawks edged ahead as they took advantage of some poor Leopards’ defence, and despite a Lukas Volskis trey, a three-pointer from Thompson sent Tees Valley into the locker room with a 51-45 lead.

After some harsh words from coach Jon Burnell and his assistant Laws, Leopards came out strongly following the half-time break, and treys from Latham-Henry and Laws halved the lead to 58-55 after seven minutes of action.

A score from Latham-Henry followed by a Pervan trey and Russ Jordan’s debut points for Leopards saw them score seven unanswered points to give the visitors a 62-58 lead – and they never trailed again.

The run was broken by an Andre Rankin free-throw, but scores from Latham-Henry and Jordan sent the Big Cats into the final break ahead by five.

Mohawks scored the first five points in the fourth quarter to level the score, before Fola Adeleke and Ike Attah exchanged three-pointers to tie things at 69-69.

That proved to be the last time Tees Valley were on level terms as a three-pointer from Laws launched a 12-0 run. Latham-Henry, Pervan, Adeleke and Jordan all got on the scoresheet as the points were shared around.

Attah ended the run, but with Pervan scoring the final six points for the visitors, they closed out the victory to retain joint second place in the table.