Nottingham Knights 89 (25,47,67)
Essex & Herts Leopards 104 (20,42,74)

A strong second half performance saw Leopards gain their 14th league win of the season and seal a place in the post-season play-offs. The home side, lying bottom of the table, made the Big Cats fight all the way for the victory, but with Troy Selvey leading the way with 24 points, Leopards took control in the final two minutes of the third period and pulled away during the last quarter.

It was a good balanced scoring display from the visitors, with five players finishing in double figures, and nine of their ten man roster getting on the scoresheet. With a new-look starting lineup of Sam Salter, Matt Eames, James Warwick, Errol Seaman and Selvey, the Big Cats started sluggishly with only Eames and Selvey getting on the scoresheet as the home side rushed into a 16-4 lead at the midway stage of the first quarter.

Eames and Selvey cut the lead to 16-10, and a pair of Salter threes brought Leopards back into the game, but four points from Anthony Haase made the score 25-18 before Seaman’s late bucket cut Leopards’ deficit to five at the first break. Scores from Roger Lloyd and Brian Moore cut Knights’ lead to one, and with Eames hitting back to back shots, Leopards leveled the score at 28 before a Selvey jump shot gave Leopards their first lead four minutes into the second period.

However, with Bud Johnston hitting five points on his way to a game-high 35, and the rest of his team continuing to shoot the ball well, it took back-to-back baskets from Seaman to keep the home side’s lead down to five at half time.

Salter opened the second half with his third three of the game, and a successful “and-one” from Selvey saw Leopards briefly take the lead, but an intentional foul call on Warwick helped the home side take their lead back out to five with four minutes of the period remaining. A trey from Salter and four Eames points halted the run, and although four straight free-throws saw the home side regain the lead, a Dave Jones three gave Leopards the lead with two minutes of the third period remaining, and the Big Cats never looked back. Salter drained his fifth shot from the Land of Plenty and Seaman again scored the final shot of the period to send Leopards into the final break 74-67 ahead.

Back-to-back threes from Jones saw that lead grow to 11 in the opening minute of the fourth quarter, and with Moore converting a three-point play and Jones again hitting from long range, Leopards took control of the game, and the home side never got within ten points again. Seaman took his personal tally to 19 points, before a fade-away jump shot from Ed Gregory wrapped up the scoring and saw Leopards take a firm grip on sixth place in the EBL Division One table.

Leopards: T Selvey 24, E Seaman 19, S Salter 17, M Eames 16, D Jones 14, J Warwick 5, B Moore 5, R Lloyd 2, E Gregory 2, T Christie.