Taunton Tigers 96 (26,50,65)
Leopards 101 (36,61,70)

Carl Latham-Henry led the way with 27 points as Leopards went joint top of the league with a hard-fought victory at Taunton on Saturday.

Gareth Laws added 21 and Matt Collins scored a season-high 14 as the Big Cats continued their unbeaten away record in a game that they led in for 39 of the 40 minutes.

The win was made more notable by the fact that the Big Cats were without coach Jon Burnell and his assistant Lloyd Gardner.

Burnell was unable to make the long trip to the West Country due to work commitments, while Gardner had – together with point guard Lukas Volskis and big men Nathan Wilson and Alex Scotland-Williamson – had spent six days stranded in Bosnia following the a junior tour.

The Big Cats were coached by Laws, and general manager Dave Ryan - who assisted him – had praise for the 27-year-old shooting guard: “Gareth did really well, and the players responded to him. He can clearly coach, but it’s tough to play as well.

“We’ve got a great group of players, who care about playing for Leopards and after all the stuff we’ve been through it’s fantastic to be doing so well. There’s a long way to go, but they’ve shown at both Taunton and Sheffield that our team have the character to do well.”

Leopards started strongly, and rushed into a 9-2 lead, as Laws converted a three-point play before Salter and Laws both drained treys.

The visitors spent much of the first period at the foul stripe as Tigers were repeatedly called for fouls, and unlike previous games where the Big Cats have struggled with free-throws, they proved exception during this game as they drained their first 14.

Seven unanswered points, including a Collins three, saw the visitors open a 22-12 lead with six minutes played before the home side replied with a 6-0 run of their own.

A Matt Eames three-point play kept Leopards comfortably ahead, and Latham-Henry took his personal tally to eight as Tigers continued to struggle with his pace.

With a minute of the first period remaining Leigh Greenan ensured that all eight Leopards were on the scoresheet with a put-back, before he became the first visiting player to miss a free-throw as Leopards went into the first break with a club record points total, leading 36-26.

Three pointers from Salter and Collins kept Leopards’ double-digit lead early in the second period, but three points from Alistair Bird and Joe Andrews helped Tigers put together a 13-2 lead which saw them grab their only lead of the game, 45-44 with three minutes of the half remaining.

Leopards’ response was immediate, with Fola Adeleke draining two free-throws as they replied with a 12-0 run. Latham-Henry and Laws each added five points in the tear, and it was the former who scored the final basket of the half as the visitors went into the locker room with a 61-50 lead.

The third period proved to be a difficult one for the visitors, as they scored only nine points, and the home side had chipped six points off Leopards’ lead before Laws broke the run with a pair of free-throws after four minutes.

Latham-Henry scored the Big Cats’ only field goal of the quarter, but despite being forced to sit Salter down for the final seven minutes of the period, they reached the final break with a five point lead.

A pair of Greenan free-throws kept Leopards head, 75-69 after three minutes of the final stanza, but an and-one from Richard Anderson halved that lead.

Latham-Henry took his tally to 18, but a Joe Saunders trey in a 5-0 run saw the home side level the score at 77 going into the final five minutes of the game.

Adeleke and Kevin Anderson exchanged baskets before a Salter trey gave Leopards a lead they were to never lose.

A Latham-Henry three point play added to that advantage, and Salter stretched it to six with another score from down-town.

Back-to-back Latham-Henry scores kept Leopards ahead, and as Tigers were forced to foul to stop the clock, they lost three of their starters leading Adeleke and Collins to wrap things u from the line before McCarthy dunked the ball home to give Leopards their fifth win in six league games.

Leopards: C Latham-Henry 27, G Laws 21, M Collins 14, F Adeleke 13, S Salter 12, L McCarthy 5, L Greenan 5, M Eames 4.