London Towers 86 (19,45,64)
Essex & Herts Leopards 53 (16,38,42)

A fine first half performance was not enough to prevent Leopards slipping to a BBL Trophy defeat against old rivals London Towers, on Saturday. Troy Selvey led the Big Cats with 16 points, but they were unable to keep up the pace after the break against their full-time opponents.

New point guard Demetrice Williams made an immediate impact with five steals in an encouraging debut for Jon Burnell’s side. After Chez Marks had scored the first five points for the hosts, Leopards clicked into gear and six points from Selvey plus an Errol Seaman put-back off Selvey’s missed free-throw gave them their first lead of the game, 8-7 with four minutes gone. Back-to-back scores from Nick Sargent restored Towers’ lead, but scores from Sam Salter, Steve Ogunjimi, Seaman and Selvey kept Leopards in touch as they went into the first break trailing by three.

Sargent extended that lead to five before the visitors shocked their big spending rivals with a 12-2 lead. Williams opened his scoring account for the Big Cats, while Laurent Irish scored back to back baskets as Leopards produced an up-tempo display. Quincy Wadley broke the run with the three-pointer, but Leopards’ response was immediate as Roger Lloyd and Irish both scored to give the visitors a 31-26 with four minutes of the half remaining. Marks hit another three and Nikki Arinze also scored to level the game, but a Lloyd put-back restored the visitors’ advantage. Free-throws from Marks and Arinze put Towers back into the lead, and as Jon Burnell’s team noticeably tired during the last two minutes of the half, eight straight points from Arinze gave the home side a flattering 45-38 lead at half-time.

That was as good as it got for the Big Cats, and with the home side seemingly immune to committing fouls, they struggled offensively throughout the third period, with only Selvey and Dave Jones getting on the scoresheet as Towers added 19 points to effectively wrap the game up.

Things briefly brightened for the Leopards at the start of the fourth period as Williams’ steal on Lynard Stewart saw the home player commit and intentional foul, and with Jones hitting a three, the visitors opened the fourth period with a five straight points. With Steve Ogunjimi having a disappointing night, committing eight turnovers and scoring just two points, coach Burnell chose to run his bench as the hosts took the lead above 30 – but the Big Cats were left with the consolation that they had forced the full-time side to really battle during the first half.

Leopards: T Selvey 16, S Salter 7, E Seaman 7, L Irish 6, D Williams 5, D Jones 4, R Lloyd 4, S Ogunjimi 2, E Gregory 2, M Eames, S Buck.