Essex & Herts Leopards 78 (21,37,47)
Worthing Thunder 95 (22,42,72)

Leopards statistics.xls

A poor third period cost Leopards dearly as they slumped to a heavy defeat in their opening EBL Division game of the season. The Big Cats scored just 10 points in the 10 minutes immediately after half-time, and with Thunder hitting 30 during the third quarter, the south coast team effectively had the game sewn up by the final break.

With only seven senior players available, it was always going to be tough for Jon Burnell’s team, but a lack of defensive intensity proved to Leopards’ downfall, with Worthing able to drain 63% of their two-point shots.

Mark Quashie and Danny Scott had early scores for the home side, but a 7-2 run put Worthing in charge as Teon Knox hit six straight points, followed by a pair of missed free throws, an offensive foul and a turnover. A bizarre refereeing performance saw both Quashie and Roger Lloyd pick up two fouls during the opening period, but despite Leopards trailing by as many as eight at one stage, a trey from Hayden Herrin with 17 seconds remaining, saw Leopards down by just one at the first break.

Herrin (pictured), who led all scorers with 24, scored Leopards opening five points of the second period, and also took an offensive charge as two Alan Prescott points gave Leopards 28-25 lead. Eight unanswered points from the visitors saw them regain the initiative, and despite back-to-back threes from Brian Moore, three-from-four foul shooting in the final seconds sent Thunder into the locker room with a five-point half-time lead.

The third period is one the Big Cats will want to forget quickly. Worthing opened with six straight points, and with Brian Moore picking up a technical foul, things went from bad to worse. Only Scoop Wicker managed to scores more than two points during the period for the hosts, and with coach Burnell also picking up a T, the visitors went to the free-throw line 16 times, as they reached the final break with a commanding 72-47 lead.

An 11-2 run, with all the Leopards’ points scored by Wicker and Herrin, took the deficit down to 18, but with the referees increasingly taking centre stage, Lloyd and Thunder’s Steve Parillon both collected technical fouls. With the game effectively over coach Burnell brought three of the club’s under-18 players into the action, and both Ed Pellant and Martin Whalley sunk treys, but the match officials still managed to have the final say as Danny Scott and Worthing’s Okolie Ubana were given disqualifying fouls to round off a miserable night for the Big Cats.

Leopards: H Herrin (24), S Wicker (18), B Moore (13), D Scott (9), M Quashie (4), E Pellant (3), M Whalley (3), R Lloyd (2), A Prescott (2), C Prout.
Thunder: G Moore (21), S Parrilon (19), T Knox (17), S Gayle (11).