Essex & Herts Leopards 84 (18,48,66)
Worthing Thunder 92 (23,45,67)

Game Photos courtesy of TGS Photos www.tgsphotos.co.uk

Sam Salter’s best offensive performance of the season was not enough to prevent the Big Cats slipping to defeat at the Brentwood Centre, on Sunday.

Salter led the Leopards scoring for the first time with 24 points, but a disappointing final period saw Thunder return to the south coast with the EBL points. The Big Cats’ big men again suffered from foul trouble in an entertaining game in front of the new-look Leopards’ largest ever home crowd.

The home side started strongly as a pair of Salter threes and a trey from Demetrice Williams saw them open a 13-4 lead. However, Thunder hit back with 12 straight points, before Troy Selvey broke the run off a Steve Ogunjimi assist. With Williams picking up two fouls, only Selvey was able to get on the scoresheet during the final three minutes of the period, and the visitors went into the first break with a five point lead.

The second quarter proved to be Leopards’ strongest period of the game, and Salter and Errol Seaman each scored ten points, as they outscored Worthing 30-22 to lead by three at half-time. A Salter try levelled the score at 25 after two minutes, but four points from Pat Bates and Steve Gayle helped the helped Worthing score 12 unanswered points. Seaman broke the run, and Leopards finished the half strongly with Seaman adding a further four points and Williams converting an “and-one” opportunity to send Leopards into the locker room with the lead.

A tight third period saw both Seaman and Troy Selvey pick up their fourth fouls, but with Steve Ogunjimi and Salter both draining from long range, and Williams collecting half of his team-high ten rebounds, the Leopards went into the final break with a one point deficit.

Worthing opened the final period with an 8-2 run as Roger Lloyd missed a pair of free-throws. Coach Jon Burnell brought Selvey and Ogunjimi, who were both in foul trouble, back into the action, and three points from Seaman plus Salter’s sixth trey of the game saw the lead cut to five. However, that was as close as the Big Cats came, as Selvey fouled out with 1:49 remaining.

Williams and Ogunjimi did manage to convert their free-throws, which was an improvement after Leopards had scored just ten from their 19 shots from the charity stripe prior to that, but with Aldredo Ott scoring ten of his 13 points in the final period Leopards slipped to their first home league loss of the season.

Leopards: S Salter 24, D Williams 18, T Selvey 16, E Seaman 15, S Ogunjimi 9, R Lloyd 2, M Eames, D Jones, B Moore, E Gregory (DNP), J Warwick (DNP)