Brentwood Sport
Crunch time for Leopards
2:45pm Thursday 11th March 2010
LEOPARDS coach Jon Burnell has described the Big Cats’ home game against Coventry Crusaders as the most important of the season.
Burnell’s team host Crusaders at the Brentwood Centre on Sunday afternoon (4pm) knowing a victory will hugely improve their chances of avoiding relegation from EBL Division One.
Crusaders’ win against basement side Sheffield Arrows on Saturday saw them move level with Leopards in ninth place, with both teams having won five of their 17 games, and Burnell knows the importance of this week’s game.
He said: “It’s vital we get the win.
“We’re short on numbers and that clearly showed on Sunday, but there’s no point looking for excuses, we need to get the victory – it’s our most important game of the season.”
When the teams met in the Midlands just before Christmas, Leopards found overtime a step too far as they went down 101-92, having let a late lead slip away.
Carl Latham-Henry poured in 36 points for the seven-man Big Cats, who were forced to kit up assistant coach Graham Hiscock on his 47th birthday, with Leigh Greenan adding 17 and Sam Richardson 11.
A double-digit victory for Leopards this weekend would give them the head-to-head decider between the two teams, but regardless of the margin a win would see them put some daylight between themselves and the bottom three. Short-handed Leopards ran out of steam at Barking Abbey on Sunday as they let a big lead slip to go down 83-79 against Bristol Academy Flyers.
The Big Cats had led by as many as 17 points midway through the third period, but with a depleted squad, they noticeably tired during the final 14 minutes as Flyers escaped with the victory.
Leading scorer Latham-Henry missed the game due to illness, and coach Jon Burnell was forced to draft in Lee McCarthy for his first outing of the season in order to field a seven-man roster.
In Latham-Henry’s absence, Greenan led the Big Cats scoring for the seventh time this season, finishing with 26 points.
Marlan Henry and Lukas Volskis also stepped up, finishing with 21 and 20 points respectively, but with no points coming from the bench, Leopards’ lack of strength in depth was clear to see.
Leopards trailed 24-18 at the first break, but a strong second period saw them go into the locker room 47-40 ahead.
That lead grew to 66-49 with four third period minutes remaining, but Flyers fought back to only trail 70-59 at the final break before they held Leopards to just nine fourth quarter points to seal the victory.
Leopards are also in action on Saturday when they travel to league leaders Derby Trailblazers where they will look to repeat their 69-65 victory at Brentwood in November.