Brentwood Sport
Leopards come from behind to claim cup
12:45pm Wednesday 1st February 2012
A STUNNING final five minutes saw Leopards come from behind to the win 2012 National Cup final with a 64-63 victory against Bristol Academy Flyers.
In front of a packed house at Ponds Forge in Sheffield, the Big Cats recovered from a poor first half to lift the oldest piece of silverware in English basketball.
Vernon Teel picked up the Most Valuable Player award as he finished with 23 points, 13 rebounds and six assists. Ousman Krubally came up with another big double-double, finishing with 15 points and as many boards, while five of David Buchberger’s 11 points came in the final 80 seconds as the Big Cats finished strongly.
Dejan Mihevc’s team put the travelling fans through the full range of emotions as they produced a poor first half performance, trailing 24-10 at the first break and trailing by as many as 16 during the second period before going into the locker room with a 38-26 deficit.
Zak Wells – who did an excellent defensive job despite picking up four first half fouls – made it a six-point game with 4:17 remaining in the third period, but Bristol replied with a 6-0 run to keep their 12-point lead alive going into the final period.
Teel capped a 10-2 run to open the fourth period and make it a four point game with three fourth period minutes gone, but it wasn’t until the 3:30 mark that Leopards took their first lead of the game when Krubally scored off Lukas Volskis’ assist.
Krubally and Buchberger kept Leopards on level terms heading into the final 80 seconds, but it was the latter’s three-pointer with 48 seconds on the clock that finally gave Leopards some breathing space.
Teel and Krubally both hit one of two free-throws to make it 64-60 with seven seconds remaining, and although Tyrone Treasure hit a three on the buzzer it was too little, too late to stop the Leopards’ celebrations.
Coach Mihevc couldn’t hide his delight after the Big Cats’ victory. He said: “It couldn’t be better! I am very happy for all the fans who really support us all the way and for our players who work hard for each other.”