Dave Ryan reports…
Leopards powered their way into the National Cup quarter-final as Nottingham Hoods were beaten 88-73 at the Essex Arena on Sunday.
The scoreline didn’t reflect the domination of the Big Cats who trailed for just 16 seconds and led by as many as 35 points in the third period.
Leopards will now host Manchester Magic in the quarter-finals at the Brentwood Centre on Sunday November 18.
Luke Mascall-Wright came off the bench to lead Thomas Baker’s team with 18 points and seven rebounds. Andre Lavinier drained four of his seven three-point attempts to finish with 14 points, while captain Sam Newman had 11 points, six assists and three rebounds before leaving the action early with a knee injury.
Lee Hodges finished with a massive 20 rebounds to go with his 11 points and four assists as his dominance in the paint freed space for Leopards to drain 11 of their 26 three-point attempts.
Slavik opened the scoring for the visitors, answered by Tom Child, and treys from Newman and Findlay Wood gave the home side a lead they would never lose.
Two treys apiece from Mascall-Wright and Lavinier gave Leopards a 26-13 first period lead, and the barrage from downtown continued – Alejandro Batista and Lavinier hit from long range to send the Big Cats into the locker room with a 48-28 lead.
Duro got in on the act in the third period, draining a pair of treys on his way to 10 points in the quarter, and Wes Flaherty’s lay-up saw the lead peak at 69-34 midway through the stanza, Lavinier sunk his final trey of the game to hep Leopards lead 77-51 at the final break, and although they took their foot off the gas in fourth quarter, they comfortably closed out the win.
Leopards return to Essex Arena in Colchester on Saturday evening when they host Derby Trailblazers, tip-off 6pm.
The game is part of a double-header with Essex Rebels facing WBBL powerhouse Leicester Riders at 3.30pm.
Trailblazers have made a perfect start to the league season with wins at Reading Rockets and Team Newcastle before ending Bradford Dragons’ great start to the campaign. The Trailblazers finished their Trophy group with a 2-1 record, but due to Nottingham Hoods’ heavy loss against Riders Loughborough they can’t qualify for the final four.
They made a shock exit in National Cup as they went down 100-76 at second division side Liverpool.
Derby and the Big Cats have a quarter of a century of history going back to the original Leopards and Derby Storm with some classic games between the teams.
