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Leopards woes continue with Edinburgh loss
Edinburgh Rocks ran up their tenth victory of the Dairylea Dunkers Championship campaign yesterday at a canter, defeating visiting London Leopards 76-55. The Essex outfit arrived an hour late at Meadowbank after their coach broke down and it proved a metaphor for things to come as the visitors stuttered and mis-fired before finally running out of gas in the face of the Scots tireless pressure.
The Leopards loss was their tenth in eleven games and their present woes
were brutally compounded by their hosts who never looked back after taking the lead at 12-10 in the seventh minute. That the Southern Conference side added only four points more in the subsequent ten minutes spoke volumes for the quality of defensive enforcement which the Scots produced in the first half, a positive trait which Rocks coach Jim Brandon pointed out is becoming an unexpected asset for his team.
"I think we have the best defence in the country and I think that has shown through in the last few games," said Brandon. "We're gradually moving towards being the best team we can."
That early advantage was built upon effectively during the first half as a 19-4 burst around the first quarter break left Edinburgh 29-14 in front. Brandon's men entered the third quarter with a comprehensive 18 point cushion which was only temporarily dented when Leopards ran off the next 11 points to close to 40-31.However Ted Berry sparked an instant rebuttal, hitting seven of the home points in a row which included his milestone 1000th league point for his present club.
Leopards' Jason Kimbrough, who would end on a game-high 23 points, notched the first three points of the final period to again reduce the deficit to nine but a hat trick of Rocks three pointers, one from a rejuvenated Iain Maclean and two from Berry to complete his 20 point haul, ensured that the final scoreline accurately reflected their side's superiority."It's a bit of a struggle," conceded bewildered Leopards chief Bob Donewald. "The only good news is that everybody in the south is losing games with the exception of the Towers. But it's a bit dumb-founding when you have guys who just don't come ready to play."
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