It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings they say. 

Well, at Crystal Palace on Saturday night, the diva of fortune kept well and truly mute for 40 minutes as London Towers recovered from a dreadful start to steal a 87-85 win over their great rivals, the Leopards, to return to the top of the Southern Conference.

It was tough luck on Bob Donewald's team who played their part in a gripping encounter, the American playcaller getting his initial tactics just right as the visitors raced into a 0-14 lead.

With Jason Kimbrough and Rashod Johnson splitting five treys in the first quarter alone, the Essex side were on fire but Towers repsonded quickly with a 13-2 burst which clipped their deficit to 19-25 after ten minutes.

Kendrick Warren was carrying the hosts almost alone, hitting 20 of his 24 total in the first half to keep his side in contention but they looked buried as Leopards entered the final quarter 55-69 in front.

However the experience of Towers - who gave a domestic re-debut to Randy Duck - came up trumps, in particular through a fit-again Steve Bucknall. 

The veteran - who led the Towers with 25 - drained two late three pointers, the latter with 12 seconds remaining to give Towers their first, and only, lead of the game, the Leopards coming up short with the final shot.

Johnson led all scorers with 32, Kimbrough adding 21.