When R.Kelly sang "If I could turn back the hands of time" basketball was probably not the first thing on his mind, but at 7.30pm on Saturday, turning back the clock for just 11 seconds would have made sweet music for the Leopards.

In reality the clock ticked on and a victory against the old foe seemingly gift wrapped was snatched away.

Yet in the opening quarter Leopards fans could be excused for thinking that Christmas had come early.

The Big Cats were firing on all cylinders as Rashod Johnson and Jason Kimbrough hit three point shots in the opening minute as the Leopards advanced to a 10-0 lead.

The Towers seemed shell shocked, and their coach Nick Nurse called a time out to refocus his players but it had little impact as Johnson sank two further threes for the Leopards to establish a 17-4 lead.

At this stage the Leopards guards were on fire from behind the arc and Kimbrough hit his second of the night to open up a 15 point gap.

The Towers eventually asserted themselves and Kendrick Warren emerged as their chief threat.

The home side trimmed the Leopards lead to six points (25-19) at the end of what had been a breathtaking quarter of basketball, for the large crowd at the National Sports Centre, Crystal Palace and the Sky TV audience.

Leopards Coach Bob Donewald decided in the second quarter to rest Rico Alderson who was already on two fouls and in his place onto the court stepped John Tresvant.

With the injury of Mo Robinson, Donewald had made the decision to register Tresvant for his third spell with the Club.

Tresvant was soon in the action, scoring the opening points of the second quarter.

However the Towers continued to trim the lead through Warren and from the unlikely source of veteran centre Martin Henlan who appeared to have reinvented himself as a specialist outside shooter for the night.

Leopards pulled away again midway through the second period as again Johnson and Kimbrough kept the scoreboard advancing by getting open to fire home jump shots.

The Towers put together a 7-2 run but in the final minute of the half the Leopards refused to concede further ground and five unanswered points ensured that they carried a nine point lead into the second half (47-38)

A cameo Dave Attewell three point shot took Leopards to 50 points with the opening play of the third quarter.

The Towers centre Wiseman was forced from court with four fouls and a meagre two points,but it was in the guard area that Leopards had the key advantage at this stage.

England International Steve Bucknall was struggling to stop Johnson and Towers other guard Randy Duck collected four fouls in the pursuit of Kimbrough.

In the circumstances Leopards moved ahead by 14 points at the end of the third period (69-55)

The third quarter ended with Towers Coach Nurse been given a "technical foul".

As a result Kimbrough scored one from two from the line to take Leopards to a 15 point lead.

At this stage the game tilted, Michael Martin was called for two quick fouls and fouled out with over eight minutes remaining, and seconds later Kimbrough collected his fourth foul, yet when Towers called time out with six minutes remaining the Leopards still led by 12 points.

At this crucial stage of the contest, with the exception of Johnson the Leopards froze as an attacking force, nevertheless when Henlan hit his third three point shot for the Towers with 3.21 left on the clock Leopards still led by eight points.

Leopards carried the same lead into the final two minutes.

A Steve Bucknall "and 1" play called for a foul on Dave Attewell cut the lead to five and the same player found his range from three point distance to narrow the gap to two points with 1.32 left.

When Kimbrough hit a long three, Leopards moved out by five points which seemed a reasonable margin of safety as the game entered its final minute.

Towers guard Taylor drove to the hoop to reduce the arrears to three and when Attewell converted one foul shot Leopards had a four point advantage with 32 seconds remaining meaning that Towers needed to score twice.

To Leopards dismay the next possession found Bucknall in space and he hit a further three point shot.

Leopards now led by one point at 85-84 with 11 seconds remaining.

Coach Donewald called a time out. Under normal circumstances the Towers would have taken the option of fouling early to make the Leopards earn their points from the foul line.

This scenario seemed all the more likely given that four of the five Leopards on court were shooting 50 percent from the foul line.

However, while Coach Donewald called the final play, the Towers changed their strategy and applied a press in the attempt to force a turnover.

The ball was given to Johnson to inbound, his attempted pass to Kimbrough was knocked away, the ball found former Leopard Eric Burks who missed an easy layup, the ball hit the rim and was pushed away, but only into the hands of Bucknall who from straight on hit the three point shot to break the hearts of the Leopards fans.

Towers now led by two points, their first lead of the night with barely nine seconds left on the game clock.

The Leopards had one last chance, and the ball reached Kimbrough who might have driven to the basket, instead he attempted a jump shot from 12 feet, the ball hit the rim and the clock ran out and with it the Leopards hopes.

As the Leopards players left the court, the Leopards fans stood, many unconsolable.

They had led for 39 minutes 49 seconds of this match. All around them the Towers cheered and celebrated.

The television company had got what they wanted, a close thrilling contest, the type of game to boost viewing figures.

The tension generated by the "derby match", will help the BBL when it comes to renewing contracts and attracting sponsors.

Frankly all that was unimportant to the Leopards coach, players and supporters who had seen victory stolen from them at the death. This was basketball at its most cruel.

The Leopards points scorers were: Rashod Johnson 32, Jason Kimbrough 21, Rico Alderson 12, Dave Attewell 11, John Tresvant 4, Rod Brown 3, and Michael Martin 2.

The Leopards attack the Thames Valley Tigers net in Sunday's BBL Southern Conference match at the Brentwood Centre. The Leopards won 102-90.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.