Leopards claw into semi-finals

The Towers and the Leopards booked the first two places in next month's NTL National Cup semi-finals for London yesterday with victories in the at the Aston Villa Leisure Centre.

The Towers and the Leopards booked the first two places in next month's NTL National Cup semi-finals for London yesterday with victories in the at the Aston Villa Leisure Centre.

The Towers saw off Manchester Giants 70-61, then drifted away to pack their bags for Northern European League fixtures tonight and tomorrow in the Netherlands, before returning for a Euro League fixture at Crystal Palace on Thursday.

Manchester, severely weakened by the absence of their injured England internationals Julius Joseph and Martin Gottfried, let Towers escape with a Steve Bucknall-inspired burst for a 50-44 lead at the end of the third quarter which was never threatened.

Leopards' win over Newcastle Eagles, though, was in doubt until the final shot of the game when Brian Ehlers missed a three-point attempt for the relieved Leopards to win 103-100.

As usual, the neutrals were rooting for anybody rather than the Leopards and thought their wishes had been answered when the referees allowed Rod Brown to be mugged by Newcastle's robust defence under the Eagles basket. TJ Walker then stole the ball and scored to give Newcastle a narrow 100-99 lead.

But the game's outstanding player, Rashod Johnson, managed to sink a three pointer as he was flattened and team-mate Jason Kimbrough then scored a single free throw to complete the tally and send Leopards home happy.