Leopards basketball gets the win over Episcopal Wildcats
Getting back on the court after the Thanksgiving break, the Malvern Leopards impressed on the road in Little Rock against the Episcopal Collegiate Wildcats Tuesday.
The Leopards’ defense shutout the Wildcats in the first quarter to give the Leopards an early lead. The Wildcats would never recover and the Leopards came home with the win 44-26. The Leopards will take the court again Friday on the road at Sheridan.
In first quarter action, the Leopards took control early by scoring the first points of the game at the 6:57 mark. The Leopards would score again at the 3:42 mark and the 2:13 mark of the first while the defense denied the Wildcats any points. At the end of the first quarter, the Leopards led 6-0.
The Leopards went up 10-0 over the Wildcats down to the 4:31 mark. The Wildcats finally broke the Leopards’ run with a free throw to trail by nine points. Scoring then went back and forth between the Leopards and Wildcats down to the 1:46 mark. The Wildcats then made two free throws but the Leopards answered with two baskets and a free throw to maintain a 14-point lead down to the 54 second mark. In the final 30 seconds of the second quarter the Wildcats sank a 3-pointer and had a rebound putback at the buzzer to trail 20-11 at the half.
Coming out of half, the Leopards remained in control after outscoring the Wildcats 7-4. The Leopards started the quarter with a 3-pointer to retake a double-digit lead. The Wildcats then came back with their only two baskets of the quarter to trail 23-15 at the 2:26 mark. The Leopards closed out the quarter with two more made shots to lead 27-15.
It was in the fourth quarter that the Leopards put the game away. With full momentum the Leopards had their highest scoring quarter in the fourth. After a Wildcat basket at the 7:22 mark, to trail 27-17, the Leopards went on a 12-5 run to take the lead by 17 points, 39-22, down to the 2:59 mark. The Wildcats stopped the Leopards’ run with two baskets down to the 1:06 but it was the Leopards that would finish the game with three more shots to get the win 44-26.