LEOPARDS coach Robert Youngblood has told his team that they must win their three remaining games if they are to stand any chance of home court advantage in the play-offs.
The Big Cats host Brixton Topcats at the Brentwood Centre today (5pm) before there is a double-header the following weekend in the North East.
Youngblood is in no doubt that they need three victories.
He said: "We have three games left and we have to win all three to finish in the top four.
We want home court advantage in the play-offs as we've had some great crowds at Brentwood."
The Leopards had a losing weekend, suffering an 83-81 loss at Bristol Academy Flyers before going down 73-56 at home against Worthing Thunder the following day.
"Against Bristol, I thought we played really hard and refused to lose" said Youngblood. "We didn't give up but unfortunately three bad calls down the stretch cost us the game.
"But against Worthing, we came with no energy."
"We were flat and couldn't make shots. Worthing played really well, and they've won eight in a row now, but it's back to the drawing board for us."
The Big Cats will look for their third victory of the season against the Topcats on Friday having beaten them 77-63 at home in the Trophy and 84-63 on the road in the league.
Leopards are running a camp for six to 16 year olds before the game. See www.leopardsbasketball.co.uk for further details.
In a controversial end to the game, Bristol ended Leopards' four-game winning streak on Saturday.
Simon Cummings, who hit 17 points in each period on the way to leading the Leopards' scoring, drove to the basket in the final five seconds and appeared to be fouled twice, before being called for travelling, to effectively hand the game to Bristol.
That was not even the most controversial moment of the final minute.
Greg Hernandez made a steal with 38 seconds on the clock and he appeared to be fouled on the break at half-court.
Bristol coach Andreas Kapoulas pleaded to the referee to not call an intentional foul and he was called for a travel.
Hernandez finished with 17 points and Rowell Graham added nine for a Leopards team who were without Duane Camile, Jamal Anderson and Taner Adu.
The consolation for Youngblood's team was that his side won the head-to-head decider against the Flyers by a single point which would prove crucial if they finish level at the season's end.
In contrast, there could be no complaints about Sunday's home loss against Thunder as a big crowd at Brentwood saw the visitors lead from tip-to-buzzer, never looking back after scoring the first six points.
Cummings led the way again with 15 points, but needed 20 shots to get them while Graham was the only other Leopard in double figures with ten points and four steals.
After trailing by as many as eight in the opening period, a Youngblood buzzer-beater made it 19-13 at the break.
Things did not noticeably improve in the second period, with Thunder's lead growing to ten midway through the quarter, but Carl Josey's score with 26 seconds on the clock, made it 32-28 at half-time.
Ish Fontaine made it a three-point game with 85 seconds gone, but a 13-2 run put Thunder back in control and they never looked back.
