LEOPARDS are now outright leaders in the English Basketball League after securing two more victories over the weekend.

The Big Cats won 108-92 at bottom of the table Westminster Warriors on Saturday night.

And they then followed that up by beating title rivals Derby Trailblazers 78-65 at the Brentwood Centre.

As a result, Leopards now need four wins from their final five games to seal the league title and complete a double triumph having already won the National Cup this season.

Saturday’s win at Westminster was fairly routine, with the Big Cats trailing for only 17 seconds early in the first quarter.

Vernon Teel led the scoring for the Leopards, pouring in 36 points with Ousman Krubally adding 27 and Basildon based Lukas Volskis marking his return after a month out with 13 points.

Teel opened the scoring for Leopards, and he put them 12-10 up at the 10 minute mark before they went into the first period 26-21 ahead as David Buchberger hit a three pointer.

Early scores from Teel and Volskis put Leopards in the driving seat and they outscored the hosts 31-12 in the second period to lead 57-33 at half-time.

The Big Cats were up by 34 late in the third period, going into the final break 82-55 ahead, and coach Dejan Mihevc used his younger players before the home side cut the lead to 17 points to force Teel and Krubally returned to the action The pair quickly took over the game again, with Teel hitting a three pointer to effectively end it as a contest with three minutes remaining.

The following day saw Leopards start slowly and they trailed 12-7 after just over five minutes, with Teel the only Leopards scorer.

Scores from Dominic Norton and Krubally cut the deficit to 20-17 at the first break, but a Buchberger steal set Krubally up to tie the game and they rattled off the first eight points of the second quarter to take a 25-20 lead.

A pair of Teel scores kept Leopards ahead before Krubally drained a buzzer-beating three to send the Big Cats into the half-time break with a 36-27 lead.

Teel drained a trey to open the second half and scores from Teel and Krubally made it a 15 point game with 7:23 remaining in the third period.

Derby replied with an 8-0 run but Leopards still went into the final break with a 54-48 lead before Trailblazers tied things at 65 with another 8-0 run.

But that proved to be the only time the visitors were on level terms and Krubally hit a pair at the foul line and Buchberger scored a three pointer.

Volskis then also drained a massive three-pointer to put Leopards up by eight and they sealed the victory from the charity stripe.

Teel led the scoring with 25 points, while Krubally added 23.