DRAGONS FIGHT BACK BUT LOSE 73 – 85 TO EBL DIVISION 1 LEADERS BRISTOL ACADEMY FLYERS
Published on: 5th December 2011
Bradford Dragons made the long journey for the top of the table league game with leaders Bristol Academy Flyers and lost 73 - 85. With 5 triples from 7 attempts by the Fliers, including 3 from 4 from McLaughlin Williams, Bristol pulled ahead to lead 24 – 18 at the first break. Early fouls by Chris McGrew and Rihard Sulcs for Dragons forced substitutions as Dragons slipped to a 14 point deficit twice only to battle back into the game as Silcott and McGrew made their points from the charity stripe and Raimonds Pabrieza hit Dragons only triple of the game on the buzzer for Dragons to trail 40 – 48 at half time. Bristol slowly pulled ahead in the third stanza as Dragons struggled to score and Bristol led 73 – 52 at the final break. In the last quarter, Bristol pulled further ahead to lead by 23 in the second minute but Dragons refused to lie down and forced Bristol in to fouls and turnovers as Dragons reduced the deficit to 12 with over 4 minutes to go. Raimond Pabrieza missed both free shots as McLaughlin Williams steadied Bristol nerves with 2 from the charity stripe to give Bristol only 4 points in 8 minutes of the last quarter. Dragons narrowed the gap to 10 but, missing key shots from the line, could not narrow the gap further as Dragons won the quarter 21 – 12 but lost 73 – 85 on the night.
For Dragons, Vance ‘Maximus’ Silcott top scored with 20, Chris Mc Grew had his first double double of the campaign with 19 points and 10 boards and Bobby Edmunds scored 14 points.
After the game, Coach Chris Mellor said, ‘They were better than us on the night. Our rebounding, shooting percentage and finishing especially around the basket was very poor. I felt we had a window of opportunity just after the break to make our run but they executed well in the third quarter and we didn’t. It is a disappointing loss but they are not champions for nothing and it gives me a better understanding of what we need to do moving forward’.
Earlier in the day, Dragons U18 lost 51 – 61 away to Durham Wildcats, Dragons 2 continued their climb up the EBL division 4 [north] table with a convincing 111 – 67 home win against Mersey Tigers 2 with Tate Williams on 27, Dave Lawal on 21 and Patrick Fuerzas scoring 16 as Dragons won all quarters. Dragons women won the mid week Leeds league Handicap Cup 54 – 43 despite the visitors having a 24 point start, to stay a perfect 7 wins from 7 games.
Dragons 1 next home game in the Dragon’s Den is on Saturday 10th December, 6.15pm at the Trinity Green sports hall, Bradford College, Trinity Road, Bradford BD5 0JE in the EBL division 1 league game against Derby Trailblazers. Admission is £5 adults, £2.50 under 16s, concessions and students and family tickets [adults + 2 children] are £10. Admission is free for Dragons club members.
For more details on the Bradford Dragons go to www.bradforddragons.co.uk or visit Bradford Dragons for the Community on Facebook
Bradford Eurocamp takes place between Monday 23/7/12 and Friday 27/7/12 based at Bradford College, visit www.bradfordeurocamp.co.uk for more information and contact info@bradforddragons.co.uk to pre order a free colour brochure.
