DRAGONS LOSE 66 – 75 TO LEEDS CARNEGIE IN A PULSATING WEST YORKSHIRE DERBY GAME
Published on: 5th February 2012
Those Dragons supporters who battled through the snow where rewarded with an exciting game in which the lead changed 24 times before Dragons lost 66 – 75 at home to Leeds Carnegie in their EBL division 1 home game. After a sluggish start by both teams, Dragons pulled away to lead 21 – 15 at the end of the first period with Angel Manana making his home debut for Dragons. Urged on by Dragons new official cheerleaders, the Bradford Ravens, the game grew more competitive as Leeds took the lead and pulled ahead, but a Dragons fast break at the end of the second quarter and basket by Rihard Sulcs left the home team trailing 34 - 38 at half time.
With the intensity of the game increasing as both defences battled to gain control, another steal led to a huge dunk for two by Sulcs as Dragons surged into the lead at 40 – 38 midway through the third stanza. With David Ajumobi for Carnegie dominating the Leeds boards and on his way to a game high 31 points, the visitors rotated the ball around the perimeter and deadly triples from Houghton gave Leeds a 56 – 50 lead at the final break. Triples by Ciesla and Edmunds narrowed the gap for Dragons to 66 – 68 but another Leeds triple saw them pull to safety as Dragons missed crucial shots from the charity stripe to lose 66 – 75 on the night.
After the game Coach Chris Mellor said, ‘I was happy with our effort but we just did not execute at crucial moments offensively and our free throw shooting was poor. Ajumobi played a great game for them and they hit the big shots when it mattered’
For Dragons, Rihard Sulcs led with a 22 points and 10 rebounds double double, Bobby Edmunds scored 16 points and Denis Scott was close to a double double with 12 points and 8 rebounds
Elsewhere for Dragons, Dragons 2 men lost 53 – 62 at home to Tees Valley Mohawks 2 in their EBL division 4 game, Dragons women’s team remained perfect on the season with a 62 – 42 away win at TASC in their Leeds league game to give them their 14th consecutive win of the season. Bradford College Dragons U18 beat visitors York Vikings 48 – 34 in their EBL U18 conference game, Bradford College Dragons U16 travelled to play Liverpool and won 51 – 49 in their EBL U16 conference game and Dragons U14’s lost 33 – 64 at home in their EBL U14 game .
Next weekend, Dragons travel to London to play Brixton Topcats on Sunday 12th February at 4pm in the Brixton Recreation Centre.
The Dragons next home game is on Saturday 18th February at 6.15pm in Dragons Den at the Trinity Green sports hall, Bradford College, Trinity Road, Bradford BD5 0JE in the EBL division 1 league game against Leicester Warriors. 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.
Dragons are grateful for the support of Napoleons Casino and the Westleigh Hotel.
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 order a free colour brochure.
