DRAGONS LOSE 85 – 91 AT HOME TO LEICESTER WARRIORS
Published on: 20th February 2012
Bradford Dragons lost a close fought physical home game in EBL division 1 against visitors Leicester Warriors 85 – 91 in front of the biggest crowd of the season.
Dragons started slowly as Leicester raced into an early lead but Dragons pulled it back to trail 21 – 27 at the first break as Dragons point guard Bobby Edmunds stole the ball with seconds to go and made a layup for a deuce.
With Rihard Sulcs driving hard to the basket to score and make the and 1, the Dragons defence began to dominate the second stanza as Dragons forced Leicester turn overs and made points from them to lead 46 - 41 at half time.
Midway through the third period, after successive triples from the inspirational Edmunds led Dragons to a 55 – 49 lead, Edmunds was injured out of the game and the visitors were able to rotate players in as Dragons began to tire and Leicester pulled back with their aggressive defence to level and then lead 66 – 63 at the final break.
Struggling with his injury, Edmunds returned to the game but despite a purple patch from Michal Ciesla that brought Dragons back to within 3 points, Leicester hit their big outside shots and won 91 – 85 against a tired Dragon’s team that gave their all to make it an exciting if unsuccessful game for the home crowd.
After the game Dragons Coach Chris Mellor said, ‘After a poor start we played well second quarter and at half time I was reasonably happy. After the break we’ve given up 50 points and that’s just not going to get it done for us. Offensively we were fine and on the boards, but they were 50% from the three point line which amounted to 30 points and this was the key factor I felt’.
For Dragons Rihard Sulcs led with 19 points, Chris McGrew had a strong game with an 18 points and 10 rebounds double double and Bobby Edmunds scored 18
Elsewhere for Dragons, Dragons 2 men lost 82 – 112 at home to league leaders Rossendale Raptors in their EBL division 4 game, Dragons 3 men lost 38 -98 at home to Leeds Demons in the their Leeds League division 1 game and Dragons women’s team beat York Vikings mid-week 65 – 31 in their Leeds league game. Dragons women lost their perfect record on the season with a 69 – 75 home loss to neighbours Leeds Carnegie who had a 25 point start in the Leeds league handicap cup semifinal game which ended Dragons women’s 16 game unbeaten start to the season. Bradford College Dragons U18 beat visitors Rotherham Hawks 78 – 49 at home in their EBL U18 conference game, Bradford College Dragons U16 lost at home 49 - 71 to East Manchester Rebels in their EBL U16 conference games and Dragons U14’s lost 41 – 74 at home to Leeds Tigers in their EBL U14 north game .
Dragons next travel to play BA London Leopards on Sunday 26th February at 4pm in Basildon Sporting Village.
The Dragons next home game is on Sunday 4th March at 4.15pm in Dragons Den at the Trinity Green sports hall, Bradford College, Trinity Road, Bradford BD5 0JE in the EBL division 1 league game against second placed Bristol Academy Flyers. 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.
