Bradford Dragons beat Sefton Stars on the buzzer 81 – 79 to stay top of the league. Sefton recovered from a slow start to take a 26 – 21 lead at the first break and then won the second quarter to lead 48 – 37 at half time as Dragons struggled to find their offensive rhythm. Dragons increased the defensive effort to edge the third quarter by one to trail 55 – 65 at the final break. A big trey by Aaron Kay led a Dragons charge as they pulled level at 67 apiece with 5 minutes to go. With Vance Silcott going the charity stripe to hit a brace of free throws, Dragons pulled ahead only for Sefton to tie the game with seconds to go. A Silcott rebound and shot on the buzzer enabled Dragons to win the game 81- 79 and stay top of Division 3 [north]
For Dragons, Vance Silcott top scored with 16, Sean James weighed in with 15, and Craig ‘Big Bird’ Wilson and Aaron Kay both hit 13 points.
The following night Dragons beat Loughborough Cardinals 84 – 66 in the semi final of the National Shield to set up Dragons first ever national final on 21st February in Manchester against London United Richmond. In front of special guest Gerry Sutcliffe, the UK Minister for Sport, Aaron Kay led the Dragons into battle dropping 3 treys to give Dragons a 27 – 18 lead at the end of the first quarter. Luke Malek then joined the 3 point fest as Dragons pulled ahead but an ankle injury to playmaker Daumants Pabrieza allowed the Cardinals back into the game as they edged the quarter to leave Dragons leading 45 – 37 at half time. Dragons took the third quarter with an outstanding fast break spin move from point guard Jimi Pournoori as Dragons led 61 – 50 at the final break. On his way to a season best haul of 7 treys, Luke Malek led a three point fest as Dragons hit 14 treys in the game to announce the return of the Dragons outside game and give Dragons a convincing 84 – 66 win on the night.
For Dragons, Luke Malek was on fire with 23 points, Rai Pabrieza made 12 and Aaron Kay and Sean James both made 11 points each.
After the game Dragons Chairman Stuart Culliford said, ‘This has been a huge weekend for the Club. We just managed to dig out a win on the buzzer against a talented Sefton side to stay top of the league and then we beat the team third in the division to set up our first ever national final at the ABC in Manchester next month. The Team and Coaches are to be congratulated for battling through injuries to deliver when it counted’.
Elsewhere for Dragons, Dragons U16 had a convincing road win 79 – 65 against Barnsley Leaders, Dragons 2 won 65 – 54 to make it two wins in a row against visitors Whitcliffe Cowboys in the Leeds League division 1 game, Dragons U14 went down 45 – 91 to Manchester Magic at home and Dragons U15 also went down 57 – 105 at home to a powerful Magic U15 team but Dragons U13 beat Barnsley Leaders U13 50 – 18 and then won an exciting game by 49 – 47 against visitors Hartlepool Hornets.
Dragon’s next EBL division 3 home game is against City of Nottingham Tribe on Saturday 6th February at 6.15pm in the Trinity Green sports hall, Trinity Road, Bradford BD5 0JE in the EBL division 3 [north] game. Admission is £3 and £1.50 for concessions
For further details contact Stuart Culliford on 0781 661 0600 or email info@bradforddragons.co.uk or visit the Dragons website at www.bradforddragons.co.uk
