Bradford Dragons snapped their four game losing streak with an impressive win over high flying Tees Valley Mohawks on Saturday.
Both teams started the game well as easy transition baskets were found in the opening exchanges. Dragons however capitalised on Tees Valley’s offensive focus by putting up 23 points in the first quarter enabling them to open up a 3 point lead. Bradford continued strongly in the second period as they increased their defensive intensity, primarily on the perimeter. This meant that Dragons extended their lead to 11 points by the half time break.
A refocused Mohawks side took to the court in the third period as they went about narrowing the gap. They stepped up their defense forcing Dragons into numerous ball handling errors which led to easy scores for the team from the North East. By the end of the third period Bradford’s lead was down to just 7 points. The final quarter would see a dominant Dragons team produce a series of highlight plays on their way to amassing an impressive 32 points in the final ten minutes. This saw Dragons claim the 96-78 win. Bradford’s scoring was led by Rihards Sulcs with a season high 35 points whilst the Mohawks were led by Jorge Ebanks with 23 points.
Bradford Dragons Head Coach was pleased with his team’s performance saying “Even though we’ve suffered a few setbacks lately we knew we were playing OK but just not closing games out. I was really pleased with the way we withstood their comeback in the 3rd quarter, regrouped and pulled away again. It became a very open up and down game with a lot of mistakes and easy baskets for both teams but it’s a good win against a talented team”
Dragons will again face Tees Valley Mohawks next weekend on Sunday but before that they will go up against local rivals Leeds Carnegie on Saturday. The game will be at Bradford College, Trinity Road, BD5 0JE and is set to be yet another enthralling encounter between two very closely matched teams.
Elsewhere for Dragons, Dragons Women secured a hard fought 62-46 victory against Sefton Stars which sees them stay top of VCARS.CO.UK Division Two North.