Category: Dragons 1

Dragons Sent ‘Up the Creek’ in Thames Valley

5/12/2018

Bradford Dragons paid the price for a disastrous opening four minutes, on Saturday night, suffering a heavy defeat (115-90) at the hands of Thames Valley Cavaliers.

The Dragons made the long journey to Uxbridge on the back of a home defeat to Team Newcastle University, the previous weekend and with obvious questions regarding how the recent departure of American point guard Drexler Clark will affect the balance of the team.

Bradford got off to the worst possible start in the game going down 17-0 within the first three and a half minutes, thanks to five successive three pointers, from Walid Mumuni, Martelle McLemore (x2) and Aiden Saunders (x2), with McLemore also adding a two-point layup.

Rihards Šulcs finally got the Dragons off the mark with a layup; however, McLemore immediately responded with yet another three. But Bradford were not going to give up without a fight and slowly began to claw their way back into the game. Further scores from Šulcs, Ricky Fetske and Rafi Saipe saw the deficit reduced to ten points, with four minutes of the opening period remaining.

Thames Valley, however, showed far superior shooting ability on the night and by the time the buzzer sounded they had once again extended their lead to eighteen (38-20).

Fetske sank the first points of the second quarter, as the Dragons set about reducing the deficit, having set themselves a target of being within ten points at half time. However, it seemed as though each time Bradford reduced the gap, Thames Valley would pick up the pace and extend it back out. Albeit, with just 17 seconds remaining to the half time interval, it seemed as though the Dragons had achieved their target, when a Šulcs layup reduced the margin to just nine points. However, McLemore, who had been a thorn in Bradfords side throughout, spoilt the party with another lay-up. The teams went back to the locker rooms with the Cavaliers holding an eleven-point advantage (58-47).

After the break Fetske sank a couple of early twos, and with contributions from Jermayne Laing and Šulcs the gap was reduced to just six points, after just two minutes of the second half. If Thames Valley had been caught sleeping, this gave them the wakeup call that they needed, going on a scoring spree of their own and, despite all of Bradford’s hard work in reducing the deficit, the Cavaliers ended the penultimate period with a practically unassailable twenty-four-point advantage.

The main talking point of the final quarter came when Saipe launched a long-distance shot, whilst being fouled in the process. The ball nestled beautifully into the basket, however instead of giving the three points, plus an extra shot for the foul, the referee controversially disallowed the basket and gave Bradford possession from the side line. Not that this incident would have changed the outcome of the game, however you could see the frustration on the faces of the Dragons’ players, who straight away found Fetske free in the area, who obliged with a spectacular hanging dunk.

Šulcs, as has so often been the case this season, led the Bradford scorers, along with Fetske, both players netting 23 points apiece. Lycoudis also contributed a creditable 17 points and Saipe chipped in with another 11 points.

However, the Dragons were beaten right across the court, with Thames Valley producing some impressive statistics. They out-rebounded their guests by 43 to 17, assists 25 to 11 and most telling of all a shooting percentage of 71% compared to Bradford’s 49%. Top scorer for the hosts was McLemore with a staggering 44 points (including 8 three-pointers), assisted by Abdoulaye Sylla with 28 points.

The defeat (115-90) drops the Dragons four places in the league table, to eighth, with Team Newcastle University breathing heavily down their neck to steal the coveted top eight positions.

Bradford head coach, Chris Mellor commented, “We got off to a terrible start but regrouped well. We were back in the game in the third, but it ran away from us again and on the night Thames Valley shot a very high percentage and we just couldn’t match them.

Mellor now has two weeks to prepare his team for their toughest challenge yet, when the leagues only remaining unbeaten side, Team Solent Kestrels visit the Dragons Den on December 15th. Whether the Dragons can regain their form from earlier in the season is yet to be seen, however either way this is sure to be a spectacular fixture.

The game tips off at 6:15pm and tickets are available via the Dragons’ website.

Photographs © Alex Daniel Photography

Dragons display Warrior spirit to take road win!

20/11/2018

Bradford Dragons faced Leicester Warriors in the Midlands on Saturday afternoon and travelled back to Bradford with the points, following an 88-98 hard fought victory.

Leicester have not had the best of starts to their season, having not won since an opening day victory against Manchester Magic, at the beginning of October.

The Dragons themselves had been dealt a blow in the week leading up to the game, with the news that American point-guard, Drexler Clark, had flown home, for personal reasons, and would not be returning to the club. A statement issued by the club last Wednesday read, “Everybody at the club wishes Drexler all of the very best for the future and thank him for his dedication to the Dragons during his short time with us.”

Andreas Lycoudis opened the scoring at the Gateway College, sinking an early three-pointer for the Dragons. However, Leicester responded with a two from Joshua Pollock and then a flawless set of free throws by Pakadashe Chingombe put the hosts ahead.

The home side’s lead was short lived however, as the Dragons launched a seventeen-point unanswered streak, putting them firmly in control of proceedings. When the first quarter ended, Bradford were on the right side of a 13-30 score-line.

Layups from Ricky Fetske and Rihards Šulcs further extended the Dragons lead, at the start of the second period. However, Leicester slowly, but surely, started to claw their way back into contention. With less than a minute of the half remaining the gap was back into single figures. Warriors coach, Karl Brown, would certainly have been the happier of the two coaches, going into the mid-game interval, despite the Dragons holding on to their lead (40-49).

Bradford restored a double figure at the onset of the second half, when Jermayne Laing was fouled by Leicester’s Martyn Gayle, and made no mistake with the resultant throws from the line. Sulcs followed up with a layup and, although the Warriors responded, they couldn’t stop the Dragons building back an 18-point advantage (44-62) in the first four minutes of the third.

But, four minutes later, the hosts were back within four points (66-70)
and could sniff the possibility of a second victory.

But Leicester couldn’t add to their total in the final two minutes of the penultimate quarter, whilst three each from Lycoudis and Rafi Saipe was enough to send the Dragons in the final ten with slightly more breathing space (66-76).

In that final period the Dragons did just enough to hold the Warriors at arms-length and, despite it not being the most convincing of Bradford’s displays, they took the win, 88-98.

Šulcs took the honours as the game’s high scorer, with a personal 28 points. However, it was Fetske that took the plaudits, sinking 25 points and taking a massive 18 rebounds, with a performance that earned him the National Basketball League’s Player of the Week award.

Chris Mellor didn’t waste his words at the end of the game, simply stating, “We didn’t do a great job of guarding off the dribble or contesting the three, but we had enough offensively to keep finding scores when we needed to.”

Following successive weekends on the road, the action returns to the Dragons’ Den this coming Saturday, when Team Newcastle University provide the opposition.

Newcastle lost their opening three games of the season but have since won three from their last four league fixtures. The Dragons will therefore need to be at the top of their game for this one. Tip-off in the Den is at 6:15pm and advance tickets can be purchased from the club website.

Photographs © Alex Daniel Photography

Dragons fall to double home defeats

4/11/2018

Having made their best ever start to a season, since reaching the top flight of the National Basketball League, the Bradford Dragons have now slipped to four straight defeats following a home double header weekend against Worthing Thunder (75-89) and Reading Rockets (89-95).

Worthing arrived in the Dragons’ Den on Saturday evening, for the second time within the space of a week, hot on the tail of the last Sunday’s National Cup fourth round tie, in which they categorically despatched the Dragons out of the competition. This time, with league points on offer, the Dragons were determined to get a reversal on the previous fixture.

Double Defeat for Defenceless Dragons

29/10/2018

Bradford Dragons unbeaten record came to a sorry end this weekend as they were beaten by two other undefeated teams. The Dragons were torn apart at Derby Trailblazers (116-93) on Saturday evening and then comprehensively beaten by a clinical Worthing Thunder (78-98), in Sunday’s National Cup fixture, in the Dragons’ Den.

The Dragons travelled to Derby with a 100% record in all competitions, so far this season. However, the Trailblazers were also unbeaten in the league thus far and made a real statement of intent when they signed the leagues former Most Valuable Player, American Malcolm Smith.

Ricky Fetske won the jump ball, leading to three-point basket by Andreas Lycoudis. Smith responded almost immediately with a lay-up but then a combination of scores from Rihard Šulcs and Ricky Fetske put the Dragons six points clear (2-8).

The scores remained close through the opening period and with one-and-a-half minutes remaining to the first break, the scores were even at twenty-eight a piece. However, a couple of missed shots by the Dragons, coupled with some successful conversions from the free throw line by the hosts, gave the Trailblazers a five-point lead at the buzzer (33-28).

The lead was quickly extended to eight points at the start of the second, and although Bradford managed to keep themselves in contention, they couldn’t do anything to prevent Derby increasing their advantage further, going into the half time interval fifteen points clear, at 65-50.

There was no respite for the Dragons after the break, with Derby further increasing the gap as far as twenty-seven points, although an Allie Fullah layup, in the dying seconds of the third period, pulled it back to twenty-five (87-62).

Four minutes into the final quarter and the game was out of reach for the Dragons, with the scores at 101-69, yet still the Trailblazers continued to press and with only two minutes of the game remaining they were an incredible thirty-five points clear (113-78).

It was only then that the Dragons managed to pull a final flurry together, however ot was too little too late and the game closed with the hosts taking the twenty-three point victory (116-93).

Once again, Šulcs led the Bradford scorers with 24 points, also adding 12 rebounds to record a double-double. Drexler Clark contributed 16 points to the Dragons’ total, whilst Fullah also hit double figures with 10 points.

The games top scorer was Smith, who made 31 points for the Trailblazers, ably assisted by Matthew Ward-Hibbert with 28 points and Jake Wesselingh with 20 points.

The following day, the Dragons were back in front of their home support, as many peoples title favourites, Worthing Thunder, provided the opposition on the fourth round of the National Cup.

The long journey from the South Coast didn’t seem to affect the visitors, who opened the scoring with a quick two-pointer from the start. The Dragons kept things tight in the opening quarter, remaining just two behind at the first buzzer (17-19).

However, as the game progressed Worthing got more and more into their rhythm, displaying some polished moves and exposing any frailties in the Dragons defence. As the teams returned to the locker rooms at half time, the margin was up to ten points (38-48) in Thunder’s favour.

At times it seemed as though the Worthing players had a psychic understanding of where each of their teammates would be, and their slick flowing movement was a joy to watch. Pushing on into the third quarter their lead was further extended, with the period ending at 58-75.

There was no let up in the final period as Worthing made sure of their place in the quarter finals with a twenty-point victory, 78-98.

Clark hit 22 points to finish the game as Dragons’ top scorer, however Šulcs picked up the University of Bradford Player of the Game award, with 15 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists. Fetske and Lycoudis both contributed 12 points to the home sides total.

Worthing’s Tom Ward made the games high score with 26 points, whilst captain Brendan Okoronkwo made 21 points and new signing Jorge Ebanks also adding 17 points to the winning score.

Following a disappointing weekend for the Dragons, head coach, Chris Mellor commented, “We were very poor defensively in both games. We just didn’t compete at the level required at that end of the floor for us to be successful, but credit to Derby and Worthing – they played well.”

The Dragons have an early opportunity to exact their revenge on Sunday’s visitors, as Worthing Thunder once again enter the Dragons’ Den (Bradford College Sports Hall, Trinity Road) next Saturday, 3rd October, this time in a league fixture (tip-off 6:15pm).

Then, on Sunday, the Dragons entertain Reading Rockets, again in the Dragons Den in the second game of a league double-header weekend. Sunday’s tip off is at the slightly earlier time of 4:15pm.

Tickets for both games are available via the club website.

Photographs © Alex Daniel Photography

Dragons Remain Unbeaten Following War of the Roses Clash

22/10/2018

Bradford Dragons entertained Manchester Magic in the Dragons’ Den on Saturday evening, for the second time in less than a month. Once again, the White Rose came out on top as Bradford romped to a comfortable 87-55 victory over their rivals from the red side of the Pennines.

For the past five seasons, Magic have been a real thorn in the side of the Bradford team, with wins against them being few and far between. However, following the departure of long-term head coach, Paul Middleton, the Manchester side are in the midst of a major transition period and have struggled to make an impact in the early stages of the new campaign.

In comparison, Bradford are enjoying their best ever start to a season, since joining the top flight of the National Basketball League in 2011, having won their opening six games, across all competitions. When theses sides last met, in September’s National Trophy fixture, the Dragons enjoyed a 94-71 victory, prompting Magic’s coach, Aurimas Verbukas, to promise stiffer competition the next time the two teams met.

Unbeaten Dragons Deliver Statement Win at Reigning Champions

16/10/2018

Bradford Dragons faced their second double header weekend of the season, facing two teams at opposite ends of the spectrum, and once again came away unscathed, leaving their unbeaten record intact.

On Saturday, the Bradford side travelled to last seasons Division One league title winners, Loughborough Student Riders, returning home with an 82-88 overtime win, and on Sunday they welcomed third division Barking Abbey into the Dragons’ Den in the National Cup third round and ensuring their progression with a convincing 104-52 victory.

Loughborough were one of two teams to produce an impressive 20-4 league win record during the previous campaign, taking the title due to their superior points scored, over second placed Team Solent Kestrels and the midlands club are again one of the favourites for silverware this time around.

Both sides had won their opening fixtures of the season, Loughborough defeating Team Newcastle University, 66-72, on Tyneside. Whilst Bradford had taken the plaudits in a home win, 103-91, against newly promoted Nottingham Hoods. Despite remaining unbeaten in all competitions, so far this season, the Dragons knew that this was set to be their toughest test to date.

It was Bradford who started the game strongest and when Rihards Šulcs was adjudged to have been fouled in the act of shooting, he went to the line to open the scoring, sinking one from two. Ricky Fetske then hit a long distance three, followed it up with a two-point lay-up and then Andreas Lycoudis joined the party with a three, to give the Dragons an early 0-9 lead.

Dragons 1 - Clark Fires Dragons to Opening Day Win

9/10/2018

Bradford Dragons opened their National Basketball League Division One campaign, with a home win (103-91) against newly promoted Nottingham McDonald’s Hoods, in the Dragons Den on Saturday evening.

Despite being newcomers to the top flight, the Hoods do not intend being push overs this season and have already laid down their credentials by beating both Derby Trailblazers and Leicester Warriors in the National Trophy competition, their only defeat being against last seasons league champions, Loughborough Student Riders.

Likewise, the Dragons have enjoyed a successful start to the season, with wins against Team Newcastle University and Manchester Magic in the Trophy competition, securing their place in January’s semi-finals.
Nottingham put the first points on the board, with their Slovakian forward, Andrej Slavik laying up for two. Cole Welle increased their lead from the free throw line, before Rihards Šulcs finally got Bradford off the mark with a layup of his own, whilst also drawing the foul and sinking the extra shot, to level the game at three-a-piece

Welle again gave the Hoods the lead from another layup, but then, with just over two minutes of the game gone, Ricky Fetske bucketed a three-point jump shot to put the Dragons in front. Andreas Lycoudis then sank another three-pointer and Drexler Clark layed up to stretch the Dragons lead (11-5).

With six minutes played, Clark sank from beyond the arc to put the Dragons eight up (16-8) but, within thirty seconds, the visitors had pulled back to within two.

However, the Dragons then went on an unanswered ten-point scoring spree, to stretch their advantage to twelve, although Slavic had the final say of the quarter, sinking his two-point jump shot to cut the deficit to ten (26-16).

Within two seconds of the restart, Allie Fullah was sent to the free throw line, following a foul by Slavic, and the Dragons lead was back to twelve. But the Slovakian made up for his misdemeanour by laying up at the other end. The Hoods pulled the deficit back to seven (30-23) two minutes into the second period. However, a spectacular dunk from Fullah triggered the home side back into action, and a further dunk from Clark and baskets from Jermayne Laing, Clark and Šulcs extended the gap to seventeen.

The two sides matched one another, almost shot for shot, through the rest of the quarter and the Dragons took a commanding fourteen-point lead back to the locker rooms at half-time.

The third period opened at blistering pace, with layups from Slavic and Fetske within the first fifteen seconds. The opening three minutes of the half were evenly balanced, with the hosts maintaining their fourteen-point lead. But, as the game progressed, the Hoods found their rhythm and five minutes into the third, they had halved the deficit (66-59).

Clark responded with another three-pointer, but it wasn’t enough to stop the Hoods rejuvenation and with 3:29 remaining in the quarter the scores were within two (69-67).

Up stepped Clark again, sinking once more from distance, but the Hoods came back again. In the final minute of the quarter, the Dragons finally started to click and opened the gap back out to eight points. However, a buzzer beating lay-up from Nottingham’s Eddie Brownell, left the game precariously balanced at 80-74.

Fetske opened the final quarter with a sweet three-pointer to settle the Dragons nerves and Šulcs followed up with a two. Gradually, the home side began to reimpose their advantage and, with six and half minutes remaining, Clark laid up to stretch the lead to sixteen (92-76). However, Clark landed badly and stumbled, falling straight into one of the shot clocks and requiring medical attention.

After a substantial delay in play, Joaquím Calvo was brought off the bench to replace the injured Clark. The delay seemed to have worked to Nottingham’s favour as first Euan James and then Luke Mitchell scored for the visitors. However, Laing replied with a layup and another dunk from Fullah put the hosts fifteen ahead, with exactly five minutes remaining (96-81).

The next three minutes saw a succession of missed shots, fouls and turnovers, with neither team being able to add to the scores. Fullah even saw another attempt at a dunk bounce back off the rim.

It was during this period that the game saw it’s second extended delay, when Calvo faked his shot with Hoods’ veteran, Dave ‘Tintin’ Watts already airborne and the later rolled over the top of Calvo and fell awkwardly to the ground, with medical assistance once more required.

After another lengthy delay, Watts was back on his feet, but unable to continue and once the claret had been cleared off the court the game resumed.

With just 2:17 on the clock, Aaron Maher sank first a three and then a two to pull the visitors back within striking distance. The Dragons reintroduced Clark to the game, but even he couldn’t stop the Hoods bringing the game to within seven points (98-91) with just over a minute of the game to play.

The Dragons stood firm and a couple of layups from Fetske and a single from the line by Šulcs closed the game out with a comfortable win (103-91).

The official University of Bradford Player of the Game award went to Clark, who scored an impressive 33 point (77% shot percentage), also adding 7 assists to his statistics. “A lot of this goes towards my family back home and my teammates and coaching staff for giving me the confidence to play my game from the start,” Clark reflected. “I think we have a chance to surprise a lot of people this season and to achieve something really special, not only for the club but for the city as well.”

Clark was well supported by Fetske, who contributed 29 personal points to the Dragons total and Šulcs who added a further 19 points. Top scorers for the Hoods were Welle with 21 points and Mitchell with 20 points.

Bradford’s Head Coach, Chris Mellor commented, “We had a decent lead at the half, but Nottingham had a good third quarter and we did a poor job, in the second half, securing defensive boards and taking care of the ball at times. We closed the game out well though in the last eight minutes and its nice to start with a win.”

The Dragons travel to Loughborough Student Riders next Saturday (13th October, Tip-off 6pm) for what will be the toughest test of the season to date. The action then returns to the Dragons Den on Sunday, when the Dragons entertain third division, Barking Abbey in the third round of the National Cup. Tip off in the Dragons Den is at 4:15pm and advance tickets are available on the club website.

Dragons Juniors suffered a disappointing weekend with the Under 14’s going down 64-27 at York Young Eagles on Saturday afternoon. Meanwhile, the under 16s faced a home double-header weekend, losing 67-96 against Newcastle Eagles on Saturday and then 75-85 against City of Edinburgh Kings the following day.

Photographs © Alex Daniel Photography

Dragons 1 - Dragons Throw Down the Gauntlet

1/10/2018

Bradford Dragons came away from their National Trophy double header weekend completely unscathed, comfortably beating both Team Newcastle University (51-88) and Manchester Magic (94-71) to book their place in this season’s semi-finals.

On Saturday the Dragons travelled to Newcastle’s Sport Central for their first official fixture of the 2018-19 Basketball Season, in pool stages of the National Trophy, the traditional curtain raiser to the NBL season. Bradford had been placed in Pool A, along with Newcastle, Manchester and Team Northumbria, the latter of which have since withdrawn from National Basketball League competitions, leaving the other three teams to fight it out for a place in the semis.

With Newcastle having already defeated Manchester, they went into the weekend knowing that a win against the Dragons would guarantee them the progression. But it was the Dragons that were quickest out of the blocks, building up a six-point lead (0-6) in the opening minutes of the game.

The hosts pulled back to three behind, following a layup from Zach Sharman. However, by the mid-point of the opening period, further scores from Bradford’s Ricky Fetske, Jermayne Laing and Rihards Šulcs extended the visitor’s lead to ten (5-15).

Again, Team Newcastle threatened but the Dragons did enough to hold them at arm’s length, closing out the first quarter with a six-point advantage (14-20).

Six became eight in the opening stages of the second period, with Bradford’s latest arrival, American point guard, Drexler Clark putting up his first two points for the club. But two and a half minutes in, a three pointer from Victor Fuentes, pulled the home side back to within four.

Dragons 1 - Bradford Roar to Victory at Liverpool

24/9/2018

Bradford Dragons visited Liverpool Basketball Club on Saturday, in a precursor to the new National Basketball League campaign and came away with a convincing victory, 56-78.

Liverpool finished third in division two last season, just missing out on the opportunity to join Bradford in the top flight. However, despite the gap in divisions, the Merseysiders would provide a stern test for Chris Mellor’s side, having already beaten first division Manchester Magic, the previous weekend.

The Dragons travelled with an eight-man squad for the preseason fixture against second division opposition, with new signing Clayfell Harris missing due to personal commitments and American Drexler Clark’s arrival in the UK imminent.

The starting five showed just one change from the five that started the majority of last season, with newcomer Andreas Lycoudis stepping in, in place of the departed Eisley Swaine, who has taken his game to the United States. And it was the Dragons who took first blood through a basket from American power forward, Ricky Fetske. They quickly followed this us with a two from Latvian Rihards Šulcs, assisted by Lycoudis, to open an early four-point gap.

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