
Prior to the weekends fixtures, Loughborough sat in fifth position in the league table, two places above the Dragons. However, the Riders had a tough weekend agenda, with a fixture against league leaders Team Northumbria on Saturday afternoon, which the North Easterners won 68-75, just twenty-four hours prior to the visit of Bradford.
The hosts took the first two points of the game, which was immediately cancelled out by layup from Ricky Fetske, who was fouled in the process and added the extra point to give Bradford an early lead. However, Loughborough hit straight back again and pushed themselves into a four-point lead at 7-3, with three and a half minutes of the game played.
That was as good as it got for the Riders as Rihards Sulcs netted a two-pointer, quickly followed by a three from Eisley Swaine to give Bradford back the lead, which was quickly extended out to 7-14, following an uninterrupted eleven-point run by the Dragons. The visitors maintained the pressure and, at the end of the opening quarter, they held a nine-point advantage (17-26).