BRADFORD Dragons finally ended their longest losing streak after being boosted by the re-signing of American centre Chris McGrew and British point guard Nathan Ashley.

The Dragons, beaten in their previous six matches, won 77-59 at Newham Neptunes to move off the foot of English National League Division One and leave their hosts on the bottom instead.

The Neptunes took the initial quarter 22-19 but Bradford took control in the second period, restricting their hosts to only ten points and sending them back to the locker room facing a five-point deficit at 37-32.

After increasing their lead to eight points in the penultimate period, the Dragons finished off their opponents in the final quarter to come away with an 18-point victory – and, more importantly, two vital league points to climb to fourth from bottom.

Top scorer for Bradford was Rihards Sulcs with 16 points, followed by JP Davies on 15 and Jason Swaine with ten.

Dragons head coach Chris Mellor said: "It took us until midway through the third quarter before we built up a decent cushion and our defence improved as the game progressed.

"We didn't play great but we badly needed the win to get us moving again."

Ashley, following a good first performance back in Bradford colours, admitted it was great to return to the club.

He said: "I was excited to get into training again – particularly as we had an away game back in my home town of London. It was good to come away with a victory."

McGrew added: "It feels good to be back in Bradford and I look forward to helping the team in any way possible and to get back in the play-off hunt.

"It was a good team win and I look forward to us building on that."

Bradford return to the Dragons' Den on Saturday (6.15pm) to entertain Worthing Thunder in their final Division One home fixture before the Christmas and New Year break.

This will be the second time the teams have met this season after Worthing knocked the Dragons out of the National Cup in overtime during a tight quarter-final last month.

Mellor's team will be hoping to set the record straight at Bradford College Sports Hall on Trinity Road.

Elsewhere for the Dragons, the under-18s travelled to Durham Wildcats on Sunday and came away with a 60-39 victory.

This leaves them ideally placed in second position in the Basketball England Northern Conference table, with three games in hand over QE York Knights.