BRADFORD Dragons won the first of two key matches which could decide whether they are sucked into a National Basketball League relegation battle.

They beat Kent Crusaders 96-86 at the Dragons' Den to avoid the visitors leapfrogging them in the Division One table.

Crusaders, relegated two seasons ago but promoted last term, opened the scoring with a three-pointer from the perimeter by Great Britain under-18 international Caleb Fuller.

Yet that was to be the only time the visitors would lead, with Bradford hitting back via Jermayne Laing and Eisley Swaine as they established a 7-4 advantage.

That was increased to seven points before Crusaders hit back to trail only 21-20.

But this merely acted as a spur to Bradford, who scored the next nine points – including a three-pointer from American point guard Marcus Gooding.

In the second quarter, Kent were again quickly off the mark, chiefly via Alex Ferguson, but Gooding and Ricky Fetske had the answers as they led 57-48 at the break.

Straight from the restart, Fetske popped in a three-pointer and Swaine a two-pointer to stretch the margin before Gooding sank a succession of baskets to make it 75-56.

The remaining four minutes of the period belonged to the visitors, however, as the reduced the margin to 81-70.

Leeds Force junior programme product Micah Savery-Richards, another Great Britain under-18 international, brought the game back to single figures and, with less than 90 seconds of the final period played, the gap was down to just four points at 81-77.

In similar situations, the Dragons have folded under such pressure, but not this time as they started to stretch the game back out.

When Fetske sank a jump shot with two minutes remaining, the hosts were once again holding a double-figure points lead at 90-80.

Kent were forced into fouling as they attempted to regain possession but the Dragons kept them at arm's length to triumph by nine points.

Player of the game Gooding, back to his shooting best, took the game-high points total with 30, while compatriot Fetske recorded his customary double-double with 19 points and ten rebounds.

Swaine put in another strong performance, adding 18 points, while Sulcs just missed out on a double-double of his own, hitting 13 points and taking nine rebounds.

Dragons head coach Chris Mellor said: "Offensively we played well. We moved the ball and our execution was good.

"Defensively we weren't great but, credit to them, they have several guys that can cause problems off the dribble and also hurt you from the perimeter.

"Even though we had a 20-point lead at one point, the game was still in the balance until pretty much the final two minutes."

The victory lifts Bradford back into a play-off position and gives them a slight breathing space between themselves and the bottom two.

Yet they face another crucial fixture next up as they travel to Leicester Warriors, who are three places but only two points behind the Dragons with a game in hand, making this another must-win fixture for Mellor's men.

* THE Dragons' juniors had a torrid weekend, with the under-16s going down 94-44 to York Eagles at Buttershaw Business and Enterprise College and the under-14s losing 76-35 at Derbyshire Arrows.