Bradford Dragons 96 Derby Trailblazers 81

MARCUS Gooding and Disraeli Lufadeju starred as Bradford Dragons made it five wins from their last six fixtures, beating lowly Derby Trailblazers 96-81 in their final league fixture of the season on Saturday.

Bradford had already secured their berth in the end of season playoff championship, but were playing for league position, in order to ensure the best possible fixture in the quarter finals.

The Dragons were first off the mark, with Gooding and Rihards Šulcs putting them 4-0 up. However, Derby hit straight back and took a two point lead of their own.

Both sides had good spells in the first quarter and the lead changed hands several times. Bradford fell behind by six points on one occasion but Ricky Fetske, Lufadeju and Gooding hauled them level.

With 1:13 remaining in the opening period, Gooding grabbed the two points that put the Dragons back in front and they went into the first break with a narrow 23-22 advantage.

Bradford went on to build up a 31-24 lead in the second quarter but Derby soon reduced the deficit to a single point.

However with three minutes of the half remaining, young Eisley Swaine shot a two to make it 42-35 and restore the home side’s seven-point advantage.

The Dragons still had more in the tank and Oliver Hylands sank a late jump shot to send them back to the locker rooms 53-41 ahead.

The Trailblazers closed the gap to seven in the third period but the Dragons turned up the heat and raced into a 72-56 lead going into the final 10 minutes.

There was no let up at the start of the final quarter and a trade mark dunk from Fetske, followed by a two-point jump shot from Šulcs, gave the Dragons an unassailable 81-60 lead.

With the game won, Bradford's head coach Chris Mellor sent youngster Jayden Martin on for the final couple of minutes, and he was rewarded with a point from the line after being fouled.

The Dragons saw the game out easily, winning 96-81 to secure themselves sixth place in the league table.

Bradford's top scorer was Gooding, who netted 25 points with Fetske also achieving an impressive haul of 16 points. Šulcs proved vital too, contributing 12 points and taking 12 rebounds to record a personal double-double.

However, the official Taco Bell Player of the Game award went to Lufadeju, who scored 14 points off the bench, whilst also adding nine rebounds and eight assists into the mix.

After the game, Mellor commented: “We didn’t play great defensively, but credit to Derby. They were missing a couple of key players but played hard and made things difficult at times.

“It’s another win though and rounds off a decent last few weeks for us.”

The Dragons still await confirmation of their opponents in the play-off quarter finals. However they are likely to face Reading Rockets, on the weekend of April 8-9. Further details will be announced once available.