Bradford Dragons stunned the National Basketball League’s second seeded team Essex Rebels on Saturday in their National Basketball League Division One play-off quarter-final last weekend, enjoying a stunning 87-79 victory to teach the last four.
The Rebels are Division One’s most improved team, having gone from missing out completely on a play-off berth in the previous two seasons to finishing this term level on points with title winners Derby Trailblazers.
They only missed out on top spot as Derby held the head-to-head advantage between the two teams.
In their two league fixtures against Bradford, who finished seventh, Essex had taken the win on both occasions.
A 107-100 victory in the Dragons’ Den last November was then bettered by an emphatic 96-78 success on their home court in February.
On Saturday, the Rebels put the first points on the board, although the sides sparred with one another blow for blow throughout the opening period.
The Dragons led for much of that quarter but, in the final moments before the first scheduled break, it was Essex who took the advantage, closing out the period with an 18-14 lead.
The second quarter started terribly for Bradford who were 31-19 down at the midpoint of the period.
The home side added a further five points before the Dragons managed a further score.
But then it was the away side’s turn to go on an unanswered run, reducing the deficit to 36-27 at the half-time interval.
The opening five minutes of the second half were evenly matched, with the sides matching each other almost shot for shot.
But then, slowly, the Dragons started to take a hold of proceedings.
By the time the penultimate quarter drew to a close, the scores were all square at 58-58, setting up a fascinating end to the game.
An early foul allowed the Rebels to put down two single points at the start of the final session of play but Bradford were in no mood to let this one slip and quickly restored parity.
Just past the midway point of the quarter, the sides were locked together at 66-66 and the lead continued to change hands for a period thereafter.
However, it was Bradford that held their nerve to the end and built up an eight-point lead in the final two minutes of the game.
The scores finished at 87-79 in the Dragons’ favour, as they made it third time lucky against Essex this season, doing so when it mattered most.
Returning from a three-week injury layoff, Bradford’s Justin Williams took the game high score with 29 points and his performance earned him the NBL Player of the Week award.
He was joined on the NBL team of the week by fellow Dragon Zion Tordoff, who registered his trademark double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds.
Jordan Whelan followed on 14 points, while Ronald Blain also registered double figures with 11 points.
The victory earns Bradford a semi-final fixture, this coming weekend, against third-seed Hemel Storm.
The rules of the tournament state that the highest-seeded team in the regular league season hosts the game, so it will be held at the Hemel Hempstead Leisure Centre.
The fixture tips off at 7pm this evening, with both sides vying for a place in the Grand Final next weekend against either Derby Trailblazers or Reading Rockets.
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