Bradford Dragons made the long trip to Worthing Thunder but came away with a deserved 85-72 win that lifted them into fourth place in their first season in English Basketball League Division One.

With Bobby Edmunds on fire at point and Vance Silcott controlling the defensive boards, Dragons edged 18-15 ahead at the first break in front of a noisy home crowd.

Edmunds continued to rack up the points as tight Dragons team defence restricted Worthing to ten points in the second period as Dragons pulled ahead to lead 40-25 at the midway point.

In a game littered with turnovers by both teams, big man Chris McGrew drew his fourth foul early in the third stanza as Dragons were forced to sit him out. Worthing made some big perimeter shots but Dragons still managed to shade the third quarter by two points to lead 68-51 at the final break.

In the final quarter, although Thunder managed to reduce the game to an 11-point margin, Dragons held firm in a good team performance.

Dragons' coach Chris Mellor said: "I was happy with what we did, particularly defensively, and I thought Bobby did an excellent job controlling the offensive tempo.

"We were a bit sloppy with the ball at times but managed to keep a big enough lead second half to withstand any of their runs."

Edmunds narrowly missed a double double with 29 points and nine rebounds, Silcott made his trademark double double with 15 points and ten boards, and Rihard Sulcs and Chris McGrew both scored 12 points.

Elsewhere for Dragons, Dragons-2 men ended their eight-game winning streak, going down 72-64 at Hull Wasps in English Basketball League Division Four.

Dragons led by one going into the final period but, despite Rob Donaldson contributing a game-high 27 points, they could not hold the lead.

Dragons-3 men lost 68-40 at home to Spen Valley-1 in their Leeds League Division One game and Dragons women’s kept their perfect Leeds League record with a 101-32 win at Bishop Burton College - their 13th consecutive win of the season.

Bradford College Dragons travelled to neighbours Leeds Carnegie and lost 73-44 in their English Basketball League Under-18 Conference game, and Bradford College Dragons under-16s travelled to Cheshire Jets 2 only to lose 115-57 in their EBL onference game.

The Dragons' next game is a derby against Leeds Carnegie on Saturday at the Dragons' Den - Trinity Green sports hall, Bradford College, Trinity Road, Bradford BD5 0JE in EBL Division One (6.15).

Admission is £5 for adults and £2.50 for under-16s, concessions and students, while a family ticket (adults, plus two children) is £10. Admission is free for Dragons Club members.

This game will be sponsored by Napoleons Casino, and the club are grateful for their backing and that of the Westleigh Hotel.

For more details on Bradford Dragons, go to www.bradforddragons.co.uk or visit Bradford Dragons for the Community on Facebook