BRADFORD Dragons' dream of making their first major final since joining the top flight of English basketball lay in tatters after a 94-76 defeat to Manchester Magic.

This National Trophy semi-final loss came, however, less than 24 hours after the Dragons beat Kent Crusaders 79-62 in a vital National Basketball League Division One game.

League leaders and National Cup winners Manchester Magic entered the Dragons' Den as clear favourites, having already defeated their hosts on three occasions this season.

It was clear that Chris Mellor's team would have a real fight on their hands if they were to reach the final against Reading Rockets in Sheffield later this month.

Bradford kept the game close in the first quarter, only finishing it 23-20 down, but the damage was done in the second quarter, when a disastrous final five minutes before half-time by Bradford enabled Manchester to stretch their lead to 57-35.

Although the deficit was cut to 75-61 at the end of the third quarter, it was always going to be the visitors' day.

Despite the defeat, power forward Ricky Fetske probably had his best game of the season for the Dragons, scoring an impressive 30 points. Fellow American Nicholas Moore contributed 11 points but beyond these two there was little return.

The previous day the Dragons had made the long and arduous journey to Gillingham to face Kent Crusaders, whose only league victory this season was in the return fixture.

However, Bradford knew that victory would put breathing space between themselves and the relegation places, currently occupied by Kent and Tees Valley Mohawks.

With that in mind, the Dragons started the game with sheer determination, restricting their hosts to only two points in the opening eight minutes on the way to a 21-5 first-quarter lead.

By half-time, the advantage was 40-23 – but nerves began to jangle as Crusaders narrowed the deficit to single figures in the visitors' Achilles heel of the third quarter.

However, rather than going under, Bradford fought back to finish the period 54-40 in front and they extended the lead to 79-62 by the end.

Moore headed the Dragons scoring with 25 points, assisted by Fetske (15), while Rihards Sulcs claimed his first double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Mellor said of the Crusaders clash: "We came out ready to play in the first quarter and built a 17-point lead.

Our energy was good defensively and that set the tone for the whole game. They made a run in the third (quarter) but we managed to hit a couple of threes to keep it relatively comfortable.

"We knew it was a big game for us in terms of the league table."

Mellor added: "Verses Manchester, we were in the game, down seven points, but a terrible last five minutes of the (first) half saw us with a massive hole to get out of after the break.

"We showed some fight in the second half to get it to ten but they had all the answers on the day and we were second best."

Bradford return to action on Saturday in a home league fixture against Leicester Warriors (6.15pm) that marks the return of former Dragons player Carl Pearson for the visitors.

Elsewhere, the Dragons suffered a miserable weekend, with defeats for all three junior teams.

The under-18s went down 45-31 at Sheffield Junior Sharks II on Saturday, while the under-14s were beaten 78-61 at Tees Valley Mohawks later the same day.

On Sunday, the under-16s travelled to Cheshire Wire and were on the end of a 110-30 drubbing.