BRADFORD Dragons succumbed to a second defeat in as many games with a 72-66 loss at the Leicester Warriors.

Matchday two in the National Basketball League Division One pitted two teams looking to bounce back from close losses on the opening weekend of the season.

In the absence of captain Ricky Fetske, the Dragons made one change to the starting line-up, with Rafi Saipe replacing the American in the starting five.

Bradford's newest addition, Kehinde (Kenny) Ogunneye, then came on to make his debut, six minutes into the opening period.

Making his mark almost instantaneously, Ogunneye slammed home a dunk just seconds after entering the game, pulling the visitors to within one.

Two threes from Saipe and Dave Walsh rounded out the quarter for the visitors, but the Dragons headed into the second quarter down 18-12.

A ten-point run courtesy of a Walsh and Andreas Lycoudis tandem brought Bradford roaring back into the game, with that rounded off when Rihards Šulcs fired them into the lead with a two-point jump shot.

Leicester, undeterred, proceeded to go on a nine-point run, firing them back into the ascendency but the Dragons quelled the onslaught, cutting the deficit to three points heading into half-time.

The Dragons came out firing on all cylinders in the opening minutes of the second half, knocking down seven of their first eight shots in a red-hot start to the third quarter.

They suddenly found themselves eight points to the good as Walsh knocked down his fourth three of the evening.

But the visitors then went scoreless for the final five minutes of the period. Leicester duly capitalised, with a ten-point run to end the quarter.

Allie Fullah got the visitors back on level terms 40 seconds into the fourth but seven final quarter points from the Warriors' TJ Henderson proved critical.

He knocked down a pair of free-throws to extend his team’s lead to seven points with 20 seconds left, effectively putting the finishing touches to the Warriors' triumph.

The top scorer for the Dragons was Walsh with 18 points, while Fullah added a game-high 13 rebounds.

Head coach Chris Mellor said: “Our defence and rebounding was pretty good but offensively we were poor with our ball movement, pace, and execution, and that’s where some of our focus will definitely go moving forward.”

Next up for Bradford is the home opener against the Essex and Herts Leopards, with tip-off this Saturday at 6:15pm.