ON the opening weekend of the 2021/22 National Basketball League Division One season, the Bradford Dragons succumbed to a heavy 91-67 defeat away at Team Newcastle University.

The two sides had only met one week previously, with the Dragons losing an overtime thriller in the L Lynch Trophy to bow out of that competition at the group stage.

The Dragons travelled light for this league encounter, with only three players on the bench.

But that didn't stop them from scoring the first points, a two point layup from new signing Zach Gachette.

For the opening minutes of the game, the two sides went basket for basket, until a six point offensive for the hosts put some space between the teams.

Newcastle opened up a nine point lead late in the quarter, but a late Dragons burst saw them end the period just 23- 20 behind.

The hosts began to edge away in the second quarter and with the Dragons struggling to find their rhythm, they couldn't prevent Newcastle from entering the half time interval with a commanding 42-30 advantage.

After the interval, the gap was quickly extended to 15, when Brandon Federici bucketed a three pointer in the opening play of the half.

Bradford huffed and puffed and, despite pulling the game back to single figures, they were unable to stop Team Newcastle pulling away again.

Their lead hit 20 points with just 90 seconds of the quarter remaining, and although a mini revival by the visitors pulled the game back a little, Newcastle ended the quarter 65-49 in front.

There was no let up for Bradford in the final period, as Newcastle racked up 26 points to seal a massive 91-67 victory.

Gachette led the Dragons scorers with 17 points, also adding a formidable 16 rebounds to register a double-double on his debut league fixture for Bradford.

Jermayne Laing contributed a further 16 points to the Dragons’ total, whilst Rihards Šulcs added 14 points.

The game high went to Federici, who amassed a phenomenal 37 points.

Never one to waste his words, Bradford head coach Chris Mellor summed the game up in one statement, saying: “We were poor defensively and never really got a foothold in the game after the first quarter.”

The Dragons now face a tough opening home fixture against Worthing Thunder tomorrow, with a tip off time of 6:15pm.

The game in the Dragons’ Den (Bradford College Sports Hall, Trinity Road) will be the Bradford’s first ‘true’ home fixture in over 18 months, having been forced to play all their home games last season, behind closed doors, at the Nottingham Wildcats Arena.

With the return of spectators, the Dragons will be hoping for a good home turnout.