BRADFORD Dragons hosted the Thames Valley Cavaliers at Calderdale College’s Inspire Centre last Saturday, but went down to a frustrating 91-80 loss in front of their largest crowd of the season.

The Cavaliers went into the weekend with an 8-3 record and sitting fifth in the National Basketball League Division One table.

The Dragons sat four places below them, with five wins from their opening 11 fixtures.

Bradford seized the early momentum in this game and a Jabari Edwards trey, followed by twos from Micah Savery-Richards and Zach Gachette, saw them take a 9-4 lead within the first three minutes.

In the final minute of the period, the visitors had turned it around and were up by four, but a dunk from Gachette narrowed it to a 23-21 deficit for Bradford at the first scheduled stoppage.

Ricky Fetske hit an impressive three early in the second half to keep the Dragons in touch, but their guests stretched their lead in the second quarter, and were ahead 50-43 at half-time.

The Dragons more than matched the Cavaliers during the third quarter, and with little more than two minutes of the penultimate period to play, two converted free throws from Rihards Šulcs put them within touching distance, and they were only 68-63 behind heading into the final quarter.

With just four and a half minutes remaining, the difference was still five points (80-75) and it was still anybody’s game.

However, Thames Valley always seemed to have a little more in reserve and in those final few minutes they widened the gap, seeing off the persistent threat from the Dragons and winning 91-80.

The win moved the Cavaliers up to fourth in the table, while the Dragons remain in ninth.

Jermayne Laing topped the scorers for Bradford with 16 points, earning him the player of the game award.

Šulcs, Gachette and Savery-Richards all also hit double figures with 15, 14 and 12 points respectively.

The Dragons face a double header against the Nottingham Hoods this coming weekend, travelling to the Wildcats Arena on Saturday for a 4pm tip-off, before the reverse fixture takes place at 4:15pm the next day at the Inspire Centre.

Tickets can be purchased in advance, at discounted rates, any time before 10am on Sunday morning, from the Dragons website. Full price tickets will also be available on the door.