BRADFORD Dragons were on the wrong end of a thriller as they were sent whirling to a 100-96 defeat by Lancashire Spinners.

In truth, neither side deserved to lose the clash at the Dragons Den, with Bradford buoyed by their double victories from the previous weekend, while the Spinners' record read four wins and four defeats.

The game started at a blistering pace, with both sides sinking three-point shot after three-point shot, with the Spinners leading 36-34 at the end of the first quarter.

Bradford started to take control in the second period, Henri Bongoma's three-pointer putting them ahead, and they soon stretched that advantage to seven points, at which point the Spinners took a time out.

However, that failed to halt Bradford's momentum, and a Nick Moore three-pointer stretched the lead to ten.

But the Dragons then appeared to rest on their laurels while the Spinners upped the ante, leaving the half-time score at 61-61.

Lancashire held sway for much of a see-saw third quarter, leading 77-68 and 85-77, only for Bongoma to sink another three-pointer before the hooter.

The Spinners remained in control in the final period, stretching their advantage to 11 as Bradford missed shots but they found their mojo as a couple of three-pointers from Jason Swaine and another from Moore made it 99-96 to Lancashire with 45 seconds left.

Spinners then turned the ball over but Swaine's three-point effort came back off the rim, the visitors picking up the rebound, which forced the Dragons to foul.

Mark Rangeley then scored with one of his two free-throws to put the game out of Bradford's reach, Bongoma then missing with the final shot of the match.

Moore once again top scored for the Dragons, with 24 points plus 10 rebounds for a double-double, while Swaine sank 23 points, including six three-pointers, and Bongoma added 17.

For the visitors, Rangeley hit 24 points, 16 of which were in the first quarter. Connor Murtagh contributing 19 points and Stephen Gayle and veteran ‘Big Mike’ Bernard 15 each.

Bradford’s head coach Chris Mellor said: “We shot the ball and rebounded pretty good, but overall, from start to finish, our defence was just not good enough, both individually and as a team. That’s the end of the floor we have to get better at now.”

The Dragons face the long journey to Worthing Thunder next weekend before returning to the Dragons Den for their pre-Christmas cracker against Manchester Magic on Saturday, December 19.

Meanwhile, the Dragons’ under-14s lost 44-43 at Doncaster Danum Eagles.