Reading Rockets 89 Bradford Dragons 78

THE final buzzer sounded on Bradford Dragons' season on Sunday, as home side Reading Rockets came from behind to record victory in a fiercely contested play-off quarter final fixture at the Rivermead Leisure Centre.

The Rockets finished three places above Bradford in the final league table and with a big crowd behind them, it was always going to be a tough battle for the Dragons.

However, both sides have been in excellent form in recent weeks so Bradford would have been confident of victory.

The home side went 5-0 ahead but Jermayne Laing, Marcus Gooding and Rihards Šulcs all recorded baskets to put the Dragons four points in front. Late home scores sent Reading into the first break with a 19-16 advantage though.

Reading stretched their lead to 36-28 with just under three minutes left in the second quarter, but Laing, Gooding and Šulcs roared back to give the Dragons an improbable 39-38 advantage.

Half-time arrived with the game on a knife edge, the Rockets holding a 41-40 lead.

The Dragons came out with fire in their bellies, with Gooding adding a raft of points in the third quarter. At one point, Bradford found themselves 55-46 in front.

Reading responded well though and hauled themselves back into contention. The Dragons' lead was only 67-63 heading into the final quarter.

Šulcs quickly extended Bradford’s advantage to six points, but within ninety seconds of the restart, the hosts found themselves one point in front.

Although Laing briefly put the Dragons back ahead by two points, Reading began to take a firm grip on the game, establishing an 83-76 lead.

In their desperation Bradford gave away several fouls near the end, allowing the home side to record a comfortable 89-78 victory to book their place in next weekend's semi-finals.

Gooding top scored for Bradford with 25 points, followed by Laing on 19 points and Šulcs with 17 points. The latter also took 10 rebounds to record a double-double.

Bradford coach Chris Mellor stated after the game: “We got some momentum coming out of half-time with a decent third quarter, but we didn’t make plays or get stops in the final seven minutes, which was disappointing.

"But, hats off to Reading, they deserved the win.”

With the season now over, Mellor will have time to reflect before preparing for the next campaign, which starts in September.