BRADFORD Dragons missed out by a single point as they lost their opening National Basketball League fixture 83-82 at Derby Trailblazers.

Derby finished last season second in Division One, in contrast to Bradford's 12th, and in the corresponding fixture last time around the Trailblazers handed out a 22-point spanking as they beat the Dragons 82-60.

This time the home side won the jump-ball at the start of the game and scored with their first attack, although the two sides then matched each other pretty much basket for basket during the first five minutes.

At that point it looked as though the Dragons were going to take a hold on the contest, building up a five-point lead with three minutes of the quarter remaining. Yet any optimism on the Bradford bench was quickly wiped out and it was Derby who finished the period with a 23-19 advantage.

Bradford's offence switched off completely for the first five minutes of the second quarter, allowing their hosts to build up a 15-point lead at 34-19, but they did manage to pull the deficit back to eight points at 41-33 by the time the sides left court at the interval.

Last season Bradford would have struggled to come back in the second half – but this season's squad appear far better equipped for the fight.

Derby did reopen their lead back up to 15 points in the opening minutes of the third quarter but, with just a minute left of the penultimate period, the Dragons had pegged them right back to just three points.

Point guard Rema Lascelles bagged a final two-point lay-up to give the Trailblazers a five-point lead (61-56) to take into the final ten minutes.

The hosts' lead fluctuated between seven and five points for the first couple of minutes of the quarter before Bradford went on an unanswered 11-point scoring run to take a four-point lead of their own at 69-65.

The lead switched a couple of times more but with only 21 seconds remaining Derby once more held the lead 83-79.

Ricky Fetske of Bradford bagged a three-pointer to set up a tense last 12 seconds but there was to be no further offensive action as Derby finished just ahead.

Marcus Gooding headed the Dragons scoring with 23 points, including six three-pointers, while Fetske and Rihards Sulcs added 18 points each and Rafi Saipe contributed 11 points.

Derby's 6ft 5in forward Josh Ward-Hibbert hit 25 points for the hosts, also contributing ten rebounds to record a double-double.

Bradford coach Chris Mellor admitted: "It's a tough loss. We got ourselves back from 15 down to lead by four but we didn't get crucial stops in the last two minutes and they made a couple of big plays to close it out. Points off our turnovers were 18 for them, which was also a major factor."

The Dragons' junior teams were also in action at the weekend, with the under-16 boys clocking up a huge 115-21 victory at neighbours Leeds Tigers and following up with a 73-61 home win against Tees Valley Mohawks. The under-18s beat Leeds Tigers 78-51.

* The Dragons have confirmed that 6ft 4in forward Semi Eboigbe has left the club by mutual consent.