BRADFORD Dragons fell to a disappointing 86-70 defeat at Loughborough Riders in Division One of the National Basketball League on Saturday.

The Dragons drop to 6-9 on the season after a second straight defeat, the sixth in their last seven games.

Sparked by a dominant second and third quarter, the Riders led by as many as 31 in a game where Bradford struggled offensively.

The Dragons edged the pair's last meeting 80-79 last month, and Chris Mellor’s team started Saturday afternoon’s game promisingly.

Opening up an early 7-2 lead, the Dragons were spacing the floor well and getting good looks, as Andreas Lycoudis, Ricky Fetske and Dave Walsh all scored.

But Loughborough's offensive rebounding began to take centre stage and they fought back hard, ending the quarter with a 22-21 lead over the visitors.

The Dragons' offence, led by Lycoudis, looked in a nice rhythm, but they kicked off the second quarter with an almost five-minute stretch of scoreless basketball.

The hosts took advantage, knocking down two threes to extend their lead to 28-21.

Dave Walsh scored or assisted on the next three Dragons buckets before a Great Osobor alley-oop dunk cut the deficit to 34-27.

But then the Riders produced a devastating three-point barrage to end the first half.

Knocking down four threes on their final five buckets, the hosts took a commanding 48-28 lead into the break.

The penultimate quarter started in a painstakingly similar fashion for the Dragons, with Osobor the only bright light in the period, scoring seven of Bradford's 15 points in the quarter.

Second-chance points were killing the visitors, with the Riders truly dominating the glass on both sides of the floor.

After three quarters, Bradford trailed 73-43 on the back of 16 threes from the Riders.

The visitors produced a dominant 27-13 fourth quarter performance to end the game, but the damage had long been done for coach Mellor’s team.

Dragons youngsters Elijah Walsh and Osobor continued to show promising flashes, combining to score eight points in the quarter, and Lycoudis also added seven points in the final ten minutes of action.

The Dragons had cut the deficit to 16 by the end, but they still returned to West Yorkshire empty-handed.

It means their away struggles continue, as they remain without a win on the road since December 19.

The Dragons drop to ninth in NBL Division One with four games left of the regular season.

Lycoudis led all scorers with 23 points, while Osobor added 15 points.

Coach Mellor gave an honest review of his team’s display, saying: “It was a disappointing performance.

“Loughborough made 16 threes, which was always going to make things difficult, and we shot the ball poorly.”

Next up for the Dragons is a trip to face the L Lynch Trophy finalists Thames Valley Cavaliers this Saturday, with tip-off at 6.30pm.