Bradford Dragons lost a thrilling National Shield semi-final against Worcester Wolves second team on Sunday.

Dragons went into the match on the back of a nine-match winning run and were looking to progress to their first ever national final, having lost at the semi-final stage of the competition in 2007.

Wolves belied their indifferent Division Four status by fielding four of their British Basketball League players and came out firing from the start.

Wolves won the first quarter 22-20 and, with the Wolves outside shooting on fire, Dragons went in at the half trailing 44-36.

In the third stanza, captain Istvan Dohar stepped up and dragged Dragons back into the game with a combination of points from power drives to the basket and treys from beyond the arc.

Coach Chris Mellor also switched the defence to take Dragons in 58-56 down at the end of the third quarter.

The final tense quarter saw Dragons go ahead for the first time in the game, only for Worcester to claw their way back to 69-69 at full time.

The five-minute overtime period saw Dragons miss vital free throws at the line but pressure defence gave Dragons a two-point lead with 26 seconds to go.

Wolves worked the ball well to the open man to knock down a three with seconds on the clock to give them a one-point lead.

With Dragons missing the next crucial shot and fouling, Wolves scored two more free throws.

With the home crowd on its feet, Dragons then missed the three to tie the game and lose 80-77 on the night.

Top scorers for Dragons were Dohar, 28, Eddie Davis, 16, and Daumants Pabrieza, 15.

Coach Chris Mellor said: "It is a big disappointment to miss out on a final for two years in a row.

"I am disappointed to lose after we played hard and dragged ourselves back into the game several times from a ten-point deficit.

"We missed too many free throws and defensive rebounds and made too many unforced errors to close out the game."

The previous day, Dragons cruised to a comfortable 82-44 win against bottom-of-the-table visitors Liverpool in EBL Division Three (North) at the Zara Sports Centre.

With Coach Mellor resting his starters for much of the game, the bench players took the opportunity to play extended minutes and Dragons controlled the game throughout.

Will Steward was in outstanding form with a season-high 24 points and strong rebounding at both ends of the court. Pasqueli Kornecki connected with 11 and Craig Wilson ten.

With Sheffield Saints having two games in hand, Dragons now go second in the division, four points behind unbeaten Leeds Met Carnegie.

In other EBL games, Dragons under-18s celebrated their first home win of the season, 75-66 against Scarborough Seahawks under-16s.

The under-16s' match against Leeds Tigers was postponed while the under-14s went down 59-52 at York.

Dragons' next home game is on Sunday, February 3 against Leeds Met Carnegie at 6.15pm at the Zara Sports Centre, Belle Vue Girls School. Admission is £2.50p (£1.50 concessions).