Bradford Dragons retained their 100 per cent English Basketball League Division Two record but bowed out of the EBL Patrons Cup during a mixed weekend of results.

The Dragons scored an impressive 86-73 victory at second-placed Tees Valley Mohawks to move clear at the top of the table with a perfect ten out of ten return.

But the effort appeared to leave them drained for the following day’s cup tie as they missed out on a place in the final following an 82-70 home defeat to Hemel Storm.

The league game saw Chris Mellor’s men pull seven points clear early on but the Mohawks drew level at 20-20 by the first interval.

Bradford moved 46-39 up at half-time and although Tees Valley reduced the deficit to 65-60 by the end of the third period, they were restricted by a superb Dragons defensive effort in the final spell.

Daumants Pabrieza led the scoring with 25 points, backed up by Rihard Sulcs (18), Raimond Pabrieza (16) and Vance Silcott (16).

Coach Mellor said: “We played really smart offensively, mixing it up between inside and outside plays.

“Our ball movement was good and even though we took a few too many threes for my liking, they were good shots.”

The tired-looking Dragons never really recovered from a slow start in the cup tie as Hemel led 24-13 at the first break, 48-20 by half-time and 66-36 at the final interval, before a 34-16 burst in the last quarter restored some pride.

Sulcs top-scored with 23 points, Michal Ciesla chipped in with 14 and Silcott hit another double double with 20 points and 13 rebounds.

The Dragons’ next home game is the EBL Division Two fixture against Team Northumbria on Saturday, January 29. The game at Trinity Green Sports Hall, Bradford College, starts at 6.15pm.

Other Bradford results saw the third team lose 85-33 at home to Horsforth A but they then won 58-49 at Leeds Demons in the Leeds League Handicap Cup.

The under-16s beat local rivals Leeds Carnegie 77-54 and then Barnsley Leaders 78-49, both at home.

The under-14s lost 100-40 at Sheffield Junior Sharks, while the under-18s went down 63-52 at home to York College and then 66-38 at Derbyshire Arrows.