Bradford Dragons recorded an emphatic 97-70 victory over Brixton Topcats in English Basketball League Division One on Saturday before slipping to an 82-76 defeat against Leicester Warriors the following day.

Raimond Pabrieza sank a triple for Dragons on the buzzer as they led the Topcats 25-17 at the first break.

Their trademark pressure team defence locked Topcats down to 14 points in the second stanza, as they pulled 48-31 clear.

With Rihard Sulcs in his best form of the season and on his way to eight steals and 25 points, Dragons pulled further ahead in the third quarter to lead 69-50.

Vance Silcott (22 points) scored yet another double double and Michal Ciesla continued his fine run of form with nine assists and 13 points, which included three from three from beyond the arc, and Dragons fittingly closed out the game with a Pabrieza breakaway dunk as they won all quarters.

Coach Chris Mellor said: “We played four consistent quarters both offensively and defensively and all my players contributed towards the win in some form or other.”

The following day, Dragons travelled to high-flying Leicester Warriors but were unable to reproduce the form of the previous night.

Warriors dominated the boards at both ends to win the first two quarters, with Dragons edging the third by a point and the final quarter by two in an 82-76 defeat.

Bobby Edmunds made 20 points and Silcott 19.

Mellor said: “Our commitment to individual and team defence was not good enough. We didn’t compete with them on the boards and our ball defence was non-existent.”

Dragons face a home double-header with London Leopards this weekend – Saturday’s game (6.15pm) a league encounter and Sunday’s (4.15pm) a National Cup quarter-final.

Elsewhere, Dragons 2 spilled a first-quarter 14-point lead to lose 97-85 at home to Middlesborough Lions in EBL Division Four, Dragons under-18s lost at Rotherham Hawks 70-57 in the North East Conference and the under-14s went down heavily, 130-23 to Sheffield Saints.

However, Dragons women continued their great start to the campaign with a 70-41 win at Derby Trailblazers in then National Founder Cup.

Sammy Drake top-scored with 20 points to keep them perfect for the season at 5-0.