Bradford Dragons moved up to fourth in English Basketball League Division One with a hard-fought victory over visitors PAWS London Capitals on Saturday but crashed out of the National Trophy the following day at Bristol Academy Fliers.

There was no repeat of the crushing 104-56 National Trophy win over the Capitals earlier in the season as Dragons ground out a 66-52 win.

Both sides played tough defence throughout, with Dragons edging the first quarter with a buzzer-beating double from Denis Scott to lead 20-17.

The Dragons offence failed to fire in the next period as they stayed just one ahead at 28-27 but they stretched their lead to 48-40 heading into the final period.

They saw out the match with a 14-point winning margin, which keeps them in touch with leaders Bristol in their first season in Division One.

Coach Chris Mellor said: “We were poor in the first half at both ends but credit to Capitals. They played good defence and ran the ball well.

“Our defence stepped up a notch in the second half and we went on a nice run in the third quarter, which sealed the game really.”

Raimonds Pabrieza top-scored with 15 points, with Chris McGrew adding 13, and Bobby Edmunds was close to a triple double with 12 points, ten assists and six rebounds.

The following day, Dragons made the long trip to play Bristol Academy Fliers in the National Trophy quarter-final, eventually losing 59-50 after leading 28-16 at half-time.

The Dragons’ defence res-tricted the league leaders to only 16 points in the first half but then spilled a 14-point lead in the third quarter as Bristol found top gear to take the game and a semi-final spot.

Dragons entertain newly-promoted Medway Park Crusaders at home on Sunday.

Tip-off at Trinity Green sports hall, Bradford College, Trinity Road, Bradford is 4.15pm.

Elsewhere, Dragons-2 won their sixth game in a row 66-62 at home to local rivals Bradford Maroons in English Basketball League Division Four.

Dragons clawed their way back from a 14-point deficit to lead by one in the final seconds as Rob Donaldson hit a two-pointer and followed with one from the charity stripe to win the game in front of their biggest home crowd of the season.

Bradford College Dragons under-18s lost 70-54 at home to Derbyshire Arrows. The under-16s were beaten 70-46 at home to Gateshead Tornadoes and the under-14s went down 100-37.

Dragons-3 lost 54-40 at home to Halifax Hawks in their Leeds League Division One game.