ROCKETS TAMED BY BRADFORD DRAGONS IN CLOSE ENCOUNTER
Bradford Dragons 87 Reading Rockets 84
READING ROCKETS fell agonisingly short in a pulsating contest away at Bradford Dragons.
Rockets exploded from the start and led 9-1 before Dragons called a time out.
Alexander had spun to score and hit a floater while Clarke made a tip in and a three-point play before sending a length of court pass to Zack Powell to finish.
Jermiah Jenkins hit a buzzer beating treble before Rockets captain Lewis Champion sent an assist to Isaac Round to hit a wide treble before stroking one himself and giving Rockets a 24-16 lead.
Dragons roared at the start of the second quarter as they blazed three trebles matched only by trebles from Champion and Elijah Maynard, keeping Rockets double digit lead.
A classic finger roll from Clarke, a Powell steal and score and another Maynard treble edged Rockets ahead by 11 points before Dragons hit the last four points of the period to keep the gap to eight points at 49-41 in Rockets favour at the interval.
Within a couple of minutes, the Dragons took the lead with a 11-2 run at 5251. The game was tied on 56 and 61 as both teams traded trebles but a buzzer beating treble by the hosts saw them with a 71-67 advantage going into the final stanza.
Both teams stopped each other scoring for the opening two minutes and both defences stayed on top.
A Clarke treble saw Rockets back to a single point deficit at 72-73 but Dragons were piling up the points from the free throw line and despite a huge rejection by Alexander and a down town treble from Jenkins, Rockets were four points adrift of the Dragons.
Clarke treble saw Rockets down 83-86 with 14 seconds remaining.
Dragons hit one from two from the line and Rockets just one from three so victory went to the home side.
Jermiah Jenkins hit 14 points and Elijah Maynard 12 to compliment the double doubles of Clarke and Alexander.